Cool female face on one side of a utility box on 30th Street in North Park.
In the past I’ve posted dozens of street art photos from San Diego’s hip North Park neighborhood. But here come even more!
I spotted these cool street art faces (mostly human faces, that is) along 30th Street, between University Avenue and El Cajon Boulevard!
Enjoy!
(To see lots more North Park street art, look for the “Related” links at the bottom of this blog post. Or simply click the “street art” tag in my website’s sidebar to see hundreds of examples from all around San Diego! And, as always, feel free to use the share buttons! Have fun!)
Another face, same box.A third red face looks down the North Park sidewalk.A blue face with a faint smile. Minimalist street art by Alex Avila.A funny pink stretchy blob face covers its eyes and yells!Another side and another funny face.Street lamp banners along 30th Street in North Park feature imaginative faces. Explore Art.There is certainly a lot of urban art to explore throughout North Park!Funny graffiti faces on an electrical box.More multi-colored faces on the other side of the box. And some fun figures, too!Not a face here. Just a hand.A bare pink face on a painted mannequin. Abstract street art in North Park.The regal face of a tiger. Grand Prestoz.Yes, even flying pigs have faces.Jumbled eyes, lips and faces in this cool street art at the Thrift Trader in North Park.Two funky faces watch people walking down the sidewalk from a window above a bin of CD’s.The face of a Belching Beaver isn’t something you often see. Unless, perhaps, you drink lots of their beer!Not street art, but an artful face in a window on 30th Street. This is VIP Paints – San Diego, a special studio where the public can go to learn and create art!The head of a pink flamingo painted on a utility box!Artistic collage on a public telephone includes the printed word, and various stencil faces and figures.Creativity can be found up and down the streets of North Park!
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This blog now features thousands of photos around San Diego! Are you curious? There’s lots of cool stuff to check out!
Here’s the Cool San Diego Sights main page, where you can read the most current blog posts. If you’re using a small mobile device, click those three parallel lines up at the top–that opens up my website’s sidebar, where you’ll see the most popular posts, a search box, and more!
To enjoy future posts, you can also “like” Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
The distinctive Victorian roof of the Hotel del Coronado, a top San Diego resort and tourist attraction, appears in the letter S in a North Park mural.
I walked through North Park today with my camera. I had intended to continue up to Normal Heights and walk along Adams Avenue, photographing lots of street art, but I got distracted! I’ll head that way another time.
Meanwhile, stay tuned, because a whole bunch of super cool North Park street art is coming up! (I think North Park probably has more street art per city block than any other San Diego neighborhood.)
To get things started, check out this cool mural that caught my eye while I walked along 30th Street. Using the magic of the internet, I now send it to you! Greetings from San Diego!
Balboa Park’s iconic California Building and bell tower appear in the letter G in the same colorful North Park mural.Greetings from SAN DIEGO! It’s a postcard painted on a building wall! This cool urban art is on 30th Street, just south of El Cajon Boulevard in North Park. Images in the eight letters include the Ocean Beach Pier, La Jolla Cove, the U.S./Mexico border, and the Giant Dipper Roller Coaster at Belmont Park in Mission Beach!
This cool urban art was created in 2016 by New York graffiti artist Victor Ving and Ohio photographer Lisa Beggs. They have been traveling around the United States in an RV painting these postcard-like murals!
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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’d like to bring two talented artists to everyone’s attention. I met them during my walk around San Diego yesterday. They show their colorful works of art on the sidewalk. I had spoken to Carlos several times in the past; I spoke to Juli for the first time and learned a little of her story.
Carlos often hangs out on the Embarcadero, right next to the Star of India. His fantastic Eagle Warrior appears to me to belong in an art gallery. (Click this image to enlarge it!)
Carlos hangs out next to the Star of India, right near the ship’s figurehead. He usually has a whole array of stone and wire creature creations on display. Many of them are antlike. They’re all a lot of fun.
Yesterday he had something absolutely amazing on the sidewalk. You can see it in my first two photographs. He has made several such figures using resin, acrylic, and in this case some some quartz crystals. I looked very closely at his Eagle Warrior and was completely blown away. To me, this piece appeared to belong in an art gallery!
Carlos is very friendly and interesting, with many wise things to say about life and the world. He has lived in San Diego for a long, long time. If you happen to walk along the Embarcadero, and you see some art on the sidewalk that matches what I have described, you’ve probably found him! Say hello!
