Tag: artists

Organization helps comic book artists in San Diego!

Do you live in San Diego? Are you a comic book artist who’d like to collaborate and grow with others who share your interests? There’s a cool organization you should check out!

The CASD Collective (Comicbook Artists of San Diego) is a group of people who’ve come together to build a local community of comic book artists to foster artistic growth and to showcase their artwork.

I met one of their smiling members at this weekend’s Black Comix Day event in Balboa Park, inside the WorldBeat Cultural Center.

That’s cartoonist and writer Lyssette Williams smiling in the above photo, and some of her artwork below!

Members of CASD Collective attend cons, pop culture festivals and San Diego events promoting each others’ work. I remember seeing them at the North Park Book Fair, Fangaea Con, and at a Free Comic Book Day event in Kearny Mesa a couple years ago!

Here’s a photo of one member at Free Comic Book Day!

Members also come together to produce zines and anthologies. Perhaps you’ve seen their work at San Diego Zine Fest.

Do you want to be a successful comic book artist but don’t know how to proceed? Join others on the fun journey!

Are you an experienced artist looking for more friends and collaborators? This might be the place for you!

If CASD Collective sounds interesting, take a look at their website by clicking here!

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Artists celebrated in San Diego at Black Comix Day!

Have you been to Black Comix Day in San Diego yet? It’s a super cool Black History Month pop culture event that is similar to San Diego Comic-Con, but it focuses on creators of African Descent.

Black Comix Day 2025 brings comic book artists, writers, independent publishers and fans together in Balboa Park at the WorldBeat Cultural Center. There are dozens of amazing exhibitors. See the event website here.

Black Comix Day is free to the public and taking place all this weekend. I swung by to check it out on Saturday–you really should go on Sunday! There’s so much to see, collectibles to find, and fun discoveries to make. Most importantly, perhaps, it’s an opportunity to support visionary, independent creators, many of whom call Southern California home.

I had a blast. I recognized some friendly faces from last year’s event. There were many new exhibitors, too.

I encourage my readers to head on down Sunday, February 16, between 10 am and 6 pm. This pop culture extravaganza is free, but you might like to purchase a few comic books, graphic novels, posters, t-shirts or other cool collectibles!

There’s also a great selection of ethnic food inside the WorldBeat Center, too, so bring an appetite!

Some photographs to provide a flavor…

I was told that Harriet Tubman: Demon Slayer will be an upcoming show on Hulu!

How cool is that!

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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.

Feel free to share this!

Beautiful butterfly arrives at San Diego Museum of Art!

A large, very beautiful butterfly has fluttered into the San Diego Museum of Art’s library. It has spread its welcoming wings on the floor, inviting children to take a seat during the SDMA’s monthly Storytime in the Library!

This sculptural multi-piece rug, if I can call it that, arrived at the museum a couple weeks ago. It made its official debut today. I just happened to see a sign pointing the way!

The interdisciplinary Chicana artist artist who created this amazing fabric artwork is Katie Ruiz. Ring a bell? She’s the artist behind the Pompom Project. I blogged about one of her installations at Civic Center Plaza back in 2023. You can see those photographs by clicking here.

This new many-colored butterfly is a cozy place for kids to sit while listening to readings of fun art-inspired children’s books. It sort of feels like sitting in a (p)lush, flowery garden. You can see a video of its creation on the San Diego Museum of Art’s Instagram by clicking here.

Do you have children who’d like to enjoy Storytime in the Library. It’s free, every second Thursday of each month. Readings are at 10:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.

The San Diego Museum of Art’s library can be found by walking through the museum’s sculpture court and Panama 66. Look around–you will find it! You’ll also find the big, beautiful butterfly that now makes the art library home!

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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.

Thank you for sharing!

A refreshing sip of fine art at UC San Diego!

Very unusual public art stands near the center of the UC San Diego’s large La Jolla campus. While this surprising work of art might splash your nose, it’s not in your face. What I mean by that is: while you’re bent over enjoying a cool drink, you might not know that the fountain is a work of fine art by an important artist. There’s no sign or plaque indicating such.

