Gay Summer Rick

Gay Summer Rick paints atmospheric scenes that reveal an unexpected beauty in commonplace elements within the urban coastal landscape. Sparsely populated and rendered with a keen sense of place, her poetically abstracted paintings are at once dreamlike and familiar. In Rick’s vision, broad skies, calm seas, buildings, structures, and elements in the landscape are often silhouetted or bathed in the luminosity of clear, blue-white light or set aflame inside a warm, blood-orange glow that radiates beyond the canvas. Though not overtly realist, these scenes capture the energy and movement of the observable world. Claiming influences from Diebenkorn to Rothko and Turner, her unique style melds impressionism and color-field painting to describe the quiet vibration of life where the city meets the sea.
Guided by a deep commitment to sustainability, Rick employs innovative techniques to minimize her environmental impact. She applies pure pigments using only palette knives and treats the paint architectonically, layering, carving, and accumulating it, but never discarding. In this way, she completely avoids toxic solvents and prevents material waste.
Growing up in New York surrounded by artists, Rick experienced life with an immersive arts education. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the New York State College of Ceramics, Alfred University, where she drew, painted, and sculpted images on clay – handling clay like paint. After receiving a Master’s degree, she made painting the primary focus of her art practice – now, in a sense, almost handling paint like clay. A resident of Southern California for over 25 years, she maintains studios in Inglewood and Malibu.
Gay Summer Rick regularly exhibits in California and Hawaii, and has shown in Japan, Europe, and across the United States. Her paintings have been featured in museum, gallery, and public art exhibitions nationally and internationally. Her work has received numerous awards and honors, and she belongs to the Oil Painters of America, California Art Club, and Malibu Art Association. Her paintings are held in corporate and private collections around the world.