“It’s okay to make art that is beautiful and rich with spiritual meaning.”
From the Sunshine Coast to Studio Light
Born and raised on Queensland’s serene Sunshine Coast, Ella Baudinet’s journey as a contemporary artist finds its roots in the natural beauty that surrounded her childhood. The ocean, the sand, and the endless skies of her early environment laid the foundation for a lifelong connection with organic forms and atmospheric elements. Now based in London, Baudinet’s creative practice carries echoes of those early landscapes, filtered through a refined and deeply introspective lens. The support of her family was instrumental in shaping her path. Their encouragement of creativity gave her the confidence to pursue art without compromise, allowing her to see artistry not as a risky ambition, but a meaningful and viable life path.
Baudinet’s formal training began when she made the decision at age 21 to pursue a degree in fine art in Melbourne. The shift from intuitive, self-guided painting to the academic rigor of art school introduced both growth and challenge. While the institution exposed her to a variety of media, including performance and sound, it also reflected a strong conceptual bias that often dismissed aesthetic beauty. Despite this, she remained committed to painting, integrating a new spiritual dimension into her work after discovering meditation. This practice soon became more than just a wellness routine; it evolved into a fundamental component of her creative methodology, helping her access visions that would guide the compositions of her paintings.
Her relocation to London marks not just a geographical move, but a conceptual expansion of her work. The emotional and spiritual transition between these two places culminated in the creation of Salvation, an oil on canvas painting that functions as a symbolic farewell to a chapter of her life in Australia. Completed just before her departure in early 2024, the artwork holds a personal narrative of rebirth and transition. Subtle skull imagery embedded in its layers alludes to death and renewal, capturing the dual emotions of closure and possibility. Now housed by her gallery in Madrid, Salvation remains a visual milestone in her journey, embodying both an end and a beginning.
Ella Baudinet
Zenith
Oil on canvas
70.5cm x 90cm
Ella Baudinet: Painting Against the Grain
From a young age, Ella Baudinet demonstrated an unwavering commitment to painting. Encouraged by her grandmother’s connection to a local artist, she was introduced to oil painting at just eight years old. Her early interest in realism led her to develop impressive technical skills throughout her adolescence. However, her time in art school prompted a radical shift, compelling her to abandon visual references and focus on intuitive exploration. Despite a clear vision of the work she wanted to create, her abstract paintings were often dismissed as decorative, and her choice of color palette was seen as more compelling than the work itself. These criticisms, while disheartening, became catalysts for transformation.
The culture of her academic environment presented persistent hurdles. Baudinet encountered an ideological resistance to beauty, where emphasis was placed on conceptual installations rather than painting as a valid form. Students who favored aesthetics were regularly discouraged, often to the point of artistic abandonment. One particular critique, in which she was told to discard all of her paintings except for a single one, solidified her resolve to pursue excellence on her own terms. Rather than conforming to institutional expectations, she chose to reclaim the legitimacy of beauty in contemporary art. This decision became central to her purpose: to not only master her craft but to prove that aesthetic richness and conceptual depth can coexist meaningfully.
In her current work, Baudinet frequently draws from the iconography of Renaissance art, integrating traditional motifs with contemporary techniques. The spiritual and symbolic weight carried by classical works resonates strongly with her. She finds deep alignment with the old masters’ dedication to artistic discipline and the transcendent intent behind their creations. In contrast, much of today’s institutional art feels cerebral and emotionally distant to her, emphasizing intellectualism at the expense of visceral or spiritual engagement. Her paintings challenge this tendency by offering visual portals that are not only technically sophisticated but emotionally expansive. For Baudinet, creating beautiful art with profound inner meaning is not an outdated ideal but a powerful, necessary act of reclamation.
Inception
Oil on canvas
80cm x 120cm
Vision, Practice, and Inner Precision
The ethereal quality in Ella Baudinet’s paintings can be traced to her long-standing fascination with the surreal. Whether in art or cinema, she has always gravitated towards dreamlike visuals and themes that speak to the subconscious. Her canvases reflect this influence, often described by viewers as visual dreamscapes. These works are not just aesthetic exercises but emotional landscapes that emerge from meditative states. Through her regular meditation practice, Baudinet receives vivid internal visions which then guide the composition, color, and energy of her paintings. This spiritual process is not supplementary to her work but serves as the primary source from which each piece evolves.
The path to developing her distinctive visual language was neither instant nor linear. For several years following art school, she struggled to fully manifest the vision that had initially inspired her during her studies. While the paintings produced during this period held emotional authenticity, they lacked the precision and clarity she aspired to. One day, a solution emerged: she began digitally composing her paintings before touching the canvas. This shift allowed her to test compositions and colors without the risk of destroying a painting mid-process. Her first digitally referenced artwork in 2020 marked a major turning point. From that moment, the process accelerated, and her ability to translate vision into form became more fluid and exacting.
Technology has since become a valuable tool in her practice, not as a replacement for intuition, but as a means of sharpening it. Digital referencing has enabled her to explore greater complexity in scale and composition, elevating the craftsmanship of her paintings while preserving their emotional and spiritual origins. Baudinet believes that digital tools offer a powerful extension of the artist’s vision, and encourages other artists to engage with them without fear of compromise. Her experience demonstrates that innovation and tradition are not mutually exclusive, but can enrich each other when used with intention. The synthesis of meditation, wellness, and technology continues to define and expand the possibilities of her artistic evolution.
Salvation
Oil on canvas
200cm x 300cm
Ella Baudinet: Where Discipline Meets Devotion
Structure plays an essential role in Ella Baudinet’s daily routine, not as a constraint, but as a framework for creative freedom. Her mornings begin with journaling practices focused on gratitude, goal-setting, and clarity of intention. This mindset carries into the studio, where she balances rigorous discipline with intuitive flow. She often speaks of harmonizing masculine structure with feminine creativity, setting up her day in a way that supports both productivity and openness. Physical practices like yoga and exercise further anchor her process, ensuring that her mental and emotional state is clear enough to support sustained creativity. When she is fully immersed in painting, she often works obsessively for weeks at a time, surrendering to the intensity of the creative process.
Following a highly productive year filled with commissions, new works, and the recognition of winning the Lorenzo il Magnifico First Prize for painting at the Florence Biennale, Baudinet finds herself at a rare pause. This moment of openness is one she intends to use not for rest, but for experimentation. With no immediate deadlines, she is eager to explore new painterly techniques and revisit the playful side of creation that can sometimes recede under the pressure of exhibitions and accolades. For the first time in months, her studio is a space of pure exploration, where instinct takes precedence over outcome, and curiosity leads the way.
Beyond her own artistic development, Baudinet feels increasingly called to share her experiences with other creatives. Having navigated both institutional discouragement and personal breakthroughs, she is considering new ways to support fellow artists, possibly through written reflections or workshops. This impulse reflects a broader ethos within her practice: that artistry is not a solitary pursuit, but one that flourishes through connection and mentorship. By documenting and sharing the tools, habits, and philosophies that have empowered her, she hopes to foster a community of creators who are not afraid to embrace both beauty and meaning in their work.
