Tag: artists

Community art: One Day in the Life on Imperial.

A special art exhibition will soon be opening in Grant Hill, across Imperial Avenue from neighboring Logan Heights. One Day in the Life on Imperial will feature works by members of the San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild. The exhibition will be open to the public beginning March 21, 2026 at the TULAROSA gallery, located at 2602 Imperial Avenue. The Opening Reception is from 4 to 7 pm.

The San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild has initiated an “Atelier” for the purpose of experimentation with conceptual art and community engagement. This exhibition is its inaugural event. The Barrio Artists Partnership is participating, too. The Atelier artists have, for three months, been walking, talking, observing and creating art based on their community centered dialogue.

Seventeen artists from diverse areas of San Diego will present their finished art as well as their concept behind the art.

Everyone is invited to drop by and see their inspired work!

After March 29 the exhibit will be moved to Gallery 21 in Balboa Park’s Spanish Village Art Center, where it will open on April 7.

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Emojis, memes and emotion in Oceanside.

Much of social media is geared toward eliciting an emotional response. Much of art serves the same purpose. An exhibition of art in Oceanside fuses the simple emojis and memes of social media with framed artistic creation.

Neon Afterlife is the title of the exhibition. It can be freely viewed in the Oceanside Museum of Art’s annex gallery inside The Seabird Ocean Resort & Spa, a short walk from the beach and Oceanside Pier.

Pieces by Southern California artists Magz Yang, Jon Savage and Evyn Hewett utilize the “language” of Gen Z and today’s digital pop culture–an increasingly illiterate culture saturated with adrenaline fueled gaming and provocative short videos.

These works of art, like many of the images on one’s phone, might arrest shortened attention spans. They produce an emotional response by using simplistic symbols and bright colors. It’s as if the small screens people endlessly scroll have been splashed onto the gallery walls.

I do love the creativity. And I smiled when I noticed fun is made of the pretentiousness of much social media.

Does an emoji or meme suffice for life’s complexity?

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Skull and crossbones created at Oceanside beach!

A hot day for mid-March. I stayed near the beach–in Oceanside. As I walked out onto the Oceanside Pier, look what I saw! Someone was digging a huge skull and crossbones into the sand!

Turns out the friendly, creative guy was David. He was working on his pirate Jolly Roger flag design in the sunshine, while people strolling along the beach would stop, look and chat.

He’s been making artwork in the sand like this for several months, he told me. He’s created perhaps a dozen such works at the beach.

He told me there’s another guy who makes cool designs using a garden rake. That sounds awesome, too. Perhaps I’ll stumble upon that one day.

Here’s what I saw around noon as I walked out on the pier:

After I ate lunch, I returned to the pier and saw this:

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Protect the Locals mural in Pacific Beach.

Several months ago this beautiful mural was unveiled in Pacific Beach. Featuring marine life such as a sea turtle, leopard shark and gray whale, it promotes the message Protect the Locals.

The organizations WILDCOAST and BeautifulPB teamed up with artists Jon Hamrick (@just_jon1) and Victor Rodriguez (@tone__dog) to celebrate 25 years of marine conservation with this wall. The artwork is painted on Garnet Avenue one block east of Crystal Pier, on the side of Ananas Pacific Beach.

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A mystery behind the San Diego Convention Center!

These metal benches line the boardwalk behind the San Diego Convention Center. They face San Diego Bay. They were commissioned in 2008 and created by noted artist Nance O’Banion.

As her website explains: Nance produced 13 original designs, each of which was fabricated, once in its original form and once as a ‘mirror image’, in plasma-cut powder-coated steel. The installation of 26 art benches was titled Reverie.

I took these photos yesterday…

Today, a plaque can be seen embedded in the boardwalk near the benches, very close to the entrance to the Fifth Avenue Landing Superyacht Marina. It resembles the Reverie plaque shown in the gallery on Nance O’Banion’s website. The plaque includes her name and the same 2008 year.

But the title of the current plaque is different!

Why is the title Caesure, and not the original Reverie?

At some point, was the name of the installation changed to Caesure? The Latin word caesūra means “a cutting” or “a separation,” which might apply to the mirrored bench designs, or possibly how these benches were made.

Or . . . does Caesure concern another work of public art somewhere nearby? If so, what and where?

It’s a mystery with no solution that I can find!