Close look at jaguar and serpent at foot of Aztec warrior, an amazing work of resin, acrylic and quartz by San Diego artist Carlos.
And now, a small colorful work of art by Juli:
A small but beautiful work of art, painted by friendly Juli. You can find her sometimes on the Embarcadero, sometimes on Broadway by the Santa Fe Depot.
At times I have seen Juli along the Embarcadero, painstakingly using a small brush to paint her fantastic crystal-like watercolor creations. But yesterday I spoke to her for the first time. She was hanging out on the sidewalk just south of the Santa Fe Depot. Take a look at her work!
Juli is quite knowledgeable about the art scene and has travelled all around the country. Many of her friends and acquaintances know her as Tree. She recently came down to San Diego from San Francisco, and is working to recover from a difficult situation. Her attitude is of unbounded optimism!
If you’re ever walking about San Diego and you spy her small but very distinctive works of art, take a close look! They’re pretty amazing!
These wonderful small pieces of watercolor art were created by Juli, who also goes by the street name Tree. She recently came to San Diego from San Francisco. (Click this image to enlarge it!)
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Amazing, revolutionary holographic painting by visionary San Diego artist Tom Liguori. Photo taken through a window. Image contrast and sharpness adjusted. Photo cropped to eliminate reflections.
You might recall that earlier this year I blogged about some genuinely revolutionary holographic art. I had discovered some dazzling paintings in the windows of downtown’s old Gaslamp 15 movie theater, which has now been closed for almost a year. The paintings were created by Tom Liguori, a retired local entrepreneur, who is working to develop a completely new holographic art form.
Well, I noticed a new crop of his holographic paintings in the same windows the other day, so I’ve taken more photos. This new batch of works, if possible, seems even more vibrant and visually interesting. Some paintings are presented on a turning carousel allowing the sidewalk viewer to perceive their three dimensional quality. Placing my camera right up to the window glass, I tried hard to take photos without morning street reflections, and I’ve cropped some of the resulting images and adjusted contrast and sharpness to present this spellbinding art to the best of my ability. But you really have to see the holographic effect in person!
I was fortunate to meet Tom Liguori by chance a few months ago while I was walking around the Gaslamp. He was out on the sidewalk with some photographers, who were documenting one of his fantastic paintings. He’s a super friendly and interesting guy!
To see my earlier blog post, which I published in June before I met Mr. Liguori, click here. I didn’t adjust the images of those paintings a great deal, and the street reflections are much more evident. In that earlier blog post I also provide much more background about this new art movement, and what it all means to Mr. Liguori, an artist with an interest in physics and philosophy. Fascinating stuff!
I see he now has a website, where you can learn even more. This revolutionary artwork is available for purchase. To check his website out, click here!
Another work of fantastic, light-imbued art by Tom Liguori, a retired businessman who experiments with proprietary holographic paints.Colors and light change appearance in this holographic painting as the point of view shifts. This almost looks like an abstract still life.Several brilliant paintings turn in a spotlight on a carousel. One can see these at the now closed Gaslamp 15 movie theater on Fifth Avenue.A shield-like work of holographic art seems to produce streams of light in this photo. But it’s actually reflections on the window from the nearby street.One can get lost in this shining, jewel-like art. Wonderful!
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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 fun photos for you to enjoy!
Sun God sculpture, by French-born sculptor Niki de Saint Phalle, at University of California San Diego.
I absolutely love this sculpture. It’s called Sun God. This colorful public art was created by renowned French sculptor Niki de Saint Phalle. There are several other sculptures by the artist around San Diego, as you might have seen previously on my blog. Here and here and here.
Yesterday I walked through UCSD’s Muir College to get some photos of the Sun God. And there it stood, perched eternally on its living green arch, reflecting the golden San Diego sunlight amid tall eucalyptus trees. What a sight!
This much-loved landmark at University of California San Diego was created by Niki de Saint Phalle in 1983. She was known for producing large, colorful figures that appear to have emerged from mythology or highly imaginative tales of fantasy. While the Sun God is frequently outfitted by mischievous students with outlandish attire, the fourteen-foot-high bird remains unmoved. It merely gazes across the human landscape from its lofty station in the sky, thinking otherworldly, godly, inscrutable thoughts.
