LEGENDS mural in downtown San Diego. Don’t kill Sean Bean!
A couple blocks from downtown’s Gaslamp Quarter, a huge painted mural on the side of a building depicts actor Sean Bean holding a gun and the Twitter hashtag #DontKillSeanBean. This eye-catching public artwork was created during the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con to promote the upcoming TNT television spy thriller LEGENDS.
Poor Sean Bean never seems to survive his roles. Many of his fans are hoping he makes it through this series. He has died over twenty times onscreen.
Some of his more notable deaths?
Shot through with Uruk-hai orc arrows as Boromir in Lord of the Rings.
Falling from and then crushed by a huge antenna structure as Agent 006 in Goldeneye.
Impaled by an anchor and then blown up during a boat chase in Patriot Games.
Chased off a cliff by a rampaging herd of cows in The Field.
Shot through the neck by a grappling hook and then hung in The Island.
Beheaded as Eddard Stark in the first season of Game of Thrones.
Better luck this time around, Mr. Bean!
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L. Frank Baum wrote many fantastic, very popular children’s books.
The Coronado Public Library is featuring a world-class exhibit of Oz art and artifacts this month! Two huge glass cases full of books and collectibles and a large wall display of original graphic art are alive with the beloved characters that populate author L. Frank Baum’s fantasy land of Oz. The artwork, toys, figures and other cool stuff have been assembled from several important Oz collections, and made available to the viewing public during Oz Con International.
I’d like to share a few photos that I took!
Eisner Award-winning Eric Shanower’s graphic novels.Oz collectibles and artifacts in many languages on display.First edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz used by a Dorothy actress.Oz books and cool stuff in an exhibit at the Coronado Public Library.Colorful panels of Oz art catch the eye of library visitors.Troll Queen original comic art from Shanower’s The Forgotten Forest of Oz.More artwork based on the fairy tale creations of L. Frank Baum.Scarecrow and Tin Woodman among many characters in the collection.This Wicked Witch is cooking up trouble!
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Festival celebrates all things Oz at Spreckels Park in Coronado.
Today a special event was held in Coronado’s Spreckels Park celebrating The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum’s other popular children’s novels. The family festival was put on to coincide with the 50th annual Winkie Con, a convention for fans of the Land of Oz.
Winkie Con, now also called Oz Con International (I suspect to sound like Comic-Con International), is growing in popularity and will be held next week for the first time in San Diego. This year also marks the 75th anniversary of the classic Wizard of Oz movie, starring Judy Garland!
I strolled through the happy, colorful Coronado festival and got a few pics. According to what I’ve read, there were all sorts of activities during the day, including a children’s parade.
I then sauntered across Orange Avenue and took several photos of the famous Wizard of Oz stained glass wall inside the Coronado Public Library!
Dorothy and a Wicked Witch walk along checking out some art.Art along Orange Avenue sidewalk includes images from the Oz books.Wizard of Oz characters were all over Spreckels Park today!People enjoy music at the bandstand on a warm summer day.Kids could follow the yellow brick road and spin a prize wheel.These signs and balloons were all over the green grass.
I assume these were part of a fun kids activity.
The Cowardly Lion on stained glass at Coronado Public Library.
Now I’m visiting the Coronado Library which is located across the street from Spreckels Park.
Author L. Frank Baum spent a good deal of time in Coronado, writing many of his novels in a rented house not far from the Hotel del Coronado. (You might check out my earlier blog post on this subject!) He modeled the Emerald City of Oz after the fantastic, world famous Victorian beach resort hotel.
Because of its strong connection with L. Frank Baum, Coronado today is often referred to as the Emerald City!
These fun Wizard of Oz glass panels in the library were created by artist Brenda Smith.
The Scarecrow greets two crows and library visitors.Dorothy, Toto and Munchkins are a permanent feature of the library!
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Fresh fish on display await customers at new dockside market.
The new Tuna Harbor Dockside Market had its grand opening on the Embarcadero this morning! The fresh seafood market, which will be open Saturdays from 8 to 1 on the pier adjacent to Tuna Harbor (between Seaport Village and the USS Midway Museum), is San Diego’s attempt to recreate Seattle’s famous Pike Place Fish Market and San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf. It appeared to be a modest but very popular beginning!
There were tables and tanks of fresh fish and invertebrates caught locally by fishermen from the large fleet of boats docked nearby. The ocean off San Diego offers a bounty of healthy and sustainable food that can now be more affordably purchased by the public, direct from the source.
The catch this morning included stone crab, box crab, sea urchins, top snail, kellet’s whelks, black cod, ling cod, rock fish, sand dabs, bluefin, yellowfin, yellowtail, sheepshead and even octopus!
According to what I read on the internet, Tuna Harbor Dockside Market is the production of the San Diego Fishermen’s Working Group, which was established in 2010 to promote commercial fishing in San Diego. With the assistance of the Port of San Diego, these hard-working fishermen are adding to the vitality of an already extremely active waterfront!
