Garrett Sommers

Garrett Sommers paints out of a shared warehouse studio in Northeast Minneapolis, a short walk from the Mississippi. Before he turned to painting full time, he spent years as a bicycle mechanic, and the trade left its mark: he learned how parts fit together, how tension and balance hold a structure upright, and how a well-built thing rewards patience. He still approaches a painting the same way, as pieces locking into place. Garrett holds a BA in Studio Art from the University of Minnesota and lives in Minneapolis.

Working in oil with cold wax medium on birch panel, Garrett lays down color with a palette knife in broad, flat planes. Bridges, grain elevators and snowy city streets take shape from warm brick tones set against cold blue shadow, and he leaves the ridges of paint raw so the surface keeps its texture and energy. The result is modern and geometric, yet grounded in the Upper Midwest he knows well. His canvases bring structure and quiet warmth to a living room, a home office, an entryway or a loft with exposed brick and clean lines. Below are Sommers’s canvases in our shop, ready to hang.