Those who sit waiting for a bus on the west side of the City College Transit Center might see three very large fish out of water. They’ve been painted on a wall facing 11th Avenue, a short distance north of Broadway!
I believe this mural was just finished. I see it was created by the prolific local artists of @ladieswhopaint and @pandrdesignco!
Downtown San Diego becomes more colorful every day!
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A few months ago Frankenstein’s monster came to life in downtown San Diego. I saw the awesome monster this afternoon when I stepped through the door of artist James Watts’ studio!
The creature, years in the making, now lives among other imaginative sculptures and works of art. I blogged about some of that artwork a short while ago here.
Frankenstein’s monster has a skin made of hammered aluminum. He’s covered with images cut from old lunchboxes, advertisements, and other odd things. When the innocent monster was assembled and jolted into life, it appears his skin rapidly absorbed impressions from the world he was born into.
James Watts wants viewers of his art to make their own discoveries. Each block that composes the monster’s body is numbered. The two hemispheres of the brain include the word NO or YES. One includes the moon, the other the sun. He showed me several other cleverly arranged images. I saw fun word play.
The sculpture is like a giant jigsaw puzzle or visual poem. All is open to interpretation.
The heart of the Frankenstein monster is made of three pieces that fit together. One piece represents love, another lust, another the mind.
I saw several superheroes and cartoon characters on the monster’s skin, parts of old advertisements, and multiple instances of the Three Stooges.
What do you see?
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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!
One of the most wonderfully creative artists in San Diego has a little-known studio downtown. His name is James Watts.
I blogged about my first visit to his amazing studio several years ago here.
Today I was walking home after a long adventure (many blogs coming up) when I saw his studio door was open. And there he was working away! Hammering at flat pieces of printed aluminum, making colorful storytelling blocks!
What are storytelling blocks? They feature images from human experience on different sides–such as night on one side and day on the other. You can flip them any which way, then insert them into a wooden box with fixed compartments! These visual stories are like small treasures or keepsakes. Dreamlike, they are open to interpretation.
He also showed me his Box of Yes and No (that uses words from different languages and a couple of eyeballs) and a shelf full of storytelling cubes. Plus lots of other cool artwork!
His fantastic Frankenstein monster that debuted earlier this year is so cool it’s coming up separately on my next blog post!
I love the unlimited energy and joy of life that flows from James Watts’ hands. His art is primarily about storytelling. His studio is also filled with large sculptures based on Japanese kokeshi. The sculptures creatively depict Don Quixote, Prometheus, Jonah, Pandora, Joan of Arc, and a whole host of diverse characters from literature.
He told me some of his storytelling pieces will be in a future exhibition at the Oceanside Museum of Art. So you might be getting a little bit of a preview here!
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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!
I spotted this uplifting, encouraging mural early this morning as I walked down J Street in San Diego’s East Village. The artwork is located on a wall between 16th Street and 17th Street.
I believe the mural was painted about a year ago. I don’t know by whom.
The three positive messages are: She is loved! She is free! She is strong!
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There’s an elaborate, quite beautiful tile mosaic mural outside the old God’s Extended Hand building in San Diego’s East Village. You can see it at the corner of 16th Street and Island Avenue.
The colorful mural is overflowing with compassionate messages and religious imagery, including Christ as a shepherd carrying a lamb.
The God’s Extended Hand ministry endured for 96 years, feeding the homeless and hungry, until it closed down a few months ago. Father Joe’s Villages will be redeveloping the site, creating more affordable housing and support for the homeless downtown. I don’t know whether these mosaics will be preserved.
I walked past part of the artwork this morning and took these photos. I only photographed the wall along 16th Street. Some people camped on the sidewalk were by the other wall on Island Avenue.
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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!
If you are intrigued by human creativity, science or philosophy, you might enjoy the artwork now on display at the The Bonita Museum and Cultural Center. The title of the exhibition is Rule 42, Stretched Language.
Why Rule 42? According to one popular work of fiction, 42 is the answer to the ultimate question of Life, the Universe and Everything. Go ahead, smile!
