A very cool comic art gallery created by IDW Publishing opened a little over a week ago in San Diego’s Liberty Station.
This morning I enjoyed an incredible treat. I checked out the new San Diego Comic Art Gallery, part of IDW Publishing’s new headquarters at NTC Liberty Station. IDW is the fourth largest comic book publisher in the United States, and their rapid expansion was the reason for their move. Their new home is in a renovated barracks at the historic Naval Training Center San Diego, located in Point Loma. NTC Liberty Station has become home to a number of other museums, galleries and cultural attractions, a few of which I’ve blogged about already.
The first exhibition at the San Diego Comic Art Gallery concerns the art of Kevin Eastman. He is a co-creator of the stupendously successful Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He and Peter Laird imagined the funny characters during a casual brainstorming session over thirty years ago. Their Mirage Studios was founded in 1983. IDW now owns publishing rights to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, so original artwork provided by Kevin Eastman appropriately fills the comic gallery for the public to freely enjoy. Perhaps the most incredible part of the exhibition is a realistic representation of his studio, filled with creative materials and his own personal collectibles. There are shelves and shelves of toys, figurines and cool pop culture stuff!
Flash photography is not allowed in the museum-like gallery, because the light degrades the extremely valuable artwork. Consequently, many of my photos came out dim or blurred. Here are a few which turned out reasonably okay. They provide a flavor of what you’ll see should you visit!
The first exhibition of the San Diego Comic Art Gallery features the work of Kevin Eastman, co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.Kevin Eastman began reading comics and drawing at a very young age. Major influences include Jack Kirby and science fiction. He created a character named Ninja Turtle just for fun.One of several TMNT drawings in a front window at the new San Diego Comic Art Gallery.Many examples of original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle artwork are on display in the fun, family-friendly museum.Foot Warrior Chick and a Foot Ninja with cloak, two enemies of the world-famous comic book, movie and cartoon turtles.Images in one display show some work of comic artist Kevin Eastman and the studio where he has worked.The studio you see before you is what I work in today. Every item has been brought from my home studio, and personal collections spanning over thirty five years. Cowabunga Dude!Photo through glass of the Kevin Eastman studio, transported to San Diego for this special exhibition.Wood panel by studio window shows the four funny, dynamic turtles in action.Venus, wearing a blue mask, overlooks visitors to a room where kids and adults are encouraged to draw, experience and read about comic art.Inked panel is one sample of the fun TMNT artwork on display at the Kevin Eastman exhibition.From sketch to finished page, visitors to the gallery can view a comic book’s creative process.Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, Donatello and Splinter, the Turtles’ sensei.Shredder, the villainous leader of the Foot Clan in New York City.Colorful graphic depicts Raphael, of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.Life is Art. Paint your Dreams.
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Bart Simpson takes many strange forms on one sidewalk in North Park. He’s elongated at times, or has multiple eyes.
Here’s another branch of San Diego’s strange and whimsical Bart Club! This example of Bart Simpson street art decorates a single utility box, located in North Park at the intersection of 30th and Adams Avenue.
More zany, bizarre Bart Club street art can be found in downtown San Diego’s East village at the intersection of Eighth Avenue and G Street, and at SILO.
This side of the Bart Club utility box has the funny television cartoon character’s face in need of a shave!A two-headed Bart Simpson makes for some very cool and unique San Diego street art.Here’s some more Bart art. He’s looking like a spotted, floppy-eared dog!
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2015 San Diego Comic-Con is less than a month away! As everyone gets ready, it’s time to remember some of the crazy fun stuff we experienced in 2014. Here’s a collection of blogs which contain numerous photos from SDCC last year.
Because I live in downtown San Diego, I’ll attempt to photograph a whole bunch of cool sights and Comic-Con craziness again this year, including trolley wraps, building wraps, special events, exhibits, cosplay and miscellaneous stuff around the Gaslamp! Stay tuned!
Dozens of trashcans on the streets of Hillcrest have been painted by local artists.
In the past couple years, most of the trashcans lining the streets of Hillcrest have been colorfully painted by local artists. During a recent walk, I passed quite a few of these street art trashcans and took some photos. Many of these fun creations were seen along University Avenue, between Fourth Avenue and Park Boulevard.
