Meet Summer Voelker | Fine Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Summer Voelker and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Summer, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
My whole family is very creative. We all played musical instruments growing up and my mom taught us sewing and crochet and knitting (and a ton of other arts/craft focused things). We were encouraged to be creative. It was a great outlet for us. My older sister went to school for music, I went to school for fashion design at an art school. Now I’m an artist! I never really saw a different path for myself. Even doing other jobs, it feels like a waste of time if I’m not somehow coming back to creating. It is what I was born to do. It feels natural and right. I’m finally (after many years of practice) good at it.

“Your profession is not what brings home your weekly paycheck, your profession is what you’re put here on earth to do, with such passion and such intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling.”
― Vincent van Gogh

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As a fine artist, the path is never truly linear. It’s a meandering trail of chaos and delight that somehow takes several side quests and pastes them into a living, breathing career.

I am a fine artist who specializes in figurative work. I am known for my watercolors, mostly drippy, beautiful women and pretty flowers. I’m currently working in oils. It’s a crazy change in scale and medium, going from small notebook sized watercolor art to large, 3×4 ft oil paintings.

Being able to say I’m a fine artist is something I’m very proud of. It was a rough road to get here, financially and stylistically. You’re looking for ways to pay your rent at the same time you’re looking for ways to stay true to yourself and find yourself. It’s tough. Often you hear things like, “You have a real job too, right?” and it never feels good to justify your decisions to become an artist. Sometimes you will find yourself having to justify it even to yourself. But art is important, noble work.

One of the harder things is the same issue a lot of people have working for themselves. You have to find a way to prioritize it in your own mind, or you won’t DO the work. It takes a lot of time. If you’re smart, you can take the art you produce and leverage it into a strong income, but you HAVE to produce the work. You HAVE to put the time in, get good at something, and really relish that part, the creating. There’s a lot of alone time.

I found myself in fashion design out of college. A lot of what we would think of as “creative” work, in fashion especially, is actually pre-production prep and doing the bidding of an art director. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s a fantastic way to be a part of a team and learn how creative work really gets done from soup to nuts, but it’s not inherently creative in its own right. You’re producing another person’s vision. When doing work for others, you have to take what you can from it. There’s a lot that will help you later. Make note of the processes that you like, learn from other people you admire, and up your skills in the parts you enjoy. NEVER get good at what you don’t want to be doing.

I pursued my figurative art by way of constantly attending workshops while working in fashion and then textile design. I’m in Los Angeles and it’s a fantastic spot for incredible muses and models. With the internet now though, you can buy amazing packs of reference that are almost as good. Which is great! But truth is, nothing beats a live model. It’s like you get to capture some of their energy with your painting. It’s very synergistic.

My path has been so strange. I got a BFA with an emphasis in fashion design from Otis College of Art and Design. Did fashion for awhile, then switched to textile design, got laid off and decided to stream art on Twitch. Burnt out. Went back to corporate life, just in time – worked as a Senior Color and Print Designer at Guess, Inc for 4 1/2 years, starting right before Covid. I’m really grateful for the steady income and career through that very difficult period in all of our lives. But after being a corporate girlie, I was ready to be the artist I was born to be. I left that job and have been a fine artist since. This means hobbling together different things. There are a million ways to be a working artist, but they all include WORKING. I do live events, I have my own textile line, I paint my fine art and sell that directly. I’m still looking for gallery representation, but haven’t found the right fit yet.

I’m most proud of my first oil series, “Owning the Means of (Re)production.” It’s a self-portrait series focusing on the rights of women as people and as artists. I’m really proud of finally finding my voice and being able to express it in a very vulnerable and bold way. These paintings have come out so beautiful. It feels like a breakthrough into truly high-end, professional work, which is wild for a person to say who’s been a professional artist most of my life. It feels like another level though, in scale, skill, and theme. I can’t wait for people to see them, and see me in them.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Los Angeles is huge, but I know a few spots I would HAVE to take my visiting bestie. I live in Los Feliz and I know my neighborhood well, so we’ll spend some time here for sure.

Must eat:
All Time – Incredible food, great ambiance. My local bougie indulgence for sure.
Alcove – For a sandwich or a tea or an amazing piece of cake. Fantastic.
Silver Lake Ramen – It’s just my go-to for solid ramen.
Pazzo Gelato – This is where the locals get gelato, okay? It’s not a chain, it serves coffee until they close (at like, 10 or 11 pm), and they have vegan options that will blow your mind.
Hot Tongue – I like the thick crust vegan pizza here, so I may not eat there, but we’ll order it and eat it somewhere else.
Palms Thai – I like the food here. I love Thai food.

Must drink:
Bacari Silverlake – especially when they have live music. It’s pretty! Great place to impress out-of-towners.
The Dresden – I LOVE this place, I’m here at least a couple times a month to listen to music and have a drink.
Edendale – fun spot that has great seasonal parties and tater tots on the menu.

Must do:
Cinespia movies in Hollywood Forever. We’ll bring the pizza from Hot Tongue, or the Thai food.
Los Feliz Lifedrawing – let’s draw a gorgeous model and connect with other artists!!
Art openings and crawls – especially if Corey Helford or Copro galleries have openings. There’s so much good art in LA.
The Broad – really fun to revisit on occassion.
Ride bikes in Santa Monica along the beach. I love doing this in the summer. You can rent a bike for friends from out of town, and it’s so fun to bike, maybe have a drink, just chill and see the whole beach, from morning through sunset.
Griffith Observatory – Amazing hike, dope place to see the stars.

Honestly, LA is one of my favorite places because it’s so large and there’s never a shortage of things to do.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Shoutout to my friends and family! Especially Amy who I work with every week so we can both make our artist dreams come true, and my partner and best friend Tejas who is supportive and kind and makes sure I drink my water. Haha!

Thanks to Jaime, my close friend and agent who has been a champion of my textile design and art in huge ways and continues to be. You’ve not only been there for me, but have introduced me other fantastic people.

Thanks to Jen and Ben, who are amazing artists in their own right, but have also run an open workshop for many years that honestly feels like home. I’ve grown there and met so many other artists and it never fails – when I go by there and draw or paint, it feels like I’m where I belong.

Also a great thanks to Otis College of Art and Design. I had some incredible teachers who have shaped my life, my opinions, and my direction in various ways. Really too many to count.

Website: https://www.slowburnstudio.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/slowburnstudio

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/summervoelker/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@slowburnstudio-q5p

Other: https://www.artworkarchive.com/profile/summer-44f6654a-c307-48c4-90d2-6eef1caf5c37

Image Credits
Working photos by @moonrabbitphotography