School students create amazing chalk art on a Little Italy street for the 2014 Festa event.
2014 Festa takes place tomorrow! The extremely popular event, this year celebrating its 20th anniversary, will be held as usual on the streets of Little Italy, a neighborhood on the north side of downtown San Diego. I’m excited!
Why?
The Gesso Italiano chalk art! Several city blocks will be overflowing with absolutely fantastic artistic creations! Perhaps you remember my blogs posts about the astounding chalk art at 2013 Festa. You’ll find them here, here and here.
Today a small army of artists began to work on a several block stretch of bare asphalt in San Diego. Tomorrow over a hundred thousand people will crowd Date Street and admire the finished masterpieces.
One block of Date Street has been reserved just for school kids! They were hard at work when I walked past today mid-afternoon!
Stand by for loads more photos tomorrow! I’m heading out to Festa in the early morning wearing comfortable walking shoes!
Washington Elementary STEAM students attend school just up the street.This Italian chalk art will be admired by tens of thousands on Sunday.Roosevelt I.B. Middle School students work on a scene that includes a gondola.The many chalk artists usually use existing images as a guide.Gesso Italiano chalk art is extremely bold, bright and colorful.Santa Fe Christian High School students were creating some fun, inspired art!Grant Pecoff has a studio in Little Italy. His original artwork is being duplicated.Torrey Pines High School National Art Honor Society student works on asphalt canvas.Platt College had partially completed this, but no one was present when I walked past.13 year old Lidia F. Vasquez has been creating stunning chalk art for 4 years!Here’s what Lidia is working from. She attends High Tech Middle School.And this is the super cool, mind-blowing masterpiece young Lidia is producing. Wow!Teresa Elliot is almost finished with this abstract many-colored human face.The Mount Miguel High School design appears to contain a cherub with rainbow wings.Very talented young people are hard at work on a sunny day in San Diego.Team from Cathedral Catholic High School works to create some elaborate art.Chalk outlines of human figures that are slowly taking form.Torrey Hills Elementary kids are making something Italian that looks tasty!San Pasqual High School still has a bit or work to do. I can’t wait to see it finished!Lincoln Acres Art Program is creating a cool Mona Lisa optical illusion with chalk!I could take photos of this incredible stuff all day!One block of Date Street at Festa is dedicated to school students and their art!
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Beginning my walk south from Crystal Pier along the boardwalk.
Now please walk with me as I head south down the Pacific Beach boardwalk. We’re starting at Crystal Pier and going all the way to Hamel’s down in Mission Beach. It’s one of the most amazing walks (or bike rides) in all of the world!
Cool octopus art made of tile, stones and shells.
This bit of artwork was next to the walkway right by the pier.
Folks head toward a hungry shark and big ice cream cone!Youth hostel by Pacific Beach boardwalk has a sunny mural.A small backyard is paradise on the beach!Colorful surfboards by beach contain happy messages.Fish tacos are a San Diego specialty!Shells and boogie boards line the boardwalk for passing tourists.Just a sample of what you’d see while walking along the beach.Looking out toward umbrellas and the blue Pacific Ocean.Several camps on the sand teach people to surf.Kids learning to surf file along carrying surfboards.People chat as a lifeguard watches the beach from a tower.Colorful beach toys left forgotten on the concrete sea wall.Beautiful and unusual houses line the boardwalk.The Surf Rider building includes a huge surfboard!Bicycles are a very popular mode of transportation.I reached the Hamel’s castle surf shop in Mission Beach!Lady looks through a high stack of surfboards.Cool mural in alley shows a roller coaster.
This mural in the alley behind Hamel’s shows a roller coaster. Is there a roller coaster nearby in Mission Beach? Yes, indeed! We’ll visit Belmont Park in my next blog post!
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My very, very, very favorite place in all of San Diego County is Torrey Pines State Reserve. It’s located along the Pacific Ocean in northern La Jolla, between the famous Torrey Pines Golf Course and Del Mar. I took a trip there this morning! I got so many pics, I’ll break my visit up into several blog posts!
Let me start by taking you around the Guy Fleming Trail loop.
There are many hiking trails to explore in Torrey Pines State Reserve. Reaching this particular trailhead requires a short hike or drive from the entrance gate up steep Torrey Pines Park Road. As you head on up, you see numerous pine trees growing atop and clinging to eroded sandstone cliffs. These are the endangered Torrey pines (Pinus torreyana). They can only be found here and on the small island of Santa Rosa, off the coast of Santa Barbara. A good concentration of them can be seen on the Guy Fleming Trail.
Diversity amid adversity on the Guy Fleming Trail.
Here we’ve stepped onto the looping 2/3 mile easy level trail. We’re going to proceed counterclockwise. Look at the sign. It reads: The Guy Fleming Trail features a variety of habitats and rare plants. Where else in the world can you find cacti and ferns growing side-by-side under the canopy of a Torrey Pine tree? As you walk along this trail, consider the variety of biomes that you see and factors that create them. Not only must plants adapt to southern California’s climate of hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters, but also variables of solar exposure, salt-laden winds, and erosion.