Every sort of colorful design can be found on these decorated trash cans.Lighted buildings rise next to a guitar player strumming under the stars.Many of the trashcans have a carnival theme, with masks, happy faces and crazy fun.People walk past a cool spot to toss garbage, on University Avenue near Fourth Avenue in Hillcrest.This looks like some sort of strange bug jester.Wildly creative street art can be found throughout San Diego’s Hillcrest community.A purple mask-like face that’s very difficult to miss!An exotic blue face near a dirty orange construction cone.Bicyclist in Hillcrest rides down the sidewalk past another great example of trashcan art.I think I saw this green face on Star Trek.An artistic trashcan waits by a bus stop near the Hillcrest landmark sign.Masks and confetti reflect the party atmosphere in youthful Hillcrest.A big, joyful saxophone has been painted on this trashcan.Here’s an urban rooster.Pineapple, fresh strawberries, watermelon, and some litter.These trashcans with images of food are located near Normal Street.A tree along busy University Avenue adds life to the city.Trashcan with Sphinx and pyramids is appropriate for the Egyptian Quarter, near the intersection of University and Park Boulevard.Female face with a Pharoah headdress was painted by a local artist on Park Boulevard.
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Painted underwater scenes on the grass at the Balboa Park Centennial 2015 Philippine American Celebration.
Astonished eyes were staring down at the ground at the Balboa Park Centennial 2015 Philippine American Celebration. That’s because a very colorful, very long painted canvas had been unrolled on a patch of grass for festival visitors to admire.
What you see in these photos is a segment of the seven kilometer long “Fishes of the Ocean” painting. The amazing artwork, depicting marine life, was created by thousands of mostly young people in the Philippines from 2006 to 2009. The project was an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for longest painting on a single canvas!
I did some research on the internet, but I’m still not sure whether a record was officially set. If you can provide more info, leave a comment below!
Small segment of the amazing seven kilometer long Fishes of the Ocean painting.Talented young artists, mostly unknown, contributed to this colorful environmental art.Abstract fish forms swim in a school on a very large canvas.All sorts of exotic tropical fish are swimming at the ocean’s bottom.Sea life painted in many vivid colors.Fishes of the Ocean was created in the Philippines in an attempt to break a Guinness World Record.Visitors to Balboa Park in San Diego walk past an unexpected cool sight!A land shark waits motionless in the grass!The long strip of fun art zigzagged across the grass near the International Cottages.Creativity is one of the attractions at the annual Filipino cultural festival.Just a wonderful product of human imagination.This appears to be a scene from a coral reef.A scuba diver among bubbles and rays of colored light.I see a turtle, whale, starfish and octopus.Cartoon ocean creatures prompt smiles in Balboa Park!
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While wandering about San Diego taking photos for my blog, I’ve often been privileged to see school students doing really amazing things. From the very young to the college-aged, youth in San Diego are accomplishing more than just learning. They’re creating public art, publishing amazing work, beautifying the community, becoming champions, serving neighbors and people around the world, and working to build a brighter future.
Here are some past blog posts that provide inspiration.
Mother by Robert Michael Jones appears complex and incomplete. According to the artist, his unusual sculptures represent ongoing life stories.
I still have a bunch of photos to share from my long walk around Liberty Station several weeks ago!
Check out these cool sculptures! I stumbled upon them while wandering about the North Promenade area of the old Naval Training Center San Diego. NTC Liberty Station, with its rich history, unique architecture, many museums and fun public art, is a great place to absorb a whole lot of culture and beauty.
Runner by Robert Michael Jones with strange muscle, bone and energy. Three pieces by this artist stand in front of NTC Liberty Station’s Barracks 14.Close up photo of Ascend by Robert Michael Jones. His works seem like frayed, ancient images of human struggle from mythology.Fuji San by Jeffery Laudenslager, whose sculptures often use odd geometry to boggle the mind.Sol Searching by Alber De Matteis was part of an Urban Trees exhibition on San Diego’s Embarcadero. It’s now situated on Truxton Road south of the Dance Place building.Archangel by famed Mexican sculptor Alfonso Arambula Robles. It’s located by Barracks 16 at the former Naval Training Center San Diego.Sisterhood sculpture by Mary Buckman stands next to the Women’s Museum of California.Two life-size sisters greet visitors who wander about Point Loma’s art-filled Liberty Station.
UPDATE! Here are two more photos that I took on a sunnier day:
Archangel, kinetic artwork by Mexican sculptor Alfonso Arambula Robles.Light shines on Sisterhood terracotta sculpture, by artist Mary Buckman.
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Two fountains near the reflecting pool, at either end of the Botanical Building, have fallen into disrepair.
