about
bio
colton summers is a painter and draftsman making paintings, drawings, and prints through sustained observation. a background in graphic design and an ongoing study of nature inform his approach. he works from his studio in southern oregon.
statement
landscape is central to my practice, but not simply as a subject. through sustained observation, it has become a way of understanding how forms relate, what remains through change, and how painting can simplify the world without reducing it.
i try to delay conscious decisions long enough for an image to emerge before deciding what it should become. once that initial response has been established, the work becomes increasingly deliberate. forms are simplified, adjusted, and rebuilt until the painting establishes its own internal coherence.
my background in graphic design informs my sensitivity to proportion, rhythm, and structure, but painting has changed the role those ideas play. formal decisions guide the image, but they do not resolve it. rather than closing the dialogue that produced the painting, i leave it intact, inviting the viewer into that same quiet, ongoing dialogue with perception.
studio
process
the studio is where observation is slowed down, tested, and rebuilt. work often begins outdoors or in the sketchbook, then returns to the studio as painting, drawing, or printmaking. each stage gives the image a different kind of pressure: direct looking, structural reduction, and material translation.
current focus
paintings studying structure, attention and atmosphere. subjects expand from landscape into figuration, interiors, and symbolic imagery. netlifytest.
current reading
- hans hofmann: The Unabashed Unconscious: jed perl
- Artists On Art: XIV to XX Century: Goldwater, Robert, and Marco Treves
events
exhibitions

active and upcoming exhibitions
no active or upcoming exhibitions
exhibitions will be listed here as they are scheduled.
past exhibitions
rogue gallery
grants pass museum of art
Members Gallery 2026 Winter Rotation
Members Gallery 2025 Fall Rotation
Fundraiser Auction
2025 Membership Exhibition
2025 rogue valley biennial
2024 Membership Exhibition
2023 Membership Exhibition
2026
2025
2026
2025
2025
2024
2023
gatherings

coming soon...
workshops

coming soon...
resources
publications
catalogs
landscape as attention
teaching materials
coming soon...
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support my continued work
if you'd like to support the continued development of this work, donations of any amount are appreciated.
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