Trail passes under many endangered Torrey pines.Wind-twisted branches of Torrey pines in the State Reserve.Walkers pause to enjoy a breathtaking ocean view.
Here we are emerging above the wide Pacific Ocean. These ladies are gazing off into the blue distance. As I came up to them today, they asked excitedly: “Did you see the whale?” A gray whale migrating back northward to the Bering Sea was lingering just beyond the breakers, touching the surface and spouting every few minutes! This whale seemed to be heading north from Mexico a bit late. It’s almost May!
Looking north near a scenic overlook on the Guy Fleming Trail.
This is one reason why Torrey Pines State Reserve is one of my all-time favorite places. Incredible views! You can see a portion of Los Peñasquitos Marsh Natural Preserve and Lagoon.
Torrey Pines State Reserve entrance gate far below.Mojave yucca grow beside amazing trail at edge of steep cliff.
Now we’re heading south along the edge of the cliff. Torrey Pines State Beach is far below. When it’s possible to spy beach-goers, they’re very tiny!
Yellow sea dahlias high above foaming breakers.
You can’t hear the crashing waves, but the mighty expanse of
ocean seen from above makes a lasting impression!
Pink sand verbenas add bright color to a beautiful walk.
It’s springtime and many native flowers are in bloom. These dry, brittle hillsides are covered with coastal sagebrush and chaparral and during the dry summer can appear quite brown and desolate.
Trail heading down toward another scenic overlook.Looking south over a sculpted sandstone canyon.
Another fantastic view. Many beautifully eroded sandstone canyons run through the State Reserve. You’ll see more in upcoming blog posts.
A glance back toward the ocean and a lone walker.
We’ve nearly come full circle. The sunshine and warm ocean breeze, the views, majestic Torrey pines, cacti and flowers…you really need to walk the Guy Fleming Trail to fully experience its magnificence!
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Interesting contraption in a nook at artsy Spanish Village.
In a nook of Balboa Park’s Spanish Village, right next to the San Diego Mineral and Gem Society building, you’ll find this interesting contraption. Is it an antique device once used to navigate a ship? Is it a microscope? What is it?
It’s a kaleidoscope mounted above a revolving bowl of flowers! Instead of turning the kaleidoscope tube, you whirl the bowl of blooms and watch different colorful patterns form through the lens. Several mirrors in the tube create the complex symmetry.
Once I figured out what the contraption was, I tried putting my camera right up to the eyepiece. I got a bunch of interesting photos!
A kaleidoscope aimed at turning bowl of flowers.Mirrors of kaleidoscope turn flower blooms into art.Revolving the bowl turns flowers and leaves into amazing patterns.Infinite beauty created via the reflection of light.
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I snapped these photographs late Monday, a few minutes after five o’clock. I was walking in Mission Valley, near the intersection of Friars and Frazee. The sky was absolutely incredible!
Clouds and reflections on two office buildings.Sky and clouds on a grid of windows.Clouds reflected on several angled planes.Lines of radiant, gilded clouds.Looking upward at endlessly changing beauty.Gauzy clouds above a silver building.Straight washboard clouds seem unworldly.
The clouds above San Diego yesterday afternoon were amazingly beautiful. Here are some pics!
Boats in tuna harbor between splashes of light.Tall trees reach up into the San Diego sky.Late afternoon clouds above trees by the bay.Sailboat passes fishing pier as sun falls toward horizon.Golden afternoon light flows across the gentle water.Silvergate ferry heads out under stunning clouds.Windblown clouds radiate above San Diego Convention Center.A big yacht seems ready to head toward the light.Clouds above metal trees in front of Hilton hotel.Bridge over Harbor Drive shines silver as folks ascend.Imperial Transit Station clock tower and Padres banner under clouds.Looking straight up alongside the new Central Library.East Village buildings frame dramatic afternoon clouds.Light reflects from windows in San Diego’s East Village.Amazing sky above a shining downtown building.
Tuna Harbor’s G Street Pier is one of my favorite places in San Diego. The views of downtown and the bay are magnificent. There are birds for company and swaying boats on all sides. There are lobster traps stacked, nets in huge mounds, and heaps of amazing junk.
Take a look!
Ropes and rusted chains in a delightful tangle.Just a bunch of junk on the Tuna Harbor pier.Looking beyond colorful garbage at boats in the harbor.Broken pallets lean against mound of nets covered in plastic.Detached boat structure on pier frames San Diego skyscrapers.Colorful floats scattered on the public pier.Adopt a Beach garbage can overflows on the G Street Pier.A working pier can resemble a chaotic junkyard.A leaf rake lies atop a ball of nets and ropes.A large weed grows out of a small hill of old nets.A beautiful image of sinuous yellow floats on a seine net.
If you ever visit Seaport Village, there’s a good chance you’ll see the fellow on the right and his amazing gallery of balanced rocks. He hangs out behind the wall at the water’s edge, right next to the grassy park. (The park is called Embarcadero Marina Park North, by the way.)
People passing by are encouraged to take photos and try out their own rock balancing ability. This lady was having a lot of trouble. Even a small rock edgewise on a water bottle isn’t easy.