A huge line of customers was still growing well before the market’s morning opening. Looks to me like they’ll need more fish!
County Supervisor Greg Cox checks out a tank full of crabs.Lots of fresh fish sold to the public on San Diego’s Embarcadero.Fisherman removes fresh catch from ice in cooler.Television reporters and San Diegans await opening of dockside market!
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El Cid sculpture in Balboa Park, by artist Anna Hyatt Huntington.
Near the center of Balboa Park, between the San Diego Museum of Art and the Spreckels Organ Pavilion, you’ll find a 23-foot high bronze statue of El Cid. The legendary hero of Spain is mounted on his horse Babieca and proudly holds a spear and shield.
The striking sculpture is formally called El Cid Campeador and was created in 1927 by Anna Hyatt Huntington, a famous American sculptor who during her life won numerous awards and commissions. Most known for her lifelike animal sculptures, she is remembered for being the first woman to create a public monument in New York City. Her Joan of Arc was also New York City’s first monument dedicated to a female historical figure.
Anna Hyatt Huntington was married to Archer Milton Huntington, a wealthy philanthropist and art enthusiast, who founded The Hispanic Society of America. He made the very first contribution to the nearby San Diego Museum of Art, in the form of the painting María at La Granja, by famed Spanish post-impressionist painter Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida.
The El Cid in Balboa Park is one of several identical statues. The original stands in front of the Hispanic Society in New York City. Other copies stand in Seville, San Francisco, and Buenos Aires.
It seems that when the statue was installed in Balboa Park in 1930, there was a good deal of public comment about the horse’s unsightly posterior, and a debate over the direction it should face! To the relief of many, the horse’s rear end faces away from the central square and nearby buildings!
A much smaller horse sculpture by Anna Hyatt Huntington can be enjoyed a short distance to the north of El Cid, right next to the San Diego Museum of Art. It’s called Youth Taming the Wild.
El Cid Campeador, presented by the Hispanic Society of America in 1930.El Cid, with Balboa Park’s House of Hospitality in the background.East side of El Cid. The Mingei Museum is in background.Balboa Park’s free shuttle passes the El Cid statue on a sunny day.
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Sorolla and America special exhibit at San Diego Museum of Art.
Light is the physical means by which my eyes see. But I often don’t see true light.
Light is a mixture of myriad colors. But I often don’t see those many colors.
Yesterday I was struck by a few small touches of rare light. My eyes widened with astonishment during a few joyful, delicious moments of revelation.
I was very fortunate and privileged to be a given a special tour of the amazing Sorolla exhibition at the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park. Catherine Jones, a docent at the museum, provided an excellent introduction to the light-dabbed paintings of a very important artist that the world has often overlooked.
Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida was a Spanish post-Impressionist painter who won several major art awards and popular fame while he lived, but who soon became forgotten with the advent of the modern abstract movement in the early twentieth century. His stylistically varied and often unusually angled images contain applications of light like I’ve never before seen. Bits of reflection and exquisite luster, and sheens of revealed color, pulled me into a world where the true essence of a subject seems to shine out like magic, but in a very natural way.
I could have gazed at his emotionally stirring, always fascinating paintings for the entire day!
María at La Granja, courtesy San Diego Museum of Art.
The above painting, María at La Granja, was painted by Sorolla in 1907. In it you can see Sorolla’s famous application of light. The piece was donated to the San Diego Museum of Art in 1925 by Archer Huntington, philanthropist and founder of The Hispanic Society of America. The very first work of art to enter the collection, today María at La Granja is probably the most recognized image in the entire museum.
Joaquin Sorolla’s Portrait of President Taft, courtesy of Wikipedia.
Joaquin Sorolla’s Portrait of President Taft was commissioned by the president in 1909. It is one of many canvases in a special exhibit at the San Diego Museum of Art assembled from museums throughout the world. Most of Sorolla’s important works are present, including Another Marguerite (1892), which was awarded a gold medal at the National Exhibition in Madrid and first prize at the Chicago International Exhibition, and Sad Inheritance (1899), which was awarded the Grand Prix and a medal of honor at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1900, and the medal of honor at the National Exhibition in Madrid in 1901.
The two paintings that I’ve posted here hardly do justice to the full range of Sorolla’s splendor. His sun-splashed scenes of beach life in Valencia, his diverse and stunning portraits, his detailed scenes of life in Spain, all the essence and astonishing light that he captured, must be experienced firsthand to be most fully appreciated.
These works by Sorolla are on display for a limited time at the San Diego Museum of Art. If you can, you really should go see them! The special exhibition ends August 26, 2014.
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Two of three Bart Club utility boxes at Eighth Avenue and G Street.
At the corner of Eighth Avenue and G Street in downtown San Diego you’ll find the Bart Club. At this location, three utility boxes have been painted with whimsical versions of Bart Simpson’s iconic television cartoon face!
