Check out this cool new mural on the side of Matte Blvck Cuts & Shaves in North Park!
It was painted in 2021 by artist Clarione Gutierrez-Owens. He is also a live speed-painter who has performed at Downtown Disney, the San Diego Zoo, Legoland. Here’s his website.
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If you’ve driven down Camino de la Reina past Westfield Mission Valley, you might have glimpsed this colorful mural painted outside the mall.
The mural resembles a blue and yellow inkblot made of flowers–you know, one of those Rorschach psychological tests where a symmetric shape, depending on your perception, might seem like either a face or a vase.
Well, this huge mural appears to me like an explosion of flowers!
A couple days ago I went to the Westfield Mission Valley shopping center to watch a movie, and to look for a series of murals that I had once read about. But this was the only one I happened to stumble upon.
It’s pretty cool, as you can see!
The artwork was created by Nick Napoletano, a widely known artist from Charlotte, North Carolina.
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I arrived at the Danza event in Chicano Park about an hour early on Sunday, so I walked randomly around the Barrio Logan neighborhood, curious to see what I might find.
What I discovered was a lot of cool art!
Some of the murals appeared fairly new; other time-faded artwork I hadn’t observed or photographed during previous walks…
Colorful mural spray painted on side of Corner Studios Barrio Logan.La Tortuga painted on the FamilyHealth-Youth Counseling Center.The amazing front of Farallon Design in Barrio Logan.Tiles with shell designs.Ocean waves in one swelling sculptural mosaic.Colors fill a beautiful seashell.Skater girl on one side of a utility box.Devilish second side of the same box.One happy and one stubborn character painted on a third side.Amazing huge mural painted by San Diego artist Michelle Ruby, aka Mrbbaby, on wall of U-Stor-It Barrio Logan.Fun graphic by entrance to Barrio Cuts Barbershop by @paradigmartworks.Pig on a box.Mexican dancers painted on ¡SALUD TACOS! by ShoLove.Aztec figures brighten the restaurant’s black exterior, again by ShoLove.Barrio Logan building on Logan Avenue painted by graffiti artist Dave “Persue” Ross.BunnyKitty among other fun characters.I’ve seen this fearsome simian in other Persue artwork. Don’t know his name.Big eyes above the door of Hola Swim.All sorts of murals on either side of a construction site on Logan Avenue.Young smiling face on tiles at the Chicano Federation of San Diego County Barrio Logan Child Development Center.A second face at left side of front entrance. I think this art might be by Mario Torero.Very colorful spray painted fence by local Chicana artist Jessica Petrikowski.Painted silhouettes of cacti and bird of prey.Painted skeletons on boards appear to be by Mexican artist Mizar Martin (MZR MRTN).Feline eyes by Ground Floor Murals.Feline mouth by Ground Floor Murals.Trashcan in front of San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Station 7 painted with a firefighter skull!Family rides bike on a nearby electrical box.More street art with bright sunny abstract designs.Other side of the same box.Smiling mural in alley remembers a departed loved one.
UPDATE!
Here’s a couple more from a later walk…
By artist C. Castaneda, 2018.I believe this mural is by artist Sand One.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
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Have you noticed a super colorful shipping container in City Heights? In a corner of the lot east of I-15, north of University Avenue? I found out its purpose yesterday!
The San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, working with Love City Heights, has created this cool little bike workshop, where they have a bicycle mechanic apprenticeship program. Donated bikes are repaired and given away to residents of the community!
I learned the shipping container was painted for free by muralist Erick Delarosa, who believes in showing love for others. That’s why he signs his work ShoLove! Learn more about him and his other work by clicking here!
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There’s a special alley in Normal Heights that’s an outdoor gallery for many of San Diego’s most creative and known graffiti artists. It’s called Flash Alley. The alley is a few steps north of El Cajon Boulevard and City Heights, just east of 34th Street.
In my last blog post I shared photos of a very cool Junior Seau mural. It was painted a couple months ago at the south end of the alley.
After taking those photos, I walked north along Flash Alley and aimed my camera at lots of amazing, super colorful spray paint art. It all was painted in the last year or so.
I last visited Flash Alley in May 2020, and as you can see by comparing those old images here, all the current artwork is new. I recognized several artist signatures, including Sake, Persue and the Tortilla Crew.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
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If you’ve driven down El Cajon Boulevard between 34th and 35th Street in the past couple months, you might have seen this incredible huge mural celebrating San Diego Chargers superstar linebacker Junior Seau!