This year Balboa Park is celebrating its centennial. A hundred years ago, for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, many event structures were created out of plaster, with the idea that they would be temporary. But San Diego fell in love with the park as it was and changed its mind. It would be a shame to lose so much beauty. Today much of Balboa Park, after many years of maintenance and restoration, is like a glowing vision preserved from San Diego’s past. But time marches on. And more work always needs to be done.
During a quick walk this afternoon through Balboa Park, I paused to look at some construction that is underway near the monumental El Cid statue, at the south edge of the Plaza de Panama. A friendly guy who was working there told me a little bit about three current restoration projects.
Here are my pics! Please read the captions, where I provide some more information.
Funds for many Centennial restorations and improvements have been provided by the Friends of Balboa Park.Plaque recalls how a second identical fountain (next to the Timken Museum of Art) was restored back in 1965 by The Thursday Club.The passage of time has been unkind to the impish faces on two fun Balboa Park fountains.One of two guardhouses on either side of El Prado, at the west end of the Cabrillo Bridge.The stately guardhouses are being repaired this summer. The plaster ornamentation on top is in bad shape.A close up photo of the plaster finial at the apex of one tile roof. The hundred year old material has crumbled.The decorative finial has already been removed from the second guardhouse, and is being reconstructed.Guy working on restoring the balustrade next to the El Cid statue. The walkway will soon be ADA accessible.The old wooden balustrade is being replaced with modern material that should last much longer. Hopefully another hundred years!This hard-working guy at the balustrade construction site was nice enough to talk to me and smile for the camera!
UPDATE!
During a walk in mid-September, I noted the balustrade is completely finished, and so are the two fountains! They look awesome–like new!
Both fountains–on either side of the Botanical Building–have been beautifully restored!
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Awesome street art on a chiropractic office near Cesar Chavez Pkwy in Barrio Logan.
I have some time off from work, so I’m able to do a little more weekday walking than usual. Yesterday I wandered through a gritty but fascinating neighborhood near downtown that’s a bit off the beaten track. A stretch of National Avenue runs through a narrow section of the city between Logan Heights and downtown San Diego, directly east of the rail and trolley yards; I walked from Imperial Avenue to Cesar E. Chavez Parkway, then back.
The area contains many car repair shops, welding shops, warehouses, and other small businesses which occupy modest, often decayed buildings. In a few places, groups of homeless had gathered. Small, neglected shanty-like houses are interspersed with elegant historic old homes and newer apartment buildings. Yet vibrant life was active everywhere. And everyone I met gave me a friendly greeting!
Cool mural on residential building features an eagle, cacti, palm trees.Quaint narrow house on National Avenue near downtown San Diego.Portion of colorful graffiti in a weedy space between buildings.This very cool mural caught my eye as I walked down the street. It’s on Logan Avenue, a couple blocks from National Avenue.Plaque on La Entrada project explains reconstructed Mission Revival facade.The Mission Revival facade on La Entrada apartments is an homage to the region’s history.Local vendor is selling tamales under a canopy by the sidewalk.Mother’s Nutritional Center helps local low-income women with young children.A soccer ball on utility box by a small local market known for their sub sandwiches.One word on this fantastic old wall says it all: Life.
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Close look at beautiful plarn artwork exhibited on lower level of downtown San Diego’s Horton Plaza.
Should one walk through downtown San Diego’s colorful Horton Plaza shopping mall, one might see an unusual work of art. I took some photos for everyone to enjoy.
This sculpture is called Grow and is made of crocheted plarn. What the heck is plarn? It’s plastic yarn! I once watched a lady making the interesting material at Balboa Park’s annual EarthFair. Plastic bags, once converted into plarn, do in fact resemble yarn!
What a unique and environmentally friendly way to reuse plastic shopping bags!
Grow is an upcycle sculpture depicting a play between natural and synthetic elements. For this project, discarded plastic grocery bags were hand crocheted to form the plarn installation.Plarn is plastic yarn made from recycled plastic bags. It is durable, weather resistant, and can be woven to create various items.The artist Cat Chiu Phillips utilizes found materials and creates displaced juxtapositions. She includes unusual mediums such as recycled objects.Work of art, titled Grow, can be examined up close by visitors and shoppers walking through the Horton Plaza mall.A box by the fantastic plarn sculpture invites passersby to recycle their plastic shopping bags.
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Cool San Diego Sights! 