Street artists are openly encouraged to make their own contributions of Bart art.
Here are some images that I recently captured…
Bart Club on San Diego street corner has fun with Simpsons character.Bart Simpson looking like a yellow cactus.Bart now has become a banana.Bart Club features many crazy images.Another odd Bart Simpson on a utility box.The many fun faces of Bart Simpson.Another side of one utility box.Imagination run amok!Bart’s unique spiky hair seems plant-like.Pop culture street art in San Diego.Artists are encouraged to contribute!
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Huge Resurrection ad on Petco Park baseball stadium.
Early this morning, shortly after sunrise, I headed down toward the Gaslamp to see what was going on at 2014 San Diego Comic-Con. Thousands of people had gravitated around the convention center and were waiting in long lines to be the first inside and attend popular panels.
I walked from the east side of Petco Park, over the Harbor Drive pedestrian bridge, and past the Hilton Hotel to the back of the convention center. I then walked back around to the front and across the street to the Gaslamp trolley station. Here is what I saw:
Sleepy Hollow covered bridge recreated in Petco Park parking lot.This big Once Upon a Time banner is falling off Petco Park!
I walked a bit northwest along Tony Gwynn Drive to get this picture.
Workers push huge Homer Simpson eyeball into a big yellow head.
Now I’m across Harbor Drive directly in front of the Hilton.
Homer’s Dome area opened on Friday behind the convention center.One of the fun Simpsons games set up on the grass by the Hilton hotel.Gotham skyline contains Riddler’s and Penguin’s not-so-secret lairs.
This is between Homer’s Dome and the San Diego bay.
A long zip line lets daring Comic-Con guests fly past Gotham City!Comic-Con fans wait in long lines for popular panels.Vehicle from Into the Storm, a new movie about storm chasers.Fan sitting by the bay behind San Diego Convention Center looks wicked.Looks like a huge Godzilla is on the rampage in San Diego!The fearsome monster rises darkly into the sky and now I’m worried.Smiling Wonder Girl is here to handle the dire situation!Someone inside this costume will keep us all safe, thank goodness.News reporter talks with very elegantly dressed Star Wars characters.Cool cosplayers were in front of the convention center before it opened.Batman zoomed by. I used Gimp cartoon filter to improve blurry pic!Captain America and others head across Harbor Drive to the Gaslamp.
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Funny Minion Captain America greets San Diego Comic-Con visitors!
I spotted some evil, scheming Minions in East Village during the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con. They were impersonating famous superheroes!
These cartoons painted on the windows of the Tilted Kilt were just plain silly, so I had to share them!
A truly despicable Minion tries acting like Superman for a change.A Minion was spotted in San Diego stuck on a window like Spiderman.Those are mighty big claws for a yellow single-celled organism!Minion impersonates Wonder Woman at the Tilted Kilt in East Village.Two eager Minions try against all odds to duplicate the Dynamic Duo.
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Gentleman heads toward downtown’s Gaslamp with a Spiderman tie.
Except for the very last photo, I snapped these pics today in the early evening as I walked around downtown San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter. 2014 San Diego Comic-Con is in full swing!
Cool Adult Swim car seems to offer free rides around San Diego.Mad Hatter guys heading down toward the center of cosplay action.It’s Spidey driving a pedicab and giving me a thumbs up!Lifetime Channel is to hold a Witches event tonight in San Diego.Mobile advertisement for the Sin City sequel, A Dame to Kill For.This colorful shop is appealing to the huge Comic-Con crowd.Gaslamp Reading Cinemas has showings, including Star Wars Rebels.Flash sign is a window wrap near Petco Park.Two hostesses at a local restaurant are dressed for Comic-Con.Lady with gigantic identification card is promoting Community.Lady swings in middle of the cool Assassin’s Creed obstacle course.This happy family belongs to the Justice League.Oh my goodness! That might be the real Dark Knight facing me!Witches were chanting in a circle by the Gaslamp trolley station.One witch hexes me with her spooky red eyes.Superman is down but not out.Is that an angry bird or a happy bird, I wonder.That arm looks downright formidable.Giant Creature catches the attention of Comic-Con fans near the Tin Fish.
This fantastic beast is called the Giant Creature. It’s piloted by a small alien on top. No, actually it contains four people who move the huge limbs from inside. The creature was slowly moving about for the nearby crowd.
Giant Creature is promoting a new fun phone app called Blippar.Pedicabs become pirate ships and carriages for Once Upon a Time.This tough vehicle is from the upcoming Brad Pitt movie Fury.Dead Island 2 ad on back of enterprising pedicab.Here comes Wonder Woman from the convention center across street.This guy is Green Goblin of Mordor.Crazy people wearing shark heads were promoting Sharknado 2.Young Princess Leia has a Sharknado 2 chainsaw.Just a whole bunch of fun cosplay up and down the crowded streets!Boy shows cool costume as I cross street in Mission Valley this morning.
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Cool San Diego Sights! 