Skye Amber Sweet: Carried by Soul

Posted on by Diversions LA

Intricate patterns, layered lines, and brilliant colors all draw the eye and heart to Skye Amber Sweet’s soulful work. Whether she is creating vast murals of fecund forests to lacy koi, mauve elephants, ruby roses, or explosively emotional human figures and faces, the artist captures the intensity and fleeting wonder of joyous, everyday magic in motion

She asserts that “Nature inspires me, from life to children, love and curiosity. Mostly it inspires me to be surrounded by energy in being and color from the aura of a human to the energy of an animal.”

Always prolific, working in a variety of styles ranging from abstract to impressionism to bold street art, Sweet not only works as an independent artist, but within the film industry as well, creating dynamic scenic images. She credits Hollywood for “giving me the
opportunity to create many styles and change as often as my heart allows me to. Growth!” she stresses.

Over the years life changes and simply the experience of “being” has changed her art and her approach to it. “The adventure in this journey [of life] has shown me ways of being resourceful and coherent in all passions of life from day to day and the mundane to the burning but adventurous,” Sweet says.

Her mediums are as diverse as her creations themselves. She is a sculptor, foam carver, prop maker, acrylic artist and spray paint artist. “I prefer acrylic for canvas, spray paint for murals and everything under the sun for scenic and props,” she notes.

Thematically,  she is focused on “going back hardcore to my canvas art, taking new commissions, and coming out with a new thirty canvas series which will be my first ever.”

Her current exhibition at Diversions Fine Arts is only her “second art show after purposefully taking a long break to pursue other artistic adventures.”  She firmly believes that “There is always something in store for me as I make things happen by being open, honest, and aware that art is life and life is love for the arts.”

She’s a genuine risk taker who believes that going forward, accepting risk is simply a part of her make up, a part of herself, her soul, and her inner being.  “I am awake; aware. I don’t quite understand how not to take risks. Since I was very young, through my DNA or just from the moments in time defining the survival in me, I find that taking risks is always [something that leads me] in a positive direction.

Sweet wants our readers to know that her work is “raw and real. I refuse to change for the viewer. I want people to be and see my emotion.” It is also beautiful, layered, and in many cases stained-glass-like in its absorption of light and circuitry of color.

Catch her soul-resonating work currently on view as one of three solo artists in Picnic Days now at Diversions Fine Arts in Manhattan Beach through June 28th.

The gallery is open Thursday-Sunday 12-4; there will be a closing reception and artists talk at DFA on June 28th from 1 -3 p.m.  Don’t miss the chance to see the intuitive and resonant work that Sweet creates.

Diversions Fine Arts is located at 1069 N. Aviation Blvd. in Manhattan Beach.

  • Genie Davis; images: Davis, and as provided by the artist

Karen Doyle: Life Landscapes

Posted on by Diversions LA

Whether creating lush landscapes en plein air or in her studio, Doyle shapes a visceral yet graceful experience, one awash in light and impressionistic color. Both delicate and daring, her works vibrate with the hum of sea, sky, forest, and desert alike, each brush stroke offering a rich luminosity.

According to Doyle, her passion comes from “The ochre hills of California, the dark green pines, the purple lavender fields of the Pacific Northwest, the ocean. When I am outdoors in nature, I soak up the colors, sounds, the breeze, and take it all in. I paint on location (en plein air) or from the many photos I take in an attempt to capture my the beauty I see. The landscape inspires me, but I do not wish to represent it directly. I heighten color, abstract what I see, and paint the impression and the feeling I get from the being in the landscape.”

In short, her work not only gives landscape imagery life, to her, the scenes she creates are life itself. In fact, she says that her earliest memory is of drawing. “I began learning traditional, representational oil painting and pastels at age 13, and continued painting and drawing in college. Later, in a post-baccalaureate program in Oregon, I was introduced to painting abstractly, with acrylic and encaustic mediums. Even when painting non-representationally, my work always came out looking like a landscape. This looseness and freedom impacted my oil paintings, and my landscapes in oil became more colorful, more intuitive, more abstract. That is what I love today – to interpret and abstract the landscape in oil.”

