The world is filled with dreamers and chancers, makers and fakers, our needs and desires seem to have been imposed upon us making it almost impossible to escape the merry-go-round. While we try to grope around trying to make a meaning out of this unsettling comedy, life moves inevitably on.
Gerry Baptist

Gerry was born in India in 1935 of Portuguese/British parents and was educated in India and England. The Portuguese side of his family were indigo planters in India and those of his British side were merchant tailors and members of the armed forces.

His formal education was much enriched by parental encouragement, by the opportunity to experience contrasting cultures and – not least by the rich variety of books, magazines, comics, musical instruments of all kinds and every kind of drawing materials – which has significantly influenced him throughout his life.

After a foundation course at Walthamstow School of Art he went on to The London School of Printing for three years where he obtained the National Diploma in Design in 1955. He spend many years as an art director in advertising, working in England and Germany and was a founder member of the advertising agency Yellowhammer in 1972. He and his partners later worked on new product development which gave them the opportunity to explore and develop many new ideas.

His work in graphics gave him a valuable insight into many types of creativity- typography, illustration, photography and printmaking and not least curiosity.

Throughout this period of work he painted and drew and began to show his work at the Nancy Smillie Gallery in Glasgow in 1993 and the Medici Gallery in London until eventually, he concentrated full-time on his career as an artist.

He was elected an Associate of the Royal Society of Painter/Printmakers (RE) in 2008 serving on the RE Council for a three years before being made a Fellow of the Society in 2011.

Elected an Associate of the Royal Watercolour Society in 2017 and made a Member in 2019.
Made an Honorary Member of Ochre Print Studio, Guildford in 2018