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 various community exhibitions including 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

Sunday Fine Film Final Day at Mammoth Lakes Film Festival 2026

Posted on by Diversions LA

It’s hard to say farewell to the creative, brilliant, and always welcoming Mammoth Lakes Film Festival, but the final day has arrived.

Sunday films began with two  narrative shorts blocks. First up for us was Narrative Shorts  6 which included the splendid Tomorrow, depicting the growing bond between two young men, Eric and Oliver, in part due to a long lasting hug.

Director Christian Meola returned to MLFF this year with this second short in a trilogy planned to become a feature.

“The film is about portraying how to be expressive to anyone you want straight or gay…what comes from brotherly love and what that means for male friends,” Meola says.

Tears by Paulina Ziolkowska is a beautifully animated short; God is Delighted When We Are In Motion is a spiritually themed series of slice of life vignettes exploring the lives of a group of 18 choir boys.

Director Sophia All was represented by her collaborative director of photography who explained that the work was shot on 16 mm with a distinctive blue and beige palette.

Agata is a poignant Italian short about a lonely outsider seeking to belong at a May Day celebration in her village. Director Benedetta Fiore offers a gentle, sad moment in the girl’s life.

Breadsong is an eerie, richly rewarding tale from Estonian director Katariina Aule.

A 19th century rural family, discovers a catchy song and a broadcast from the future emanating from their children after inadvertently ingesting moldy bread. A graceful, ironic conclusion echoes the short stories of O. Henry, in this beautifully wrought film.

The compelling, shocking, and deeply entertaining documentary feature I Got Bombed at Harvey’s comes from the MLFF alumni directing team of Amy Bandlien Storkel and Bryan Storkel.

Using the Storkels’ seamless and exciting mix of actual and recreated footage along with interviews, the film follows a wild extortion plot, a homemade bomb packed with 1,000 pounds of dynamite, an evil father’s hold over his sons, and the true story of one of those sons,, Jim Birges.

According to Birges, the bomb was wheeled into Harvey’s Wagon Wheel Casino in Lake Tahoe; the resulting explosion led to Jim’s rescue from abuse.

“Very few people can go back in time to where a stranger in the 80s could’ve arrested me but instead came to protect me and change my life,” Birgis says of the FBI agent who has become his long-time friend, and who also joined him at the fest.

A fascinating, warm, and perfectly realized film, this one is a winning bet for widespread viewing, and a definite favorite.

The Documentary Shorts 3 block featured some weighty subjects.

Egyptian director and photojournalist Mahmoud Eliraqi presented the elegiac Leftover Footage. The filmmaker searched for meaning and connection between his own captured images.

He employs principles of quantum mechanics to explore unseen relationships between reality, perception, and the universe.

Is Gang Stalking Real explores a struggling friendship due to one of the friends’ addiction to meth and his fragile mental health when jailed. Director Theodore Collatos weaves a haunting story.

Koki, Ciao presents the story of the parrot companion of Marshal Tito, leader of Yugoslavia for 35 years. The bird led a celebrated and cosseted life before Tito’s demise, and his zoo cage is a sad substitute.

Finally, there’s Squeezed Light from filmmaker Les Guthman. The director looks at the Nobel-winning LIGO Scientific Collaboration’s stunning 2024 breakthrough on squeezing in quantum physics.

Guthman says that “squeezing has been an obsession for me; I have worked on this project for 11 years.”

He notes that in “these anti-science,  and anti women and people of color times, the film is important – showing women and showing science is important.”

The moving and emotional Nuisance Bear closed the fest with a stunning documentary  about polar bears navigating human life. Filmmakers Jack Wisman & Gabriela Osio. They report that the film was a “ten year investment that felt like a spiritual experience.”

This is a dynamic and stirring film that also explores Inuit life and culture as well as that of the bears.

The evening ended with festival awards – we will be back to cover the winners tomorrow.

  • Genie Davis; photos by Davis and Cheryl Henderson