The artist
Painting from the inside out
Every canvas begins with a feeling — not a plan.
How it started
Summer grew up surrounded by color. She didn't pick up a brush seriously until her mid-40's but when she did, it felt less like learning and more like remembering.
Her early work was tight, careful, controlled. Then one afternoon a painting went wrong in the best possible way — a smear became a shadow, a mistake became a mood — and she never went back. Now her process is deliberately loose: she starts with a color that matches how she feels that day, and lets the painting tell her where to go.
The process
01
Feeling first
Every piece starts with an emotion or memory, never a reference photo. The subject emerges from the paint, not the other way around.
02
Layering light
Summer builds luminosity through transparent glazes — sometimes twenty layers deep — so the finished surface seems to glow from within.
03
Knowing when to stop
The hardest part. She says a painting is done when it starts pushing back — when adding more would only take something away.
Materials
Summer works primarily in acrylic on canvas. All pigments are artist-grade.
Commission a piece
Each painting is one of a kind. If you'd like something made specifically for your space, get in touch — Summer takes a small number of commissions each year.