She worked in IT for Nike in Oregon before relocating to Southern California three years ago, where she was laid off and embraced her painting practice as well as teaching and volunteering in the arts full time.  Just a few days after the layoff occurred she “booked a 5-day workshop in Scottsdale taught by member of the Plein Air Painters of America. I increased my volunteer engagement in the Palos Verdes Art Center (PVCA) and joined the board. I started attending an Open Studio painting group which led to being invited to join the Experimental Artists South Bay (EASB) group and getting involved with Destination: Art in Torrance. Fast forward to today, and I am the President of Destination: Art, teaching art classes, painting, showing and selling my work, and hanging out with artist friends. It has been a fabulous transition!”

Her primary medium is oil “solvent free, on canvas or panels. I have incorporated cold wax or encaustic (hot wax) when oil painting, too. I also use acrylics to create photocollage paintings, make monotypes using a gel plate, or experiment with plaster or linocut printmaking. The latter are all a lot of fun. Oil painting is my ‘serious’ medium,” she laughs.

Since moving to SoCal in 2023,  she has focused on painting the beaches in Laguna, Newport and Rat Beach. A most recent move to the hills of Rancho Palos Verdes, has her planning to paint more at Point Vicente, Abalone Cove, and Terranea Cove Beach. I also have a lot of inspiring photos from a road trip down the coast, and want to do some paintings of the Redwood forests, Monterey, and Pt. Lobos.”

Her involvement with several different nonprofit arts groups has led to having work in several exhibitions currently, including two images at the Peninsula Center Library in Rolling Hills with The Pacific Arts Group, in Springtime on the Peninsula, up through June 18. “After that, the Associate Artists Exhibition will be hung at Destination: Art in Torrance. I expect to have a painting in that group show. I’m crossing my fingers that I will also be juried into The Summer Show 2026 at the Palos Verdes Art Center (PVAC), which is a very competitive juried group show. And of course, she has a solo show featuring some 20 works currently on view in Picnic Days at Diversions Fine Arts Gallery.

But more than exhibiting, simply painting is key for Doyle. “I paint for the joy of trying to capture that feeling of the landscape. Sometimes it is very hard work, and other times it just comes to me. I start with a vision, but then the painting takes on a life of it’s own. I do not plan my paintings – I do not draw them out first. I paint alla prima, all in one go, wet on wet, as much as possible, returning again and again as needed on larger works until they are finished,” she relates, adding, “I hope that my paintings inspire you!”

On June 13th, Diversions Fine Arts will be conducting curatorial walk throughs between 12-4, in conjunction with a tea service reception at the Manhattan Beach Arts Center, and there will be a closing reception and artists talk at DFA on June 28th from 1 -3 p.m.  Don’t miss the chance to see the shimmering landscapes that Doyle creates.

Diversions Fine Arts is located at 1069 N. Aviation Blvd. in Manhattan Beach.

  • Genie Davis; images: Davis, and as provided by the artist

Artist Jennifer Chan: The Inspiration of Life

Posted on by Diversions LA

Artist Jennifer Chan creates work that shifts like summer shadows, her varied styles and mediums slip between glowing acrylic abstracts and pours to vivid, representative oil paintings of garden hibiscus and other flora, to layered and mysteriously geometric watercolors. Chan’s wide range of work always shows an assured hand, and a sense of wonder that shapes an alive and alchemic world, one that that envelopes viewers with a palette that is sometimes intensely vibrant and other times muted and liquid.

As an artist she says she is inspired by everything from the natural world to emotions and feelings. “Many things inspire me, the wind blowing on flowers or the way the light hits palm trees or dances on leaves. Sunsets and sunrises, the sound and smell of the ocean and the ocean breeze,” she relates. Other inspiration is more ephemeral to the eye. “I am also inspired by the emotions and feelings, either of great happiness or sadness or stress, and witnessind kindness.”

On the largest scales, she notes that “Every time I step into a large natural landscape or national park, [or I’m] diving into the ocean, [I am] given more ideas for more art. However, even what some people would consider the little things- – some salt and pepper shakers on a dining table, for example, could be my muse.”

In short every part of the world inspires Chan, whose work has grown over the years since she first began her practice by taking classes in oil at the Torrance Adult School.

