Born in Pointe Claire, Quebec in 1955, Adrian studied fine art at Central Technical School in Toronto, where she graduated with highest honors. After working several years as Assistant Art Director at Harbourfront Corporation, she moved to Eastern Ontario in 1980 to begin painting professionally.

Here Adrian began exhibiting her work in juried shows, and maintained contracts as a freelance illustrator and portraitist. This included a portrait of Prime Minister Trudeau and his family, commissioned by the Young Liberal Party in 1984. In the same year, one of her paintings was featured on the cover of the Canadian Medical Journal. During this period she also took time out for extensive sketching trips to Spain, Mexico and Guatemala.

In 1987 Adrian mounted a solo show of acrylic paintings, Interiors, at the Village Square Art Gallery in Ottawa, which was featured in reviews by The Ottawa Citizen and CBC Radio.

Since then, while raising a family, Adrian established Appleton Studio, where she continued producing commissioned portraits, teaching art and creating a body of work for her next exhibition. In 1995 and 1996, Reader's Digest Magazine featured one of her paintings on the cover of both their French and English editions.

In 1996 Adrian had a very successful solo exhibition of large acrylic paintings, Rural Images, at McLaren-Barnes Gallery in Oakville.

In recent years, Adrian has been commissioned to create several large publicly and privately funded murals in various locales in eastern Ontario. She was also the featured artist in 'The Humm', a local arts publication. In both 2005 and 2007, Adrian's work was chosen for exhibit in the Kingston Prize for Contemporary Canadian Portraiture, a national portrait competition. Also in 2007, she mounted a solo show, The Call of the Wild, at Lux Gallery in Carleton Place. She is currently completing a series of paintings for her next exhibition.

Adrian Baker's work can be found in numerous public and private collections across Canada, the USA, and abroad.