SPRUCE UP YOUR WORLD WITH ART!
by Niki Dowdell
Sister 2 Sister Magazine
June 2005
"
Summer Dye is a full-time artist whose work just begs to hang on your walls. She specializes in mixed media painting, often incorporating, leaves, flowers, grains, and even glitter. So what inspires Summer? ""My inspiration is definitely my relationship with the Lord, being in love, and nature." Her love of nature is evident in many of her pieces with its flowery themes filled with trees and birds... Summer is currently displaying her work in numerous art exhibits and galleries in the Washington, DC area..."
------------------------------------------------------
SUMMER DYE:
A MIXED-MEDIA ARTIST AT HER BEST
by: Erica Williams
The Hilltop: Howard University Newspaper
8 February 2006
Her work has been displayed in various art galleries and shows throughout the mid-Atlantic region. She's even been featured in publications including Sister2Sister Magazine. She's a fulltime artist who has a passion for the arts and a talent for creating astonishing visual images. "When I paint, it's really a dance," says mixed media artist Summer Jasmine Dye. Having received a B.F.A. from Howard University, Summer's resume in the arts was impressive before attending Howard University and she continues to flourish over six years after leaving the Mecca. Always backed by a passion for self-expression, Summer's talent has grown from a hobby to a flourishing business, allowing her art to grace the walls of many homes, offices, and galleries. A native of Montclair, N.J., Summer admitted that she was always "nourished in the arts." "Montclair is full of the arts and both my mom and dad are very artistic; so art has always been a part of my life," Summer said. However, while Summer said she was always a visual artist, she didn't realize she was a painter until 1997 when she did her first media piece, working with a Trinidadian painter who was also a family friend. "Working with this painter allowed me to try different things," Dye said. "During this time I was able to apply natural material in the arts." Using an array of natural objects including leaves and flowers, Summer produces visual images that are both unique and romantic. "I admit, I am a helpless romantic,"she said. "Romanticism and of course my relationship with God, my spirituality, are the inspirations for my visual images." Summer credits her "growth in spirituality" to her time at Howard. "I decided to go to Howard instead of Parsons School of Design in New York. For some reason, I felt that God was telling me to go to Howard and this is really where my relationship with the Lord [started]," Summer said. Summer also credits Howard for allowing her to "find her style". "At Howard they teach you the basics and give you a very good background in the arts. They teach you how to flourish in your own style," she said. And flourish she has done, a creative visual artist, Summer's art is strong yet sensitive, warm and romantic, but most of all inimitable. Realizing that art is a means of self-expression at its highest form, Summer uses her art to entice emotion and convey a positive message. "From my work, I would like people to see that there's an importance in our generation to prioritize love and family; to realize that producing healthy families is important and can still exist." Summer explains her art further by saying, "Most of my pieces reflect my relationship with God as the creator, a husband, a father and as omnipresent." Admitting that she cannot recall a time in her life when her art did not reflect what was happening in her life spiritually, Summer uses her spirituality as a basis for her work. "Now I can honestly say God is in control, not only in my art, but also in my life."
---------------------------------------------------
Anxious Angel Taking Orders
by Jasmin Carroll
UrbanKingdomMagazine.com
23 July 2006 DC
Artist Summer Dye creates nature. And with paint and sand she watches love happen and caresses other art forms, relationships and the female body. Summer Dye’s art online gallery holds in it a palpable love for marriage, the seasons, the female body and art itself. In her art you will almost always notice the leaves and the wind. In Honeymoon, romance is at the center of creation. The tones are dark, like black love. Her paintings have a pulse and you always see strong, sturdy branches and leaves holding steady in the mists of turbulent nature. "The seasons really inspire me," says Summer in her home in D.C. "The substance of that media. That something grew and God just made it grow... beautiful things that I cannot make myself... I love to take that thing and put it into the art." In the paintings, Jazzy and Latina we see two completely different women. The Latina here is sad and proud. The painting looks like a snap shot given begrudgingly by the subject. She resembles heartache and her heartache is beautiful. Where as Jazzy mixes motion and music to complement a woman’s body. Soulfulness represented two different ways. "I think you’re kind of born an artist. I think that with any dream or goal, as long as you don’t give up, it’s gonna’ happen. Whatever you think that you have a passion to do, or even if you’re not passionate about it, it’s something that just comes out of you in excellence. Make sure that you always nurture that gift – take classes in it to make sure that you’re always ready for when the time comes that you’re supposed to do it professionally." "My relationship with God inspires me. Just to see how calm and peaceful He is." This type of relationship, for an artist, takes courage. Talking with Summer you realize that she knows the difference between being strong in the world and strong with God. When you answer only to yourself and your whims, the sky is the limit. When you answer only to God and His will, "the highest heavens, cannot contain Him." (2 Corinthians 2:6), so the highest heavens cannot contain you. When our conversation turned to the average person just working a job as opposed to having a career, Summer shows that God has given her the eyes to see and the ears to hear in our community. "So many people get afraid to really do things that are outside of the workforce. But wealthy people create the workforce to make [themselves] wealthy. They create school systems as well, to train workers to work for them. So, it’s important for you to have your own calling and to follow it. It’s important to understand that God has made us the head and not the tail and in the right season, He’s gonna’ bring you to a place where he calls you to be that particular thing." Summer has been in relationship with UrbanKingdomMagazine.com since its former cover as BlackCityMagazine.com. Please support her walk with God. She has been blessed with a gift that will surely bless you. Her art is courageous, vibrant, affordable and available online at www.summerdye.com.
Blogs Links
Mood Board
http://moodboard.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/07/artist-summer-dye.html
Design Lovely
http://www.twolia.com/blogs/designlovely/2008/11/20/featuring-summer-dye/
"I first came across the talented and inspiring artist Summer Dye while perusing my Boho Magazine. I saw the “Anxious Angel Taking Orders” painting (shown bottom left) that she did in the Boho Magazine and I fell in love. (I love that Title too.) I looked her up and sure enough she has plenty more gorgeous pieces. I especially like the ones with an autumn feel to it like the leaves in the squares painting on the top left. I like that she incorporated pink in their as well. Check out more of her lovely art over on her website here."
Summer's Artwork was also featured in the
December 2008
Issue of
BOHO Magazine