DETAILS:
65” x 52”
Acrylic and mixed medium
Original Artwork
2015
Description: Textured to Parallel the layers of human struggle, this 9-canvas mixed medium art personifies the purity of hardships. It reflects on the intricate design that weaves each story, ultimately preparing humans for personal success.
ABOUT THE ARTSIT:
Summer In Her Own Words
Art is created when one’s heart, mind, and soul work together in harmony. It’s the crossroads at which the human need to create and imagine meet swirling emotions in need of being expressed. Art is my alternate world - an escape hatch and a sanctuary all in one, always there when life’s struggles feel overwhelming.
As an artist, I am driven by curiosity and passion. Each canvas tells its own story in the language of paints and textures, with a new storyline unfolding in every piece. Ultimately, my work is reflection of the parts of me that are hidden in my day-to-day life, the closest thing to a mirror for the soul.
In 2007, Summer Qureshi did something seemingly simple; she dusted off a childhood love for drawing and followed her artistic talents into entirely new creative territory. There, she discovered mixed media painting, and so began a lifelong exercise in imagination, experimentation, and personal evolution.
At first, Summer’s painting was something entirely private - a way of finding peace when faced with the confusing world in front of her eyes, and the even more tumultuous one behind them. Even though her friends rarely saw her without a smile, Summer was grappling with depression, but started allowing art to be a catharsis where words failed her.
As she began sharing her work with those closest to her, concerned questions like, “Dude, are you okay?”, quickly gave way to exclamations of, “Wait, this is really good!”. Healing is a process, but art was Summer’s catalyst and, with the use of one of her pieces as an album cover, it became something that she knew could serve others as it served her.
Today, living with her family in California, Summer is busily creating private commissions and displaying her latest works at exhibitions. A more positive state of mind has ushered in an abstract style that emphasizes striking embodiments of texture and flow, with symphonies of color effortlessly intertwining in ways that truly feel like visual music. Every piece is its own, as are the stories hiding just behind the canvas.
BLOOM Charity (Building Lives of Orphans From Morocco)
When I first made the decision to share my art publicly, I was against the idea of turning my creative process into a business. Selling my work felt out of line with why I chose to be an artist, so I brushed off my friends' and family's advise and continued to make art solely for the love of the process. It was the opportunity to donate my work to be auctioned for charities near to my heart that changed my prospective, and made me realize that selling my art didn't have to mean selling out - it could mean making a difference.
Now, 20% of the proceeds from each and every sale goes to BLOOM Charity. BLOOM Charity is a 501 (c)3 dedicated to building the lives of Moroccan orphans and to building a network of support for adoptive families in the U.S. BLOOM seeks to improve quality of life and long-term outcomes for institutionalized Moroccan orphans through campaigns targeting their mental health and psychosocial needs. Bloom's first campaign, Morocco's Magical PlayGardens, builds playgrounds and sensory gardens in Moroccan orphanage so the children have an opportunity to play, learn and socialize while benefiting from the healing properties of nature and the outdoors. As a mother and someone who grew up in a family with special needs children, the mission of this charity is to give hope to orphaned children who might not otherwise have the opportunity resonate with me deeply, and inspire me constantly.
