MSN_101118

18 | October 11, 2018 | Malibu surfside news life & aRTS
malibusurfsidenews.com
Malibu artist keeps eyes, chin up in new series
‘Skyways and
Highways’
highlights brighter
side of traffic, travel
Lauren Coughlin, Editor
With taillights glowing
ahead and jet engines roaring
overhead, Gay Summer
Rick is content to stop and
soak it in.
In her latest series of oil
paintings, the Malibu artist
relived her journeys near
and far with a glass half
full, putting the beauty just
beyond everyday annoyances
into the spotlight.
“I just discovered that
there’s this unexpected
beauty in the typical elements,
the commonplace
elements in our landscape,”
Rick said in a phone interview
with Surfside News.
“So, once I took the time to
figure out that it’s so beautiful,
all of the stressors of
sitting in the traffic in the
freeway or circling for a
landing ... all of the stress
went away and beauty was
revealed.”
The exhibit
From 6-9 p.m. Saturday,
Oct. 13, there will be
an opening reception for
Rick’s new solo exhibition,
“Skyways and Highways,”
at Santa Monica’s bG Gallery
(3009 Ocean Park
Blvd, Santa Monica).
The exhibit is to remain
on display through Nov.
10, with two other special
events planned. From
2-4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 28,
Rick’s colorful works will
be accented by a poetry
afternoon (with themes of
nature and people, to match
Rick’s art), and from 5-8
p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10, a
final reception is to take
place.
BG Gallery, which relocated
and opened its current
location in April, is
open from 11:30-6 p.m.
Tuesday-Saturday.
Gallery Director Om
Bleicher said Rick’s works
are always well received at
the gallery, which she has
been exhibiting with for
about eight years.
“She’s one of our most
popular artists and has been
since we’ve started working
with her,” Bleicher said.
For “Skyways and Highways,”
about 15 pieces
will be displayed, with all
pieces being available for
purchase.
“It’s unique and beautiful
work that really speaks
to the location and to our
times, but ties into the impressionistic
and [colorfield
movement] histories
of paintings,” Bleicher said.
“ ... It’s a new look. In the
past, her work has looked
at the city and the coast, but
shes turning her view up to
the skies now as well.”
The inspiration
Living in Malibu, Rick’s
travels often depend on
the clogged Pacific Coast
Highway. Meanwhile, she,
like many in the area, began
to notice the roar of
planes flying overhead after
the NextGen flight paths
went into effect.
While both of these
could — and certainly do
— leave some frustrated,
Rick, though initially irritated,
chose to “make lemonade
out of lemons.”
“We might not be able to
change the flight patterns
today, but we have to live
For more information ...
• For more on Malibu
artist Gay Summer
Rick, visit www.
gaysummerrick.
com or check out
her Instagram, @
gaysummerartist.
• For more on bG
Gallery in Santa
Monica, visit
bGartGalleries.com or
call (310) 906-4211.
with it for awhile,” Rick
said. “Let’s figure out a
way to live with it in a way
that can deliver some kind
of beauty.”
About a year and a half
ago, with her eyes on the
sky and her mind set on a
new series, Rick also began
to revisit footage from
some of the more memorable
flights she has taken
over the years. She also
arranged upcoming travel
plans with special consideration
to her flight’s timing
and her seat choice.
One of her new paintings,
titled “Window Seat
to JFK,” (above) shares her
view of the orange sunset
and city lights, all glimpsed
from her window seat on a
plane this past summer.
“There’s this moment of
calm when you’re sort of
on approach and you know
that you’re about to head
into New York City —
this loud and crazy energy
place — [but] on that flight
there’s this quiet calm,”
Rick recalled.
Other works embody
planes taking off from
LAX, a sight Rick often
goes out of her way to take
in even when she’s not getting
on a plane.
“Window Seat to JFK” is among the oil on canvas paintings which will be displayed in
Gay Summer Rick’s solo exhibition in Santa Monica, which opens Saturday, Oct. 13.
Image Submitted
“If you just really take
the time to look at where
you are and how beautiful
it is, it’s really such a joy,”
Rick said.
The technique
Like her paintings,
Rick’s technique also is inspired
by her surroundings.
Rick hasn’t picked up
a paintbrush in more than
eight years. No, she is
not resting on her laurels.
Rather, she employs a
unique technique in which
she uses a palette knife,
giving her pieces texture
and depth.
It is her way of making
her craft environmentally
friendly. The environment
is never far from her mind,
Rick said, as her studio
overlooks the Santa Monica
Bay.
“There’s the consciousness
element of what it
takes to paint with a brush
and to clean the brush and
what goes into the water
Gay Summer Rick, of Malibu, poses with one of her
paintings, which is currently on display in Hawaii.
Photo Submitted
supply,” Rick said. “ ... I
feel like I have to be a good
steward of that bay and of
that environment.”
And, with “Skyways and
Highways,” Rick hopes to
also inspire onlookers to
enjoy the positive elements
in their everyday views.
“I think when people
look at these paintings
they’re like, ‘Wow, I never
thought about traffic this
way,’” Rick said. “My goal
is to give people a sense of
calm and quiet in what had
once been thought of as
your everyday chaos.”