Artist Name: Annie Baird
Annie Baird Annie Elizabeth Baird (nee Mitchell) was born at Owaka in South Otago in 1932. Her father, Joseph Mitchell, owned a sheep farm in the area and married Jessie Olive Harris, a music teacher. They had three daughters, Mavis Margaret, Annie Elizabeth and Josephine. Joseph Mitchell contracted hydatids and died in 1939. Olive Mitchell endeavoured to continue farming but found the burden of a young family too much to bear. Thus they moved to Brighton, 18km southeast of Dunedin, where they would be closer to relations. After leaving school, Annie took up dressmaking and served an apprenticeship at Dreavers Ltd. in Dunedin. Annie continued to support herself with sewing until 1954 when she met and married Maurice Baird, with whom she had four children. Because of her dedication to home-making responsibilities, it was 1965 before Annie was able to turn her attention to her first love, painting. Those first years were very difficult, but the drive and determination she possessed carried her through. She also completed a correspondence course in Commercial Art and received a diploma. In 1973 Annie entered the National Bank Art Awards and won the watercolour section with a self-portrait, a double portrait consisting of two images as seen reflected in a mirror. Until then Annie had concentrated on oil painting, but from then on she gave more attention to landscape watercolours. She was soon seen picking up awards throughout the country and mounting solo exhibitions in all the major centres. Annie illustrated three children’s books, each of which were marketed successfully. In addition, for five successive years she published calendars in association with Millwood Gallery Wellington where she was an artist in residence for those five years. Annie’s style was unique in that she was able to generate it from within as a result of her prolific study of her subject. This included her extensive reading in art and art history, and also from the experience derived from a prolific output. From 1990, Annie travelled annually to Europe to paint ‘in the footsteps of the masters’. France was the place which most fascinated her, particularly Provence and the French Riviera, and later Tuscany in Italy. During her life as an artist, Annie dedicated herself to the study of her subject. She read extensively, and when not painting she visited galleries wherever she happened to be. Among them were some of the most important galleries in the world. She also continued to experiment with the application of watercolour until she could work with a very limited palette. Although the work she produced in Europe was very popular here in New Zealand, Annie never approached any galleries overseas with her work, believing strongly in her New Zealand heritage.
|
