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Mission

I started Urban Earth Solutions's to promote urban eco-living through the art and Science of earth building.  In my opinion, eco-living is not only about having an earth friendly and sustainable home, it is about living our dreams and creating new possibilities for a better tomorrow. Earth building is my contribution to helping the environment, community and to help restore balance to peoples lives. The ultimate green building material, earth is innately grounding and can get people reconnected to their environments. I feel this is very important in the urban world where the natural rhythm of life is often fragmented.  Using natural building and eco-design principles, I offer people a fresh way of looking at the world around them.  Specializing in earth building, I can literally sculpt your environment into a eco-friendly and creative living space that is design specifically for your life.

Brian Baker - Owner, Sculptor & Teacher

How I Got Started
I have always had an attraction to working with earth. Even as a little kid, I could be found outside playing in the mud and dirt. Then when I went to art school, I discovered ceramics and immediately fell in love with the medium. I went on to get both my Bachelors and Masters of Fine Arts in the Ceramic Arts.

After I received my Master's degree in 2002, I found myself living in Baltimore Maryland, where I began working as a ceramic instructor at the Maryland Institute College of Art. It was around this same time that I started to become interested in natural building and sustainable living. The more I learned about earthen construction, the more I realized how well natural building fit into my life. So, in the pursuit of a noble dream, I stepped off the path and moved out west.

Before settling in Northern California, I entered into a natural building apprenticeship with House Alive!, who are based in Jacksonville, Oregon. During this intensive six week program, I learned about all aspects of natural building with an emphasis on "cob" construction. This life changing experience, gave me the necessary skills to build and live a an eco-friendly and sustainable lifestyle. At the same time, I left feeling empowered, ready to make my dreams come true.

I see Urban Earth as the perfect marriage between my artistic background and my new passion for natural building. By bringing earthen design into peoples homes and lives, I hope to give others that same feeling of empowerment as I experienced. Through my services, I offer a way to redesign your environment and give a new way to view to the world.

— Brian B.