Science is taught in the buildings across the way. I doubt those professors have an adequate explanation for the Sun God. It is a true work of art.
The impressive, brightly colorful Sun God stands with wings spread wide in sun-worshiping San Diego.A path of stones leads through the Sun God’s green archway.Plaque reads SUN GOD, Niki de Saint Phalle, 1983. It’s on loan from the Stuart Foundation.Sun God faces Muir College classrooms, where science is taught. UCSD is one of the top public universities in the United States.The Sun God bird sculpture with a shining crown of gold rises powerfully, mysteriously into the blue sky.
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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 fun photos for you to enjoy!
Electrical box on North Torrey Pines Road near the Gliderport intersection features colorful fish with huge eyeballs!
I walked around both the University of California San Diego and the Salk Institute in La Jolla this morning. Stay tuned to my blog and you’ll see why. (The next two posts are going to be very cool!)
As I headed up the sidewalk along North Torrey Pines Road back to my car, I spied all sorts of creative street art painted on utility boxes and transformers. In many instances, I believe, the art was produced by students at the university.
I was a student at UCSD’s Muir College decades ago. Wandering around the campus was like a brief voyage back in time. The years have gone by so very quickly…
Across from the North Campus of UCSD, this octopus carrying a book and donning a graduation cap is also riding a surfboard!Another nearby box features street art in the form of a breaking ocean wave. Excellent surfing can be found nearby at Black’s Beach.Another side of the big utility box has yellow fish forming a triangle as they swim above seaweed.And lastly we see a purple seal on a surfboard!Another corner of the same intersection has a utility box with four cool images. This side shows a golfer taking a swing at the nearby Torrey Pines Golf Course.On this side we see the interior of a biotechnology lab. Of course, the internationally famous Salk Institute building is about a 30 second walk from here! You can just glimpse a part of the parking lot in this photo. Stay tuned to this blog for more!Also nearby is the Torrey Pines Gliderport. This fun street art depicts a couple of paragliders soaring above the Pacific Ocean! The Gliderport is one of my favorite places.The fourth side of the box shows the natural beauty along the coast of La Jolla. Pine trees rise atop eroded sandstone cliffs.Now for some more street art along North Torrey Pines Road. I took this photo while walking along the sidewalk.This urban art looks to me like a city inside the outline of a Christmas tree.More great urban street art on a utility box.Wisdom written for all to see. Make time to make art and make love.On the next side of this box we see a hand with brush, making beautiful art.A transformer box with fish and whales swimming among trees and flowers!Human creativity expressed in public with paint.A bucket for cigarette butts next to the sidewalk. Fish! Don’t Smoke! Now that was an unexpected discovery!One side of a box near an entrance to UCSD. Hands of La Jolla by Rebecca Asch. It’s holding food.Another hand. A broken pencil and perhaps caffeine for those late nights of studying.An underwater guy in scuba gear and a pink mermaid seem to be in love. The spray painted words Silence is Violence probably was applied later, or perhaps not.Colorful blooms on branches. I think those might be Japanese cherry blossoms on the right.There are many crows (and seagulls) that flock in this coastal cliff area near UCSD. They perch on lampposts all over the place. Crows are taking flight right here, as well!More cool street art. Two crows fly across the angled sides of a utility box on North Torrey Pines Road.
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This blog now features thousands of photos around San Diego! Are you curious? There’s lots of cool stuff to check out!
Here’s the Cool San Diego Sights main page, where you can read the most current blog posts. If you’re using a small mobile device, click those three parallel lines up at the top–that opens up my website’s sidebar, where you’ll see the most popular posts, a search box, and more!
To enjoy future posts, you can also “like” Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
A bizarre, extremely rare animal was discovered yesterday at the old Jerome’s warehouse in San Diego’s East Village.
Look what I discovered! I was walking down the sidewalk near the old, dilapidated Jerome’s warehouse in East Village when something caught my astonished eye! A weird, bizarre animal jumped at me from the crumbling building!
This particular weird creature did not jump out of the Coliseum. I know the Colosseum in Rome is filled with feral cats.Look! On the Jerome’s warehouse wall! It’s a bizarre rat-like animal that farts green gas! Artist Adam Hathorn is Honkey Kong!
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Colorful faces and complex depth are elements of a public mural located in Golden Hill.
