There’s a very cool mural painted on the side of Lhooq Books & The Exrealism Nonprofit Project in Carlsbad, which occupies a small barn that was built in 1941. I happened to notice the artwork as I was walking down Carlsbad Village Drive. The artist, I learned, is professional skateboarder Kris Markovich.
Lhooq Books & The Exrealism Nonprofit Project, according to their website, is a vintage bookstore, espresso bar and underground venue, as well as the headquarters & a compound for “The Exrealism Project.”
Many phrases are written inside the mural’s abstract human faces. The words–which together read like a two dimensional poem or stream of consciousness–are raw and very real.
The words are disturbing and inspiring. They are disjointed and profound. They are expressions of doubt, and frustration, and confusion, and revelation.
The words tumble directly from a personal experience of life.
It is a mural painted with life.
DO THESE THOUGHTS SCARE YOU . . . THESE WORDS WILL CHANGE THE WORLDEXREALISM MY REDEMPTIONthe thawing of your heartSTUCK ONE PLACE BEHINDOPEN YOUR EYES YOU MIGHT LIKE WHAT YOU FINDEGO KILLERWe’re all mad here.YOUR WORRIES ARE JUSTIFIED . . . BROKEN PROMISEWORDS . . .OPEN FOR THE TAKING . . . MEANINGTHE LURK IN THE BUSHES KIND OF WEIRDi don’t knowBLEED FOR ALL THE WRONG REASONSYOU WANT THE BEAUTIFULWhat someone thinks of you is NONE of your business.I USED TO THINK I WAS AN ARTIST BUT I NO LONGER THINK ABOUT IT . . . I AM.We ALL suffer.
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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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Check out this fun mural that was painted on the side of Vespa Motorsport on Pacific Highway this year!
The creator is Nicholas McPherson, a local artist who signs his work Nicholas Danger. His cool, often whimsical street art can be found all around San Diego!
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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!
Would you like to help people who find themselves homeless?
Every work of art you see was made by a unique someone who is homeless in San Diego. They are all hopeful people who’ve been provided a creative outlet and opportunity to make a little bit of income by the nonprofit organization HEAL. Right now many of their canvases are on display at the San Diego Central Library. That’s where I took these few photographs.
What you see is just some of the original artwork that you can buy. With their painted canvases, homeless artists earn money. All of these pieces tell a story from the perspective of a unique human being. See all of the artwork that is for sale by those who want a brighter future by clicking here.
HEAL-SD (Homeless Empowerment through Art and Leadership) is a nonprofit that provides opportunities for creative self-expression and personal growth for individuals experiencing homelessness in San Diego…
Art sales give the artists the ability to earn an income through their hard work, as well as helping to confirm their talent, self-worth, and ability to contribute to their community in a meaningful way.
To view the many works of art that are for sale, click here. Then please make sure to share that page so many others will see it.
Should you purchase a piece, your life will be enriched, too.
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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’ve ever driven down Pacific Highway south of Old Town, there’s a good chance you’ve spotted an enormous whale!
That whale was painted by muralist Chris Konecki in 2016 for PangeaSeed Foundation’s environmental project Sea Walls: Murals for Oceans. (Many more amazing murals were created by other artists during this same citywide event.)
The big, colorful whale mural is on the side of BJ’s Equipment Rentals, between Wright Street and Estudillo Street. The title of this mural is Just Passing Through. Look closely and you’ll see scuba divers around the whale, either spray painting graffiti on the whale or removing it!
Vandalizing a beautiful living whale would be a horrible thing to do. Endangering these magnificent creatures with pollution in the oceans would be just as reprehensible.
Let’s keep Earth’s oceans clean!
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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!
Eggshell Jack Skellington, by artist Melody De Los Cobos. Inspired by the film The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Check out all this great pop art by local San Diego artists! There’s a little bit of horror and a little bit of Christmas!
All of these pieces are by the artists of Horrorgasm and were on display at the future home of the Comic-Con Museum in Balboa Park during 2019 December Nights.
Horrorgasm is a cool art event that is held annually in late October. According to the Horrorgasm website, it’s a “one-night-only celebration of horror and all things creepy, spooky and macabre.” In 2019 Horrorgasm was held in North Park, and featured “an Art gallery, an artisan marketplace, live performances, live readings of chilling tales, and our version of an escape room, the Horrorgasm Survival Chamber.”
As I wandered about the exhibit, I was pleased to once again meet artist Melody De Los Cobos, one of the founders of Horrorgasm. Last month we spoke briefly during a Love City Heights mural painting event, where she was mentoring a young artist. I blogged about that here!
Some great popular movies are represented in this collection of original artwork. A few humorous pieces had me smiling!
