Brent Holland Baker, Dead Lye Bridge, Oil and acrylic on canvas, 12” x 9”, 2026

Maurice presents Petrichor Magazine Release Party, a celebration of the release of the brand new art publication, Petrichor, and solo presentation of new artworks by West Virginia-based artist, Brent Holland Baker.

Opening reception: Saturday, March 28th, 2026
5-8 P.M.
Hosted by Spare Room Gallery
1505 Bolton St, Baltimore, MD 21217

Closing reception: Friday, May 1st, 2026
5-7 P.M.

I

I’m coming home to Shepherdstown. The first

Time and the last. My Halo and my Crown.

My tattered boots call me to the creek. Hiking

On the side of the mountain

With You.

—Washer women—at their song,

Cornpone men spit tobacco from their perch,

While the fiddle sails under the harvest moon.

II

Bones ache in the dead of winter

Begging the warm spring air’s embrace

Landscapes that extend forever into the horizon

From the window seat looking down

From 30,000 feet,

Grids of cars buzz around a network of cement

Captured by the impasto brushwork

On the surface of an ill-begotten canvas

III

O Petrichor, your delicate scent

A French Kiss from the Lord himself

Perfumers from the furthest stretches 

Descend upon histories of my humble town

To bottle this air.

The Waters of Potomac 

Singing their Siren Tunes, while the 

Fisherman hook their worms

Under heavy tides.  A feverish

Cthulhu singing lullabies to 

My Honeypie. 

IV

Rock & Rye

Honeypie

Sing me a song.

Make me a painting

Where we can Belong.

Brent Holland Baker (b.1983) is a West-Virginia based multidisciplinary
artist. Born in Elkins, Baker was raised in the Appalachian mountains where folk art, storytelling, and traditional music provided the backdrop for his youth. His work often reflects this by taking on a more stripped down quality, with language and symbology providing the narrative. Baker’s work addresses the complications of living in a post--industrial world and the effect it has upon the human condition.

Baker has exhibited throughout the United States as well as working internationally. His work has been featured at The Journal (Brooklyn, NY), Steinsland Berliner (Stockholm, SE), Agnes B. Galerie (Paris, FR.), and Tracy Williams (New York, NY).