In Focus: Joe Henry Baker

For our latest feature, we spent an afternoon with painter and designer Joe Henry Baker at his Brooklyn studio. We first connected through mutual friends in New York. Originally from the UK, Joe’s path to painting came by way of graphic design, a background that still shapes the structure and rhythm of his work today. His paintings carry that mix of control and spontaneity that feels both deliberate and free.

Photography by Chandler Bondurant with words by Andrew Livingston

Joe speaks about how time in the studio has become a kind of meditation, how his dog Luther has reshaped his days, and how learning to embrace mistakes has become part of his process.

  • Andrew: You mentioned working as a graphic designer before becoming a painter. Could you walk us through your path—what led you to painting, and in what ways has your background in graphic design influenced your work as a painter?

    Joe: I was a creative kid, with a scholarship for art at school, but all my references were classical landscape and portraits in oils. Going to art university at 18 opened my world to the vastness of creativity! I was drawn to the communication element of graphic design, so drawing and painting became a hobby. My style as a designer developed to engage in the tactile, and utilizing hand made elements, and in looking for a non traditional design role I landed an internship here in New York with the amazing multi disciplinary genius Anna Karlin, which turned into a full time role. I then went on to work as a freelance designer, inevitably though most of my time was spent in front of the black mirror, and this in combination with being invited to tedious brunch after brunch, I decided to rent a small studio to use as a mental health break and somewhere to feel productive in my free time.

    I spent a good few years just hiding out, finding peace, and exploring an abstract side of my creativity that I never knew existed. Simultaneously it was very healthy for my design at the time, as it refined my process and helped me focus, whereas the art was becoming more wild and free. Slowly but surely I built up a large body of work, and with my design skills I was able to showcase these online, and people responded encouragingly! My design background is so important to my art practice, particularly as someone who isn’t represented by a gallery, as it keeps me very organized and allows me to function as a business, whilst also having paint in my teeth.

  • A: You recently adopted your dog Luther. We of course love having our own dog Ruth with us at the store. How has the new pup affected your life, in the studio and beyond?

    J: Babe Ruth. Luth Or Dare. He’s a character. I wanted to foster dogs as the rest of my family all have their own and I had been waiting years until I had my own outdoor space. So this 30lb 3 month old Rottweiler Doberman was dropped off at my apartment, and I couldn’t let him go. He’s very well behaved in the studio, apart from occasionally trying to pull me off a ladder and end my life. He’s taught me a lot about patience as a young but strong pup, and about failure. It’s funny that I am always trying to ‘break’ paintings in the studio in order to discover new and unpredictable outcomes, which results in plenty of mistakes and resets, and yet in my home and personal life I struggle not getting things right all the time. So I’ve learnt through him to take my time, learn from my errors and not let them dictate the rest of the day, and to relax.

  • A: What are you typically wearing while working in the studio?

    M: My studio closet is full of hand me downs from myself to myself. Going through my clothes at home, if I am unsure about an item or haven’t worn it in over a year, it becomes the painting uniform. Mainly it’s chore and carpenter pants, with an old t shirt or hoody. I wear retired running shoes as I am always on my feet and need the support, but when I’m being really messy I have a pair of amazing hunting boots which protect my socks, which I am constantly burning through. I often joke, half joke, that some of my clothes are sometimes better than the paintings themselves… they just develop so effortlessly! Years ago I had someone in Soho ask who the designer was of my paint splattered Uniqlo jeans, which made me smile.

  • A: We’re no stranger to artists having books in their studio but you had quite the collection. How do they influence your work? Any recent favorites?

    J: As an art but also design nerd, books are everything. One day I hope to skim my iPhone into the East River never to be seen again, and books remind me of how much I enjoy the offline world. Whenever I am stuck or low on energy, I’ll pull out a few and scan over them, it can take just one image or sentence to reignite you.

    The latest book I purchased was from a dear friend’s recent art show in the UK, Georgia Gendall’s ‘Heat Between’. Two books I keep going back to are Norman Ackroyd’s ‘Scottish Etchings 1974-2006’ and Richard Serra’s ‘Torqued Ellipses’, both artists who have sadly passed recently. Then I also have books on interiors and gardens, Roman and Williams ‘Buildings & Interiors’ being a particular favorite.

  • A: Can you give us some insight into your painting process?

    J: Follow the white rabbit. Pursue your curiosity and ensure you make the space and time, and have materials at hand, to enact anything that comes into your head. I often compare my practice to being in a kitchen, multiple pans on the go, mixing and adding elements to try and create a new and exciting taste. I wish I was someone who patiently sketched ideas - but I am honestly impatient and very visual, and I try to be as honest to that as I can, allowing myself to be playful, instinctual, and humble about the work.

    As I said, I am never afraid to take a work beyond what others may consider finished, in order to discover something new and challenge comfort, and in that I make a ton of mistakes. Some of these are irreparable, others open up a whole new visual language. My main objective is to enjoy the process - that’s my most authentic self.

  • A: My wife loved that you left her and Chandler pick out and take home sketches from your figure drawing session. Can you talk a bit about working with the figure versus abstraction, and how figurative work might influence your primarily abstract practice?

    J: Whenever I can I go to the life drawing class at Bat Haus with my friend Sydney (Wednesday evenings, East Williamsburg, see you there). It’s really important to me to explore creativity across various mediums, and I find this exercise to be very relaxing and liberating. It’s also nice to have a brief!

    Again my impatience results in the desire to create drawings from just a few lines, meaning I leave with full pads of drawings. I pin some of my favorites in the studio, and the movements and color selection in these often influence my paintings. Maybe one day they will merge. Then of course sharing these with friends is always a joy - I’d much rather them be out living in the world than stuck in a sketch pad.

  • A: Do you see yourself in New York for the long haul? You’ve got that rare bit of greenspace in your Brooklyn backyard, and you’re always gathering friends there for cookouts—though somehow my schedule has kept me from making it to any of them. With a great studio, lovely home and such a solid community around you, do you ever think about leaving the city? Or maybe moving back to the UK?

    J: Being someone who has lived her via 2-3 year visas, you are constantly evaluating how long you want to be here / how long you might have left… Understandably there is a self defense that is common among those dependent on visas, that New York is only a temporary place, and you try not to get too attached.

    The city is constantly challenging you, and this can become exhausting. Home is very important to me, being able to carve something out that is personal and comforting, and I’ve been lucky enough to find this with my apartment and studio. 13 years here has gone by so fast, over time that shield softens, and you become very fond of New York, you find the vibration that best suits you. In terms of making and being surrounding by art, this is absolutely the place for me right now. I think the dream is to continue to live here and travel as much as I can, but of course like everyone else I have a Zillow watch list of places in the middle of nowhere which sounds nice.