Why Stretched Language? Perhaps because human language can be stretched in endless ways. Words assembled in infinite combinations can represent one’s personal experience or shine light into dark places. Be made into poetry.
Words are symbolic. Numbers, variables and equations are also symbolic. They, too, can be used in poetic expression. Indeed, the exhibition’s subtitle is “Explorations into visual, concrete and mathematical poetry.”
Supposedly, the works in this exhibition each have something to do with mathematics. It seemed to me, however, that they all celebrate something larger: the unique capacity of diverse human minds to imagine, rationalize and create. And even embrace pure nonsense.
Psychronometrics. Sounds scientific. Sounds profound. The equation and description is impressive. But the assertion is that our psychological experience of time, and how time seems to accelerate as we become older, is related to Einstein’s theory of relativity.
To compare the two is utterly absurd. That equation in the photograph above includes velocity. Neither the young nor the old have managed (yet) to approach the speed of light!
But you know what? The plasticity of the human mind, which can imagine and rationalize absolutely anything and everything, is what is on display. These are the metaphorical works of visionary artists, not “serious” scientists. Infinite artistic truths cannot be defined with a few equations.
More rational visitors to the exhibit might laugh at some of the jumbled assertions and associations. Rule 42, Stretched Language can be a stretch.
My advise? Don’t be too critical. Step outside your own idea of Truth and enjoy!
This rather unusual exhibition ends on December 3, 2021.
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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 new mural was being painted today near Morena Boulevard!
I noticed the artist at work when I drove through the intersection of Linda Vista Road and Napa Street. The mural is on the side of a 7-Eleven.
After dark, I had the opportunity to return and take a good look at the colorful mural and get these photographs. At night the wall is brightly illuminated.
A signature indicates the artist is Hanna of Hanna’s Murals. You’ve seen her work elsewhere on Cool San Diego Sights, particularly here.
This awesome new mural depicts two tigers and the word FIERCE. I’m not sure if the artwork is entirely finished.
Check it out!
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Cat in the Hat likes to walk with an umbrella in front of Scripps Clinic in La Jolla! At least, a large sculpture suggests that!
According to my online research, what was originally called the Anderson Outpatient Pavilion was renamed the Geisel Pavilion in early 2020, and this Cat in the Hat sculpture was installed in front by the entrance.
The Dr. Seuss Foundation website explains: “Audrey Geisel was a nurse by training and her support of mental and physical health led to the naming of the Geisel Pavilion at Scripps Green Hospital in La Jolla…” Audrey, widow of La Jolla resident and world-famous children’s author Theodor Seuss Geisel, was a generous philanthropist who touched countless lives around San Diego.
As I took these photos of the Cat in the Hat sculpture, I did my best to look for a plaque or any indication of the artist. I discovered nothing.
I believe a number of these sculptures were created, based on an original by artist Leo Rijn. If you know anything more, please leave a comment!
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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!
Five eye-catching works of public art recently debuted in Del Mar! They are part of a City of Del Mar Temporary Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit.
These new pieces join a couple of other interesting sculptures along Camino Del Mar that I photographed previously here and here.
During a leisurely “art walk” through Del Mar Village yesterday I captured the following images…
Moonshadow, by artists Jeffery Laudenslager and Deanne Sabeck. Stainless steel, titanium and dichroic glass mosaic. At Camino Del Mar and 9th Street.Terpsichore, by artist David Beck Brown. Monochrome steel, paint. At Camino Del Mar and 12th Street.Bird’s Eye View of Torrey Pines Beach, by artists Robert Petrello and Drew Graham. Fused glass, copper and raw metal with rubbed bronze finish. At Camino Del Mar and 14th Street.Hanging Out #3, by artist Maidy Morhous. Bronze on stainless steel pedestal. At 15th Street and Stratford Court.Pasaje a lo Infinito, by artist Hugo Heredia. Fused glass, fabricated stainless steel and fabricated steel. Just west of Camino Del Mar on 15th Street.
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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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