To learn more about Horrorgasm, visit their website here.
Horrorgasm is an annual San Diego art event. In 2019 it celebrated Monsters, Maniacs, The Paranormal, and the Surreal.They have an awesome comic book. Tales of Horrorgasm!The Ballbreaker Suite, by artist Autumn Sno, inspired by the movie Scrooged. Pictured is Carol Kane’s the Ghost of Christmas Present.Creep in the Corner, by artist Jennifer Cooksey. Mixed media sculpture and acrylic. It’s a sinister Elf on the Shelf!Stripe, by artist Jennifer Cooksey. Mixed media sculpture. Based on the horror comedy film Gremlins.Throne of Lies, by artist Avaline Ai. A meme from a humorous quote in the holiday film Elf.How Deadpool Stole Christmas, by artist Marc Vuletich. Acrylic paint on canvas. Deadpool enters Peter Parker’s home in an homage to How the Grinch Stole Christmas.Kevin McCallister, Then, by artist Nyxie Von Rose. A famous pose from the classic holiday film Home Alone.Christmas Ale, by artist Tara Alvarado. Acrylic on wood. A beer label inspired by The Spirit of Christmas Past from A Christmas Carol.
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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!
The Athenaeum Music and Arts Library in La Jolla is now showing their recently acquired artwork. A variety of paintings, sketches, books, collages, sculptures and other works are on display in several galleries of the elegant library. The pieces have all have been added to their permanent collection since 2016.
Yesterday, during a visit to the Athenaeum, I stepped into the light-filled Joseph Clayes III Gallery, Rotunda Gallery and North Reading Room to see these new acquisitions. Many styles are represented–something for every taste.
I tried to capture some of the artwork with my camera, but to experience it best you should see it with your own eyes.
The Athenaeum Music and Arts Library is open free to the public. This current exhibition of Recent Acquisitions comes to an end December 28, 2019.
Reading, Charles Glaubitz, 2017. Acrylic on paper.Study for “Study of Rods, Holes, and Balls”, Joshua Miller, 2016.#9, Sue Whitman, 2018. Paint on canvas.Restaurant Musicians, Hunza Valley Pakistan, Eloise Duff, 2016. Watercolor and ink on paper.Platycerium Biturcatum/Cuerno de Alce, Mariana Magdaleno, 2018. Watercolor on watercolor paper.
Patricia, James E. Lasry, 1999. Lithograph on Arches Cover, Bistre ink.Maple, Marshall Weber, 2017. Signed by artist, one of a kind.El juego del reflejo = The Game of the Reflection, Derli Romero, 2017. Signed by artist.Waiting (London), Adrienne Joy, 2016. Oil on panel.
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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!
Emotionally powerful images by internationally known Guatemalan photographer Luis González Palma can now be viewed at the SDSU Downtown Gallery. The title of the exhibition is Constructed Mythologies.
Walk through the gallery and you’ll pass many faces whose expressions convey complex, often painful emotion. Some eyes stare through geometric shapes or fragile threads. Some of the images use sepia tints; some are presented as mosaics or unusual collages; photographs are often layered or cut into shattered pieces and made abstract, as if to depict a series of memories, or moments of living that pass like a dream.
The subjects of Luis González Palma are the indigenous Mayas and the Mestizo people of Guatemala. Their faces speak of silent pride and suffering.
According to one sign that describes the artist: His work is informed by curiosity and reverence for the human condition, woven into evocative images that present an untethered relationship to time and place. Working with symbolism, meticulous staging, and a keen understanding of religious and cultural iconography, González Palma masterfully creates rich narrative influenced by his Guatemalan heritage and perspective as a Latin American artist.
If you like true things, come view these photographs.
The final page of Constructed Mythologies is turned on January 20, 2020.
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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!
BE TRUE mural in San Diego’s East Village by @allikdesign.
Those seeking inspiration in downtown San Diego’s East Village will find it at the corner of Market Street and Tenth Avenue. That’s where a beautiful new mural reminds everyone to BE TRUE!
East Village continues to receive colorful new street art, thanks in large part to @ladieswhopaint!
A very colorful mural in San Diego’s East Village by @TierneyMilne of @ladieswhopaint.Above all things, BE TRUE.
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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!
These three fantastic murals were painted recently in a North Park alley. I happened to be walking down University Avenue just east of 31st Street when I spotted them.
Very cool, huh?
North Park continues to be the home of amazing, ever-changing street art!
North Park alley mural by BANDiT.North Park alley mural by @JohnnysArtwork.North Park alley mural by @kyraaart.North Park alley mural by @kyraaart.
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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!
Cool San Diego Sights! 