Using the Conceptual Framework to structure activities for the classroom, particular emphasis could be placed on the artwork of Jeannie Baker. Opportunities are also available for cross-curricular and trans-disciplinary activities. Jeannie Baker’s artworks can be used in a variety of ways for teaching and learning in the Creative Arts primary classroom. While her work is largely two-dimensional there is an element of depth created to give a strong illusion of perspective (Baker, n.d). The natural materials are preserved and colour is added. In this way the natural textures become an integral part of the artwork. Her collages are created using a combination of natural and artificial materials and where possible Jeannie attempts to use the textures from the actual materials portrayed, for example bark, feathers, earth and wool. When it comes to making the collage, the focus is first on the colour and texture, while still developing the ideas. Jeannie first focuses on the work as a whole before adding the details. The first step is to work out the ideas in drawings. The process of creating and illustrating her picture books through collages takes a substantial amount of time with most taking around two or three years to complete. Jeannie Baker’s main aim is to communicate to people through different layers of meaning in her work, some which are aimed at young children and others targeted at older readers. The Australian outback and wildlife has also had an enormous impact on Jeannie Baker’s art with many of her books having an environmental focus (Walker Books, 2008). She addresses a diverse range of issues in her work, including family, society, sustainability and environment. She has a unique and distinctly recognisable style and is well known for her use of mixed media to create detailed and elaborate collages. She has also directed several short animated films using her stories (Baker, n.d). While her genre is children’s literature, many of her more recent artworks used in her picture books have also evolved into a travelling exhibition. Jeannie Baker is a multi-award winning author and illustrator of a number of children’s picture books, perhaps most notable of which is Where the Forest meets the Sea.

She is now based in Sydney (AustLit, 2011). She attended art college at Brighton Polytechnic before emigrating to Australia in 1975 and becoming a children’s writer. As a child she loved drawing, painting and making things (Walker Books, 2008). Born in Croydon, England on November 2 1950, Jeannie grew up the eldest of six children. Jeannie Baker is an artist, author and film-maker.

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