Vision-impaired retired doctor works with teacher to sculpt
Retired Greenville surgeon Dr. Robert Baker, 93, sculpted this horse and carriage earlier this year after losing most of his sight. The piece – which was inspired by the horse and carriage he used to deliver milk as a boy – was displayed at Greenville High School’s art show.
Retired surgeon Robert Baker, left, who has overcome his limited vision to take up sculpting, sits with his son and fellow artist Bobby Baker at his Hempfield Township home, April 27, 2016. (Caleb Stright/The Record-Argus via AP)
GREENVILLE – Over a local career of more than 50 years, orthopedic surgeon Dr. Robert Baker fine-tuned his hands for the delicate work that comes with a scalpel.
In retirement, he’s picked up a new passion – sculpting – and while at the age of 93, he’s lost most of his sight, where his eyes fail him, he’s able to let his trained hands lead the way.
“He’s an inspiration,” said Greenville High School art teacher Renee Howard, who’s been working with him for the last three months. “It’s amazing to watch him work. His eyes are closed. He’s in such deep thought.”
Because he was able to see for most of his life, Howard explained that Baker can draw on those memories. To fill in the blanks, he holds and runs his fingers along models and toys.
“I can hold it up to the light and see an object,” he said. “I can remember what it looks like. It’s amazing what the brain remembers.”
He remembers the horse – Charlie – and carriage that he used to deliver milk starting at the age of eight. He remembers watching the boats at Pymatuning Lake. These are the things he makes out of clay.
Three months in, it’s a passion for him, but he admits he didn’t want to do it at first.
“I bucked at this in the beginning,” he said.
“It took a good month of persuasion,” Howard said.
“Now we can’t stop him,” his son, Bobby, added.
The idea came from Baker’s daughter, Barbara Dalke.
“Of the five senses, he still has touch, a sharp mind and he was a surgeon – with a good hand,” Dalke said.
“That’s the kind of girl she is,” Baker said. “She’s always trying to figure out how to help me.”
The family originally contacted artist and mutual friend Larry Beckstein, who connected them with Howard.
Having never worked with someone with Baker’s sight limitations, Howard said their work and process have evolved through trial and error. She guided him toward sculpting, because, she explained, “it’s tactile.”
Where painting would rely more on vision, he could sculpt through touch alone.
And he’s grateful.
“I think the area certainly is lucky to have her. I’ve never met someone so talented in my entire life,” he said. “It seems as though there’s something I can do with my time, now. I was so bored.”
His new passion is also something that he shares with son Bobby, who, too, is an artist.
“Part of the fun of being an artist is seeing what other are up to,” Bobby said. “It’s fun for me to see what dad’s doing.”
A veteran of the first MASH – Mobile Army Surgical Hospital – unit during the Korean War, Baker came to Greenville in 1955 and retired about eight years ago, although, he said, “I still go to the office and see some of the old patients.”
Setting aside his art, medical career and service record, he said he’s most proud of his foundation, which provides scholarships for students, most of whom are connected to his former practice.