Robert Baxter

I paint pictures of people enjoying themselves; at a cafe’ ,on a picnic, walking the beach, riding surf, dancing, flirting-- that kind of thing. The paintings I do always take place in good weather. The interiors that I paint are always a bit classy, although interior decorators might disagree.

When I paint landscapes, the sun always shines, although I find fog quite good as well.

When I paint nudes, I mostly paint to enjoy myself, although I have received several commissions of this subject.

I like to paint musicians as well: string quartets and jazz musicians mostly, while listening to them: Marian Mcpartland, Teddy Wilson and Jellyroll Morton are favorites. I also like George Jones and Merle Haggard and Bob Wills.

I have spent too many years as an illustrator, sometimes to the detriment of my painting.

Although I live on the NEast coast, I never paint Winter because I don’t much like it.

I have had the good fortune of being in the arts since 1954 after being discharged from the service and having the GI Bill pay for my stay at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles. It is now called California Institute of the Arts. I was a scholarship student my last year.