I haven’t taken a walk through Golden Hill for several months. But this morning I discovered some photos of a cool Golden Hill mural languishing in my computer. I forgot!
This public art at the corner of 25th Street and B Street celebrates the diversity and the vibrancy one encounters in San Diego’s small Golden Hill community. It’s an enlarged version of a 8.25 by 19 inch mixed media collage, created by artist Giancarlo Pia in 2013. I love how three dimensional and richly colorful this mural is!
Giancarlo Pia. Golden Hill, 2013. Mixed Media Collage. This mural is dedicated to the residents of Golden Hill and reflects the vibrancy and diversity of the community.Many lively images can be seen in this artwork. The rich culture and history of Golden Hill is celebrated.A very cool mural at a street corner in Golden Hill.
UPDATE!
Here’s a much better complete photo of the mural that I took on a later walk…
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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!
Surfer walks past a community mural in Ocean Beach. The mural project was begun by OB artist Rich James in 1999. During special events, residents each paint a square in the mosaic artwork.
Just some more cool photos of colorful signs and street art taken while walking around Ocean Beach. I’ve arranged them in no particular order. Enjoy!
Cool street art mural on the side of a building near the foot of the OB pier. Artist Celeste Byers collaborated with Aaron Glasson.A small totem pole and some geraniums.Surfing street art on OB utility box shows a view down the barrel of perfect wave.Motorcycle graphic on repair shop wall.A mermaid holds a shell full of ocean gifts. A mural in an Ocean Beach alley above a dumpster.Images of breaking surf high on a building wall.Candy and goodies depicted on a colorfully painted Beach Sweets sign.This octopus on Newport Avenue seems to enjoy beer and pizza. One can grab a lot with eight tentacles!A pelican, pizza and ale.Ocean Beach Surf School truck parked by sand features cool surfer art.A splash of urban art on the side of the Hodad’s building.Another of the many community murals in Ocean Beach. This one depicts underwater sea life.What appears to be a tropical island scene on a utility box in OB.Art along a sidewalk shows lush vegetation and the OB pier.Three parrots take flight.Surfboards lie in wait beyond open door of the groovy USA Hostels Ocean Beach.Street lamp on Newport Avenue features palm trees.Car with surfboard drives down Newport Avenue past hair salon and tattoo parlor street art signs.Don’t believe the hype! You are already beautiful. Music, expression, love.Volkswagen bug appears to have emerged from the 60s, with peace signs and psychedelic designs.Ocean Beach community mural features bicycles.The OB Christmas tree near the beach is a focal point of this cool community mural!
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This blog now features thousands of photos around San Diego! Are you curious? There’s lots of cool stuff to check out!
Here’s the Cool San Diego Sights main page, where you can read the most current blog posts. If you’re using a small mobile device, click those three parallel lines up at the top–that opens up my website’s sidebar, where you’ll see the most popular posts, a search box, and more!
To enjoy future posts, you can also “like” Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
Bronze sculpture of young girl dipping finger into shallow basin of water. The Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial is located at the La Jolla Recreation Center.
During my recent walk around La Jolla, I paused for a bit to admire a beautiful bronze sculpture at the La Jolla Recreation Center. The life-size likeness of a girl dipping a finger into a basin of water is officially called the Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial. Created by artist Mary Buckman and dedicated in 1997, the gentle artwork remembers a very important figure in San Diego history: Ellen Browning Scripps.
If you live in San Diego, you surely recognize the name Ellen Browning Scripps. She and her brother created a vast business empire as newspaper publishers. During her life she gave most of her wealth away to good causes. She spent much of her life in La Jolla. Indeed, she lived right across Prospect Street from the present-day sculpture; her old residence is now home to the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in La Jolla.
This sculpture by Mary Buckman is dedicated to the memory of Ellen Browning Scripps. June 28, 1997. A beloved sculpture by James Tank Porter occupied this site from 1926 until its disappearance in 1996.People enjoy a nearby bench at the La Jolla Recreation Center on a sunny December day.Inscription on the bench is from Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses. I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.A beautiful work of art remembers San Diego journalist and philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps.
Here are several photos I took at a later time…
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I wrote a short story about a girl gazing into a fountain. Would you like to read it? To feel a mixture of joy and sadness, click here.
Cool San Diego Sights! 