Artist Statement For me, painting is about enjoyment; the joy of the creative process as well as the pleasure of viewing a well-crafted painting. It is a tool that allows me to reflect my own inner vision: creating the impossible and more importantly, making the impossible seem plausible. Each painting hints at a story of self-realization and gently pokes fun at our pre-conceived notions of reality and the extraordinary. My paintings portray a crisp and colorful world, alive with nostalgia, splendor, playfulness and whimsy. By taking everyday objects and imagery and putting them in a new context, I encourage people to take another look at the world around them. After all, our everyday lives are filled with wonder, beauty, and magic, if only we allow our eyes to see it. In short, I paint because it makes me happy and I want others to experience this joy. When I see someone smile while viewing my art, and I know we are sharing a common experience, there are no words to describe this feeling. It is a communication that words are not able to convey. I can create art for myself, but it is simply incomplete until I can make someone else happy in the process. Please, feel welcome, and enjoy! Biography San Diego based artist Michael Summers was born in Los Angeles, CA, sometime during the Carter administration. His hippy-bohemian parents moved him to Joshua Tree before he could walk and, as a result, he grew up surrounded by an eclectic cavalcade of eccentric art-commune inhabiting social-dropouts, idealistic dreamers, and rural American free-thinkers. He left the state in his early twenties to find his own way in the world, and after living in such diverse places as Virginia, Missouri, and Texas (where he met the love of his life, his beautiful wife, Mitzi), he returned to California to earn a fine art degree from San Diego State University. He currently resides with his wife and four cats in Oceanside, California, where he enjoys working on his house, collecting vintage pop culture Americana, and diligently working on his meticulously crafted paintings. His inspirations include the art of the late Renaissance & Baroque, the clockwork wonders of turn of the century brass and steam, antiques, vintage 70's & 80's animation & toys, comic books, early science fiction, pulp fiction novels, classic monster movies, American roots music, and the dry, dusty land of the Mojave desert. His work is shown regularly in San Diego.