“I love working with oil but it is quite messy. At the time, it was easy to do since you had classes once a week to allow time for the work to dry for a week,” she laughs. “I used to paint in oils, in a very photo-realistic style. Then COVID hit, and I decided to experiment with watercolors and acrylics. ”

Along with her art practice, Chan is also a healthcare professional, work which has affected her art and her approach to it. “The COVID pandemic was very stressful on healthcare workers, so that also changed my perspective of painting.” Painting became her release, and it also became a more intuitive and rapid moving process. “That [period of time] is how I progressed from being a photo-realistic artist into intuitive abstract expressionism. I also was having fun experimenting with pours, mixed media, collage and acrylics.”

Each of those mediums and styles have continued to be a part of Chan’s enchantingly diverse art oeurve. Her use of different materials also helped to carry her through the pandemic. “The pandemic was very stressful and that definitely made an impact on my work. At that point it felt like something in me clicked and I was very inspired to paint many things,” she says.

Today, Chan primarily works in acrylics, watercolor (as in her piece Hyperspace, above,) acrylic inks, and by collaging her own paint skins and other collage papers she creates herself. “I may go back into soft or oil pastel as well at some point and at some point work in oils again. I am right now liking the fluorescent acrylics as they are very bright and fun.”

Because of the fast-drying property of working in acrylic, she can work more quickly and have several paintings in progress in a series.

“I plan to do some more pouring and abstract collages. I was initially hesitant about using flourescent colors due to  possible issues regarding lightfastness. However, I feel that some pieces will be like a beautiful fresh and alive bouquet of flowers. They are to be enjoyed in their prime moment, then they may fade some. Do you prefer live or artificial flowers? I guess that would be the question I would ask [of viewers drawn to those specific types of work.]”

Chan also says that she very much enjoys creating “collages of my paint skins from pouring and ‘up-cycling’ of those products. Before I do an acrylic pour, I put paper on the table. Afterwards, the leftover paint dries and creates a paint skin that I can incorporate into more art pieces.”

Always inventive and resilient, Chan says that thematically right now she is planning on creating “more abstract landscapes, seascapes, ocean and tropical themed paintings and doing more experimentation, maybe adding some surfboards.” She is also excited to create more work using bright flourescents.

Chan was recently honored to have her art as one of those featured on utility boxes throughout Manhattan Beach – a sure way to get her art noticed in public spaces. “I am planning to apply to more public art projects. I also plan to participate in the Manhattan Beach Annual Community Exhibition at the Manhattan Beach Arts Center, and I will also be participating in the group show for the Redondo Beach Art Group which will be at Destination: Art in July,” she attests, noting that her art studio is located at Destination: Art, and that she is also a member of the South Bay Watercolor Society. Most recently, she led a paint night, something which she found “very rewarding,” and with that in mind, she may “look into doing more teaching.”

  

She stresses that her “work is constantly changing and evolving. The sky is the limit when it comes to creation and new substrates and new materials.”

Catch the inventive, prolific, and profound artist’s work currently on view as one of three solo artists in Picnic Days now at Diversions Fine Arts in Manhattan Beach through June 28th. And be sure to follow her art journey on Instagram @jennifer_chan_art and on Facebook under the monniker Jennifer Chan Art.

On June 13th, Diversions Fine Arts will be conducting curatorial walk throughs between 12-4, in conjunction with a tea service reception at the Manhattan Beach Arts Center, and there will be a closing reception and artists talk at DFA on June 28th from 1 -3 p.m.  Don’t miss the chance to see the wide ranging and lustrous works Chan creates.

Diversions Fine Arts is located at 1069 N. Aviation Blvd. in Manhattan Beach.

  • Genie Davis; images: Davis, and as provided by the artist

Metal, Fire, and Popcorn: The Art Jewelry of Chloe Kono

Posted on by Diversions LA

Metal, Fire, and Popcorn is a guest article by Victoria Thomas

Chloe Kono wears a Protea flower tattooed on her right shoulder. This particular Protea gazes outward from an all-seeing eye positioned in its center.

