ALUMNI PROFILES - LOCK BAKER ’99, BIKES AND BLADES

Millbrook is a perfect place for students to try new things, figure out what they love to do, and work towards success surrounded by supportive faculty and peers. Millbrook can also be an ideal place for students who seek to further their passions. For Lock Baker ’99, both were true for him. “I knew I wanted to be an artist since I was two years old,” Lock said. In the fall of his eighth-grade year, armed with a small portfolio, Baker visited campus to tour the school and meet Bill Hardy. He was immediately attracted to being a part of a community of like-minded people and thus began a series of fortunate choices that led Lock toward a life of art and fabrication.

Lock grew up building and crafting in his father’s basement woodshop and was right at home when given the opportunity to build sets for Millbrook’s theatrical productions in the barn. Inspired by the freedom he had to create, he fondly remembers how Bill Hardy led classes and contributed to the experience of young artists. He says, “The way Bill structured the art classes was magical. Also, it is amazing how much a space can get you excited to do art. The Mill was just so original, and I never knew you could have a class in a place like that.” Over his time at Millbrook, Lock took advantage of every possible space and opportunity to create.

He lived in New Dorm (Burton) for his three years at Millbrook. During that time he used the open space in the basement to create a 20-foot ocean kayak. Always the planner, Lock had the foresight to build a narrow enough vessel to slip out a ground-level window!

Lock adhered to a strict schedule at Millbrook. Evenings and time between classes were dedicated to exploring and honing skills as an artist. Weekends were reserved for exploring every nook, berm, bump, and trail of Millbrook’s expansive campus on his mountain bike. From sun-up to sundown, Lock and his band of bikers traversed Ski Hill, creating new paths and bumps to race down. Recognizing like-minded mountain bike fanatics at other schools, Lock planned competitions for rival groups to compete on Millbrook’s trails and traveled to other schools to do the same.

While the group had no official faculty oversight, Mr. Tilston, English teacher, Millbrook class of 1992, and an amateur mountain biker himself, set up an Intersession with a biking theme. Part of his curriculum for the week included a visit to Independent Fabrication, a company that creates custom bicycles. Inspired by the visit and feeling entrepreneurial, Lock and classmate Wynn Jewett incorporated Eastern Fabrication, their current endeavor, before graduating from Millbrook.

Lock's bikes and more on exhibit in the Warner Gallery at the Holbrook Arts Center

Lock went on to major in fine arts at Connecticut College and maintain a passion for mountain biking. As time passed, he came to realize life on two wheels was more fun with a motor. He began riding dirt bikes and then street bikes, specifically choppers. “I was fulfilling my obligations as an art student by studying things like drawing and painting, but I was fulfilling myself with things like motorcycles and automotive fabrication.”

Having learned the ins and outs of welding, Lock set his sights on designing motorcycles. After graduating from Conn College, he set up a shop for Eastern Fabrication in Connecticut and began crafting one-of-a-kind choppers.

Lock has created numerous choppers to date, building one or two bikes a year for his clients. His aesthetic is simple yet bold, and his designs include lots of bare metal. He covers his bikes in stainless steel and brushed aluminum, materials that will last a lifetime and handle everyday use without showing the wear and tear that paint will.

Aside from his commission work, Lock has built many choppers for himself over the years, taking his time and relishing the process of building them. On the bikes he creates for himself, he likes to push his own limits and try something he has never done before. “I have more fun on the bikes I put more of myself into,” he says.

Lock’s passion for design is on display in the living room of his California home. There, a dozen motorcycles stand in a row, some ready to ride and others in various stages of tinkering. Always looking to try something new and explore avenues of creation, Baker has also launched a line of knives. Transitioning from welding to blacksmithing, Lock crafts one-of-a-kind knives with exquisite attention to detail. Every knife has a leather holster, polished wooden or bone handle, and a polished blade with visible lines of grain in the Damascus steel. Each knife, each bike, is a work of art, and Lock treats them as such. He is happy spending his days cruising the California coast on a chopper or polishing a newlyforged blade to perfection. Always ready for a new venture, Lock will continue to dive deep into his passion for art and creation.