The subtle warmth of summer… the soft haze of coastal Southern California’s June gloom… the later sunsets, the wildly rampant blossoms, from jacaranda to bougainvillea, Birds of Paradise on the bush, gulls and cormorants on the beach, outdoor feasts at the Bowl, the tantalizing glimmer of stars and sea and neon, cruising cars, and postcard memories. These are the picnic days, and here to welcome them are three artists whose work vibrates with the joy of summer streaming in.

Karen Doyle

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

Jennifer Chan

Chan’s work shifts like summer shadows, slipping 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 range offers an alchemic world that envelopes viewers with her radiant palette.

Skye Amber Sweet

The Skyepoet of intricate pattern, Sweet’s layered lines and brilliant colors draw the eye and heart. From vast murals of fecund forests to lacy koi, aqua elephants, ruby roses, and explosively emotional human figures and faces, the artist captures the intensity and fleeting wonder of joyous, everyday magic in motion.

They sat at a table, weathered and wide,

Under cottonwood branches, side by side.

The June sun filtered through leaves like lace,

Softening time, and softening space.

Scott Worth