Today we’d like to introduce you to Skye Amber Sweet.
Skye Amber, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
As a child, I loved to draw and color and make things pretty on paper. My mother wanted me to attend art school but I didn’t want to become an artist. When I graduated I took a course in college on typography and art. My professor told me I had no technique and that I had to follow specific rules in Art to learn and create “the right way”. Let us just say, I dropped out of my courses and that summer moved to California. I wanted to become a chef and own my own restaurant since I was eight years old. I did not pursue art ever after leaving Las Vegas, Nevada. I dove head first into sales when I moved here and never went back to school because I ended up going far in sales and management. It wasn’t until 2007 when the housing market crashed, years after from 2007-2012 I was laid off due to four companies either going bankrupt or closing their doors. In 2012, when the last company went under, I didn’t rush back into work or job hunting. I started taking time to paint to fool around making art. I started posting to FB and had a big response to my pieces. From then on, I started selling them, one being $1,500 and I looked at myself and thought, wait? Art? Was my mother correct to have tried pushing me to be an artist as a teenager? From 2012-2014 I sold art EVERY MONTH and never went back to a full-time job since. I moved to LA and married and at that time was only doing canvas art. At that time, I was pregnant and had stopped painting large scale. After Ian Moon was born, I decided I would donate a few large murals (never painted before) and raise money to beautify the surrounding neighborhoods. After my first mural on Sunset and Bates, I continued to raise funds and donate. Especially where there was lots of gang graffiti and tagging. I took a lot of heat from other muralists because I wasn’t asking to be paid. I figured to stay grounded from my canvas sales, I had to give back to the community which was so new to me. After two years, I now am commissioned on all my murals and have painted utility boxes for the City of Los Angeles, Sherman Oaks and soon, Glendale! I am now a professional artist and muralist living my life and supporting my children with art! Who knew that losing a job would open up doors to painting and not only painting but giving back to a community that in turn helped my career and pushed me to work hard and never give up my NEW DREAM! I still want my restaurant but being an artist is who I am and I wouldn’t change it for the world. The universe knew my story before I did and now I get to mentor and help other artists live their dream! My company now offers paint parties, art classes, murals, art mentoring and I have taken on the first client that I am representing named Linda Billet. Amazing glass mosaic artist! Wowser! My story is that after I kept losing my jobs, I found my peace and who I really am, a creative. I pride myself on mentoring others and helping them get to the next step in their art career. I believe we all have dreams and we all make them ourselves by hard work and a great attitude. That is what gives us the luck to be successful. I never gave up after my first painting sale. I never wanted to go back to a regular job and pushed myself beyond limits I thought I had. There is no limitation to what we can imagine and do as humans in the world. Never give up and help others, that is how we learn and grow. By giving.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Hard Road. I work all day and sometimes 8-14 hours pushing through to pay my bills… Selling paintings, scheduling time daily to submit art and paint new pieces and keep up with commissions. I work so hard making sure I am also here for other artists. A challenge has been overworking myself to exhaustion. Always saying yes and then finally finding time for deadlines. Always wanting to help that sometimes I lose time to take care of me. Murals caused me at times to get sick, not wearing masks with spray paint in the heat, knowing I should and having to get over being sick from the fumes or overworking myself in high temperatures when I should reschedule. Honestly though, it has been smooth after I found a routine and started organizing and asking for help when I need it.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Skye poet – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
I am a canvas manipulator, muralist, mother and agent. I specialize in the following:
Spray Painted Murals – all happy promoting Peace, Love, Hope- NOW, Trees, Koi Fish and Flowers.
I also do POP UP Paint Parties and can up to 75 people at a time.
Large works using Positive and Negative techniques I taught myself (Self Taught, accidental artist, lol)
I am known for my fundraising for art projects and public works.
Art teacher, I teach kids and adults at my studio in Silver Lake
I am known as a go-getter, inspired by everything, lover and a giver.
I give a lot to my community and have artist Pen Pals everywhere across the world- I give free art away! EVERY TIME I SELL SOMETHING!
I am truly blessed to have my beautiful children, Kylee Starr and Ian Moon. Kylee has done murals with me for two years and can spray paint.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Always have a ton of goals, too many actually! Never stopping and planning and doing. I intend to have the biggest sales year this year and my goal is to paint 10 large murals by December and sell pieces of art from the first client I am representing. I hope to become a non-profit so I can keep helping our world by fundraising and sponsor public works to pay artists that are new to the industry and give them a chance to grow and bloom into the art industry! I also hope to make enough money with art to open my own gallery and run it in a very different way than some. I want to change the world anyway I can and help others.
Pricing:
- Sip and Paint Parties Mobile or at my Studio $25-$35 a Person
- Artwork. Ranges from $500-$10,000
- Murals $500 daily rate plus materials
- Agent. $200 sign on fee / 40% commission there after
- Art Mentoring and Art Sales Training. $100 a session / 50 minutes
Contact Info:
- Address: Silver Lake
Los Angeles, California 90039 - Website: www.skyepoet.com
- Phone: 949.547.2361
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: skyepoetcom
- Facebook: skyepoetcom
- Twitter: skyepoetcom
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