“It’s my favorite flower, and with the eye, it’s sort of like my guardian, looking out for me and watching over me,” she says. The fossil record reveals ancestors of the Protea originating on the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana 300 million years ago. Their
antiquity as well as their resilience—Protea are known to bloom in the debris of wildfires—inspire Kono, a jewelry designer, to go beyond floral “prettiness” in her whimsical, often mysterious creations.

“People tell me I’m a storyteller,” says Kono, who arrived in the U.S. from Hong Kong at age 18. “As a maker, there’s a message in each piece. The message is usually along the lines of slow down and rediscover the wonder and joy we felt as kids.”

Her new “SnailMail” series featuring a spiral-shelled gastropod is a witty reminder. She says she’s only recently begun setting a timer at her shop bench, forcing her to stop, breathe, and take breaks. A repetition-spurred bout of tendonitis challenged her to pause and be more intentional about her work.

Circus themes are a favorite motif in her www.Chloeography.com digital gallery, populated by popcorn kernels, pennants, candy apples, confetti and ice cream cones as well as carousel ponies and gap-toothed clowns. Kono works primarily in sterling silver
and copper, accented with cabochon semiprecious gems. As with the maniacal kitsch-sunniness of PeeWee Herman, there may be a dry irony underlying some of the work.

For instance, a popular brooch depicts a carnival rat posing as a murine strongman hoisting an enormous barbell. Her “thought bubble” earrings, created for what Kono calls her “fellow overthinkers,” are personalized with the wearer’s choice of notes-to-
self, including expletives.

In her alphabet series, “E” is for “escape artist,” an idea which Kono captures in a pair of rings joined by a chain, with a key pattern drilled into the hand. For some viewers, this may suggest boudoir restraint and release, or some other flavor of kink. What’s the
safe-word?

Kono teaches metalworking at Adam’s Forge, and will also be offering classes at Barnsdall Park, starting in July. “The best part of teaching,” she says, “and the best part of bringing my art to trunk shows, is seeing someone smile and laugh when they interact with my work. I’m a curious person, and I’m still a weirdo being amazed by some random thing, every day. So I love giving this feeling of awe to other people.”

She describes making jewelry as her own brand of therapy, and recognizes that for many wearers, a Chloe Kono piece is a much-needed dopamine hit in an increasingly grim world.

“This is also why I’m not really a minimalist,” she says. “I get the cool, serene interior vibe, but at least the way that’s usually expressed here in the States, it seems so cookie-cutter. I always want to ask, where’s the color? Where’s the texture?
Where’s the fun? Even the most subtle Japanese home has energy, created by really powerful details. It’s not just white walls and empty space.”

Kono is herself a walking poem. Dainty, petite and porcelain-skinned, she’s living proof that appearances may be deceiving. While soft, non-resistant materials—fabric, fiber, clay, paper – have typically been the realm of female artists, she’s most at home in the primordial and, well, protean, Vulcan-like, wielding steel tools and an acetylene torch blazing at around 6,000 F degrees. Kono was a Metal Major at Cal State Long Beach. Just saying “Metal Major” makes her laugh: “So badass!”

A row of abstract-seeming tattoos on her right arm depict the shapes of various types of hammerheads (the tools, not the sharks), while a set of drill-bits is tattooed on her left biceps. She explains that her right arm signifies her creative work, while her left arm
displays personal stories: the drill-bits were lent by someone she didn’t know, and the kindness has stayed with her. Also on the left arm, a storm-cloud brightened by a cartoon smile, signifying her supportive husband. She explains that her back serves as
a living canvas for a design embodying both of her cherished grandmothers. An inked portrait of a beloved ginger-orange tabby, now deported for the RainbowBridge, also lolls on the inside of her left forearm.

A volunteer at www.lifelineforpets.org cat rescue, Kono says “I’m a cat-mom with two crazy cat-boys, a pair of bonded brothers, and I also enjoy being a dog Auntie,” she says. Many of her commissioned pieces memorialize a customer’s cherished pet.

Describing herself as “fidgety” with “a busy brain,” she wiggles a stylized popcorn kernel spinner at the peak of the pendant she’s wearing, shaped like a Big Top circus tent. “I made this popcorn topper to twirl,” she said. “So when you’re anxious or bored, you canjust relax and think about the happiness of popcorn.”

  • Victoria Thomas; photos provided by the artist and Victoria Thomas