Morgan Sommer

I am a Wichita, Kansas based artist and marketing consultant. I am a Southern California native but relocated to Kansas about 6 years ago to be closer to my husband's family. This allows us both ample space for our various artistic pursuits, our 5 cats, and for extensive gardening. I am from an Italian American family filled with artists. My deceased father was an accomplished painter in Los Angeles and one my motivations is that I hear his voice telling me to paint and many times when I’m in the flow I feel I’m channeling something of him. My sense of color and light and my love for all rich, vibrant, and deep colors comes from my love of gardening, and the wild colors and combinations we see in nature from a sunrise, sunset, storms, the ocean, mountains, deserts, to birds and flowers, and all of the creatures with whom we share our planet. In my own garden I love to cultivate flowers that are anything but subtle or inconspicuous. I have a few distinctive styles of painting that I pursue simultaneously, surrealist dreamlike images and creatures, highly expressive and geometric pieces that I refer to as "lyrical abstraction," and abstract expressionist color field painting explorations directly from the subconscious with no p...

Growing up in San Diego, at the beach, I spent a lot of time riding around on my own on my bike with a sketch pad. In high school, I was notorious for drawing and sketching in class while listening to lectures. I went to college on the North Shore of Oahu for two years studying biology, botany, and zoology. I was at the beach with my text books and my sketch book. I became obsessed with the patterns, colors, and crazy combinations of plant and animal life while there. You will see this influence in my work. Later I attended Hampshire College, in Amherst, Massachusetts where I was encouraged to blend my various intellectual and creative endeavors into a cohesive program. My areas of focus were philosophy, physics, and creative writing. But I continued to draw and paint here too. The forests of New England provided more imagery and textures for my imagination. I have have studied with various artists in a number of styles and mediums over the years. I have worked in oils, pen and ink, watercolors, and pastels. I am currently part of a group of artists who meet weekly to share our newest work and to offer critiques. I find this process very helpful to keep honing my skills, gain access to other people's insights, techniques ...

Solo Show: "Contours of Cognition: The Syntax of Abstraction" Friday January 17, 2025 in West Hollywood CA - The Gallery @ Circus 8225 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90046-5912, United States