The mural was painted in early May by the artists of Ground Floor Murals. (Two days ago I posted photos of their new Manny Machado mural in Chula Vista here.)
Junior Seau is one of San Diego’s most beloved sports heroes, an NFL football legend whose life ended tragically nine years ago. It’s hard for me to believe that almost a decade has passed already.
Ground Floor Murals is composed of Paul Jimenez and Signe Ditona, a couple who began painting murals in earnest during the COVID-19 pandemic. They now have many cool murals all around the city! Read their story at their website here.
Their awesome tribute to Junior Seau is located at the border of Normal Heights and City Heights.
If you’re wondering about the graffiti directly beneath the Junior Seau mural, that’s part of extensive new art that was spray painted in the past year or two along Flash Alley. Yesterday I also photographed the fantastic urban artwork along the long alley and I’ll be posting those pics shortly!
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Another super cool San Diego Padres mural debuted recently! This one, created last month in Chula Vista, depicts MLB baseball superstar Manny Machado with the bold words: SKY’S THE LIMIT.
I’ve already photographed a couple other Padres murals painted by Ground Floor Murals, which you can see here and here.
This awesome Manny Machado mural reflects the third baseman’s intensity and team leadership, and both his offensive and defensive prowess. The artwork was illuminated early in the morning when I walked past it.
The mural is located in Chula Vista on Third Avenue, a short distance south of E Street, on the side of the historic Vogue movie theater building.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
That is the message of a very cool mural I spotted in Barrio Logan at the corner of Logan Avenue and Sampson Street last weekend. The mural appears to be titled La Vida es un Sueño.
I’m not sure who created this rather unusual, dreamy street art. There’s a bit of stylish script near the bottom of the artwork, but whether it’s graffiti or a signature, I can’t tell. The mural seems a bit faded so it might be a few years old.
If you know who the artist is, please leave a comment!
UPDATE!
I later learned the lead artist was none other than Mario Torero.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
During the COVID-19 pandemic, local artists were supported through a special initiative undertaken by the City of San Diego. The city purchased almost 100 works of art for the Civic Art Collection. The initiative was funded by a generous art lover and philanthropist.
An exhibition of this acquired artwork, titled SD PRACTICE, can now be viewed at the San Diego Art Institute in Balboa Park, and at Bread & Salt in Logan Heights.
I visited the San Diego Art Institute on Sunday to view their pieces. I noticed some of the artists are widely known, including Hugo Crosthwaite and Mario Torero.
Contemporary art is often provocative: subversive, angry, skeptical, iconoclastic. But many of the pieces I saw conveyed mostly a feeling of loneliness. Which I suppose isn’t surprising. They were created during a pandemic–a time of forced social isolation.
One canvas shows an elderly woman alone at a table set with dinner and cold smartphones. Other works–often with political messages–show people trapped alone behind borders or squares or lattices of drawn lines, or wearing masks, or concealed beneath sheets, or in shadow.
One artist’s tintypes were created with random people on the street. The artist and strangers pose together as if they are family. But the tintypes are very dim like faded dreams. And the momentary “families” weren’t real.
In one piece, an isolating smartphone has been dropped to one side, and two people lean into each other for simple human warmth.
As I walked through the gallery, one plastic chair made to appear gleaming and precious seemed inviting. But it was only one chair.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
A small but wonderful Creation Station can be enjoyed in front of the Timken Museum of Art in Balboa Park this summer!
While the world-class art museum undergoes its renovation, people walking along the construction fence in the Plaza de Panama can linger at the Creation Station and be inspired!
This afternoon I paused for a bit to watch Erick Toussaint (@sidewalk_chalk_dad) work on amazing chalk art that recreates a piece in the Timken’s collection. Then I looked at the fun chalk drawings by kids and families that passed by earlier this beautiful Sunday!
Erick will be recreating some of the fine art museum’s great masterpieces every other weekend through August. Check out the museum’s page concerning the Creation Station here. On the other weekends, family’s will help design a huge outdoor mural!
Today Erick was working on reproducing Nicolas de Largillière’s elegant Portrait of Marguerite de Sève, Wife of Barthélemy-Jean-Claude Pupil, 1729. His work on the gold frame alone is stunning! As you can see, I took photos at various stages of progress during the afternoon.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
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