Tag: art

27th Annual Exhibition of 7 Printmakers opens!

The 27th Annual Exhibition of 7 Printmakers has opened in San Diego. The public is invited to enjoy the work of seven master printmakers inside Gallery 21 at Balboa Park’s Spanish Village Art Center. The free exhibition will be short-lived, however. Make sure to see it by September 25, 2023.

The art on display is extraordinary. You’ll observe pieces created using several different processes of printmaking. There’s the woodcut, wood-engraving, collograph, etching, engraving, drypoint, aquatint, lithograph and serigraph.

All of these many, often complicated printing techniques boggled my mind, even as friendly artist Angelika Villagrana provided a detailed explanation of various processes.

The seven artists with fine work on display are: Raymond Brownfield, Jacqueline Dotson, Igor Koutsenko, Kathleen McCord, Sfona Pelah, Julianne Ricksecker and Angelika Villagrana. They’ve been exhibiting together for many years now!

If you’re looking to purchase some very fine art, swing on by. There’s much that you can choose from.

An opening reception will be held in Gallery 21 this coming Sunday, September 17, from 4 – 7 pm.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Racing Thoughts painted in a North Park alley!

This cool mural was painted several months ago in a North Park alley during the North Park Music Fest. The large mural, titled Racing Thoughts, was created by Carly Ealey and Christoper Konecki. Their awesome street art is all over San Diego.

Racing Thoughts can be viewed from the sidewalk on the north side of University Avenue, just west of 30th Street. It’s directly opposite that fierce panda mural which I observed in the same alley a couple weeks ago.

Capturing a single image of the long mural was impractical, given the narrow alley, so you’ll have to visualize the mural’s entirety from multiple photographs:

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Positively Animated art rocks Escondido!

Do you love art that is bold, energetic and unabashedly fun? If so, there’s an art exhibition in Escondido that you should check out. It’s titled Nan Coffey: Positively Animated!

Step into the museum at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido through November 5, 2023 and you’ll discover a gallery splashed with swirling words and images. Guitars, clothing, furniture, canvases and walls are positively covered with pop culture references. You’ll find homages to Rock and Roll and Southern California subcultures in particular.

The San Diego based artist Nan Coffey has a unique style which she calls Art All Over. As you can see from my photos, lively art covers every surface of those objects she decorates. Her work promotes connectivity, inclusivity, and love while drawing inspiration from her childhood obsessions with music, cinema, television, and pop culture. Let your eyes wander up, down, right and left and her animated art seems to have no boundary and no end.

It’s hard to adequately describe her work without actually seeing it. Here’s a small taste…

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Debut of new Esco Alley Art murals in Escondido!

This afternoon a wonderful event in downtown Escondido celebrated the debut of new public art. The 2023 season of the Esco Alley Art project unveiled twelve colorful new murals by local artists! These new outdoor murals can be found in the alley just south of Grand Avenue, between Juniper and Kalmia Streets.

A good crowd turned out to see the new artwork and meet the artists. Many activities were enjoyed by families, including a photo booth, music and a kids art station. The event also celebrated Escondido Mayor Dane White’s birthday!

It was thrilling to see so many people excited by these new additions to the long alley. Earlier seasons of Esco Alley Art placed dozens of other murals in the same alley, starting two blocks to the west of these. Unfortunately, the murals of the 2021 season will soon be removed, as the renovation of a building at that location gets underway.

I learned all of the artwork is donated freely to the Esco Alley Art project by the artists. The murals depict many different subjects, reflecting the diversity of Escondido itself. In this one magical alley the visions of many inspired people come together.

There are plans for many new seasons of art, with future murals perhaps filling other alleys!

Learn about all of the murals created so far by checking out the Esco Alley Art gallery page here. Better yet, head to downtown Escondido to experience all of this amazing creativity with your own eyes!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

New public art keeps appearing in Escondido!

It seems new public art keeps appearing non-stop in Escondido!

