Karen Langer Baker

"Connections"

Mixed Media Collage

Karen Langer Baker received her Bachelor's Degree in art and education from the University of Michigan in 1958.  In the 1960s, as she worked toward a Master’s Degree in Special Education at California State University in Fullerton, she developed the concept of individualized instruction in the classroom and, using this method, taught all subjects at Eldorado School for Gifted Children in Orange and in the Yorba Linda Elementary School District's new program for learning disabled children. Art was extensively used as a way to nurture each child’s innate abilities.

In 1986, she went back to concentrating on her first love -- art -- and enrolled as a full-time student at Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles, where she received two years of formal training in traditional painting, sculpture and drawing techniques. She still attends many classes and workshops by national and international award-winning artists.

Langer Baker has earned numerous awards in juried shows in Illinois and California. Her drawings, paintings and ceramic sculptures are in private collections throughout the country.  In 2004, as a first-place winner in several local and national open juried shows, she was invited to participate in the "Winners Invitational National Show" in Long Beach. A few years ago, a painting was accepted in a national show in Long Beach that was juried by Laddie John Dill. Most recently, a monotype print was accepted in the “All’s Fair in Art” national show in Fallbrook that was juried by the Curator of the San Diego Museum of Art. That same monotype also received first place in two different shows juried by nationally recognized artists.

Currently the President of Fallbrook Art Association, she served as Director of Brandon Art Gallery and Publicity Director of the Fallbrook Art Association in the early 2000s, on behalf of which she also continues to volunteer as an art teacher in local elementary schools.  When asked to describe her art-related interests, Langer Baker said, “As a life-long artist and teacher, I take pleasure in giving talks and demonstrations, conducting critiques, teaching workshops and judging shows.”    A few examples of her work can be seen at Brandon Gallery, Brothers Bistro and the Professional Office Building in Fallbrook and www.brandonartfallbrook.com

Watercolor