If you know more about the history of this art bench installation, and why there have been different plaques with two different titles, please leave a comment!

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A surreal mural in Ocean Beach!

This cool mural was painted in Ocean Beach back in 2023, but I saw it yesterday for the first time. Check out the surreal imagery!

The large mural can be found on the exterior of the The Template, facing the parking lot.

Signatures by the artists appear to be MURALIS, ART BY SOUP, EATHDUST, HAILYBROUS, JORDINDAVID, and SOURCE!

To me, it seems the theme might be: When trying to determine the essence of life, don’t go crazy. I noticed that “Stay Sane” is included among all the surreal, spray painted images!

This is the same wall where a History of Electricity mural was painted years ago. You can see those photos by clicking here.

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Six decades of Comic-Con celebrated at museum!

Lovers of Comic-Con in San Diego should head over to Balboa Park. The Comic-Con Museum recently opened a new exhibit called Cover Story: Six Decades of Comic-Con.

The lower level of the museum now features tons of artwork representing years of creativity and fun at the world’s biggest and best popular arts convention.

Visitors can look closely at original art used for the covers of Comic-Con souvenir books and other publications, beginning back in 1970 when the event was attended by only 300 fans. There are fine examples of interior art, too. You’ll see the work of legendary artists, from Jack Kirby to Frank Miller to Alex Ross.

Fans of DC and Marvel superheroes will love this exhibition. As will fans of fantasy, and science fiction, and comic strips, and cartoons . . . All things pop culture are celebrated!

Here are only a few examples…

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Unique printmaking art exhibit in Oceanside!

The subject matter for art is infinite, and sometimes it seems like the different paths for creating art are beyond count. That is certainly the case in a current exhibition at the Oceanside Museum of Art. Matrix multiplied: hybrid approaches to printmaking demonstrates that amazing art can be produced by utilizing multiple printmaking techniques.

Eighteen artists are featured in the exhibition. Many of their pieces incorporate different techniques, ranging from traditional handmade printing methods to digital technology. They are truly unique!

No particular theme is depicted among the pieces. You’ll see abstracts, portraits, landscapes . . . art books, hangings, sculptures . . . all produced in ways you might not have imagined. The exhibition is a celebration of artistic skill and creativity!

Go check it out through August 2, 2026!

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Clay comes alive at San Diego Sculptors Guild!

It seems every time I visit the San Diego Sculptors Guild in Balboa Park, I find artist Justin Hammond bringing clay to life. He was at work again yesterday!

Justin is a multi-talented artist who loves to create art that tells a story. The clay he was shaping is part of one amazing story.

The figures you see in these photos he calls Elata. The sprite-like creatures with flowers sprouting from their heads are born as the blossoms of a tree. The tree has grown from a seed: a woman carried away by a flood, burying her.

Each beautiful little Elata creature results from a single memory of the deceased woman.

The story created by Justin develops, until the Elata themselves become memory collectors. It’s a brilliant and original idea that would make an amazing movie. Imagine these fantastic clay figures in a Laika stop-motion animated film, like Coraline or ParaNorman!

In addition to a lot of great artwork, Justin Hammond has created short YouTube videos using clay models. You can see much of it on his website by clicking here!

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Chinese brush painting event in Balboa Park!

An exhibition and sale of Chinese brush paintings continues tomorrow, Sunday, March 1, 2026 in Balboa Park. To view some very beautiful artwork, step into Room 101 of the Casa del Prado between 11 am and 4 pm.

The event features original Chinese brush paintings by members of the Lung Hsiang chapter of the American Artists of Chinese Brush Painting. Admission is free. Most of the pieces on display are for sale.

Visitors get to meet the artists, view a painting demonstration, and even try their own hand at brush painting! If you’re looking for gifts, you’ll find framed and matted paintings, and hand painted cards and crafts.

I visited the exhibition today and am pleased to share a few photos.

When I asked one artist the difference between traditional Chinese brush painting and Japanese brush painting, I was told the Chinese style has more “pop” and more chi, or vital energy. To me, generally speaking, the Chinese style seems a little more bold and colorful than Japanese brush painting, which appears more delicate and impressionistic.

All that I saw was exquisite and very beautiful.

2026 is the Year of the Horse!

For curious eyes, there’s much to discover. I was shown the historical evolution of the Chinese pictograph for horse. The three strokes represent a horse’s mane and legs.

Visitors can learn how to paint it!

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