This Saturday, a dozen brand new Esco Alley Art murals will debut at 4:00 pm in the alley south of Grand Avenue between Kalmia and Juniper. The public is invited!

And, of course, this same Saturday the big Grape Day Festival will take place in Grape Day Park near the Escondido Civic Center. I’m sure lots of art will be on display. I plan to be there, too!

I still have some photographs on my computer from my last Escondido adventure about a month ago. They are of murals that were painted on two walls bordering the walkway between the California Center for the Arts, Escondido and a parking lot to the north. The murals were created by @LovePaperPaint. The artwork celebrates many things one can experience at this regional cultural center.

Here are the mural photos:

You can see the murals that previously decorated these same two walls by clicking here!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

More fun photographs along 30th Street!

North Park in San Diego is a place where you can find all sorts of colorful signs and street art. I took these fun photographs several days ago during a walk up 30th Street, from University Avenue to El Cajon Boulevard.

It had been a long time since I passed this way. All of the sights you see here were new to my camera.

Enjoy!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

North Park kids create community art!

Look what I discovered on Sunday while walking down University Avenue in North Park. Community artwork created by local kids!

This colorful mural can be found on the north side of University, behind the 30th Street bus stop. A banner strung above it proclaims: Community art brought to you by the children of North Park. North Park Music Fest. North Park Main Street.

I suspect the artwork was painted by kids during the music festival this year, which I missed. The date in one corner seems to confirm this.

If anyone out there knows more about this fun mural, please leave a comment!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Painting a fierce panda mural in North Park!

A very cool mural is now being painted on one side of the Shank & Bône Vietnamese restaurant in North Park! Up on a cherry picker, Thao Huynh French of Mindful Murals was spray painting bold color around two large, very fierce panda bears! She saw me and waved!

You’ve seen Mindful Murals artwork on my blog several times over the years. It’s always great and often inspirational!

I learned this awesome panda art got started about a week ago. It’s a collaboration with Los Angeles artist Aaron Martin.

As we spoke for a moment, Thao (@thaofrenchart) explained that the adjoining mural LAHAINA LOVELETTER, depicting a rooster, was by her partner in art Kolten French (@koltenfrench)!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Fun street art and signs from various walks.

This morning, before I head out to watch the big stickball tournament in Little Italy, I’m going through hundreds of old, unused photographs stored on my computer. All are from various past walks. A few of the photos are so old I’ve forgotten when and where they were taken!

Here are the fun pictures of street art and signs that I’d like to share. It would be a shame not to post them!

A very colorful East Village mural.

He who plants a garden plants happiness.

Sunshine on a Little Italy window by @artbysoup.

Sunshine, surf and surfboard in Oceanside behind the Regal Cinemas.

Voted #1 ice cream in the world by my daughters.

Street art by Jorge Mendoza.

dreamer @nestmurals

Oceanside chalk art on a sidewalk.

Long live the rose that grew from concrete -Tupac Shakur

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Cool photo memories from September 2018.

Here we go! Another month . . . another blog post about cool sights I photographed five years ago! What did I discover during September 2018?

A variety of astonishing things!

Such as eye-popping sand sculptures created by some of the world’s greatest sand sculptors! And the daredevil Swoop Freestyle World Championship on San Diego Bay! And the incredible, realistic Viking Festival in Vista!

Perhaps you’ve noticed how over the years I’ve photographed numerous murals in City Heights along University Avenue, between I-805 and I-15. Five years ago my first blog concerning this outdoor drive-thru art gallery appeared.

Check out the upcoming links!

Click the following links to enjoy many photographs…

Masterpieces by World Master sand sculptors!

Javier Marín and the human search for identity.

San Diego’s outdoor, drive-through art gallery!

A beautiful walk along Batiquitos Lagoon Trail.

Photos of restored rooms inside Casa de Estudillo.

Art, Color and Fiesta in Balboa Park!

Photos of Swoop Freestyle World Championship!

SMILE, you’re in San Diego!

Murals by Hugo Crosthwaite at Liberty Station.

Photos of Vista’s Annual Viking Festival!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!