Jon Summers, Artist

 

Hello and welcome to the 70th 3 Art Questions With Jackson interview with the amazing painter Jon Summers. I first came across Jon's work in his show Seasons at Anderson O'Brien Fine Art in Omaha while on an art road trip with my Dad. My Dad and I both loved the show and I have been paying attention to everything he does on his Instagram since then. I love the large scale and the amazing colors! His answers to my questions were thoughtful and interesting and I think you will agree. I feel like Jon and I have a similar approach to making art. Thank you for reading! (Website: Jon Summers Art / Instagram: @jon_summers_art (Photos 1, 3, 4 and 5 courtesy of the artist, photo 2 from @artworldexploration)

Jackson: Were you interested in art as a child or did you have an experience that made you an artist?

Jon: I have always been interested in art. The art I did as a child was very different, though. As a kid, I mostly drew trucks and cartoon strips. I thought I would be a draftsmen or an architect or maybe a commercial artist. I went to college thinking that's what I would study. During my first year at Kansas City Art Institute, I was encouraged to try lots of different mediums. This is when I started to really enjoy painting.

Jackson: How did you arrive at using abstract colors as your primary way of making art? Does it have conceptual meaning for you as well?

Jon: My first paintings were very layered and textured. I sometimes incorporated modeling paste and cheese cloth. I was really enjoying the process and these early painting were pure abstraction. My sketchbook drawing, however, were of landscapes. I was encouraged by a professor to get out and draw things in nature. I ended up drawing a lot of construction sites focusing on the geometric shapes I saw. These drawings began to influence my paintings and I started focusing on the distance between objects, shapes and shadow. I began to prioritize foreground, middle ground and background. The more I painted, the more I learned about color and the relationships between colors. My current work is still largely about the process but now incorporates an awareness of the landscape. My canvases combine vibrant colors with my interpretation of what can be seen in nature. My hope is that viewers are drawn into my landscapes in a way that feels familiar yet completely undefined. 

 

Jackson: If you could meet any artist living or dead, who would it be and why?

Jon: As an artist, I believe it's important to continue to learn and grow so I am continually looking at the way in which some of the artists who came before me handled spacial relationships. I have been drawn to the Impressionists, my current favorite being the father of Impressonism, Claude Monet. I would like to share my admiration for his work with him and I would like to learn more about his day to day, his process and the materials he used.