This untitled work of public art—an exact replica in granite of commercial metal fountains typically found in schools, business offices and government buildings–is part of UC San Diego’s Stuart Collection of art. It was created in 1991 by internationally recognized conceptual artist Michael Asher.

Michael Asher believed that an artwork’s encompassing environment determines how we perceive it. As his Wikipedia biography explains: Asher’s work takes the form of “subtle yet deliberate interventions – additions, subtractions or alterations – in particular environments.” His pieces were always site-specific; they were always temporary, and whatever was made or moved for them was destroyed or put back after the exhibitions. This untitled work at UC San Diego is his first permanent public outdoor work in the United States.

I took a refreshing sip from the fountain during my last visit to UCSD. To my right stood a flagpole, and beyond that a historical marker indicating the campus is located on the old site of Camp Calvin B. Matthews, a rifle and artillery training base of the United States Marine Corps. (See my blog post concerning the historical marker by clicking here.) Asher placed the drinking fountain at this precise spot, directly opposite the historical monument, after a lot of deliberation.

There’s more to this “mysterious” work of art than you might suppose. Please read all about it by visiting the Stuart Collection website here.

This very special drinking fountain can be found south of the Price Center, in grassy, park-like UCSD Town Square.

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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.

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Oceanside post office mural painted by Hollywood actress!

This wonderful Air Mail mural inside Oceanside’s historic post office was painted in 1937 during the New Deal. The public art was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts. It was painted by Elise Seeds.

Many might not realize it, but the artist, Elise Seeds, was also a Hollywood actress!

As the Living New Deal website explains: Elise Seeds, also known as Alyse Cavanna, was a film actress, dancer, comedienne, and vegetarian as well as a painter. She was a well known artist back in the day. Here’s her bio on the askART website.

Elise Cavanna (her acting name) was W.C. Fields’ comic partner in the Ziegfield Follies. She’s mostly remembered for her role as a patient in the 1932 W.C. Fields slapstick comedy The Dentist. This website explains: As Fields attempts to pull her tooth, she recoils in pain and wraps her legs around Fields, getting her feet stuck in his pockets as he pulls her around the room. You can watch the movie on YouTube here. She appears around the 12 minute mark in a hilarious but ultimately suggestive scene that ended up being censored.

Elise Seeds led a full life and pursued many eclectic interests. She was certainly a genius. Simply take a look at her amazing Oceanside mural!

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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.

Thank you for sharing!

Hand-painted piano at Oceanside Museum of Art!

Do you play piano? Head over to the Oceanside Museum of Art, sit down at this very cool hand-painted instrument, and tickle the ivories!

I saw this piano during my last visit to the museum. It has a name: Henri. I believe it’s named after French pianist Henri Herbert.

Henri was painted by local artist Rene Cosby. It’s the result of the Oceanside Art Piano Project and a sponsorship by the Oceanside Cultural Arts Foundation.

There’s a great detailed article concerning this first public piano in Oceanside. To read it, click here!

(Back in 2016, the San Diego Symphony placed ten uniquely decorated pianos around San Diego for the public to play. Most of those pianos have disappeared, but you can see the photographs that I took by clicking here.)

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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.

Thank you for sharing!

Let Go Lightly at Mission Valley YMCA.

Let Go Lightly is a sculpture that stands near the entrance of Mission Valley YMCA in San Diego. It was created by artist Matthew Welter of Kings Beach, California and donated by Bruce Hazard.

I took photographs of the wood carved sculpture during my last visit.

I noticed a plaque set in concrete that provides a description.

The plaque reads:

The sculpture honors the relationship between parent and child. Based upon the tradition of Native American lore, the YMCA’s Indian Guide, Indian Princess and Indian Maiden programs foster this relationship. Let us remember our surviving local Native Americans that still live in the vicinity of the San Diego River. They are known as the Kumeyaay/Diegueño tribe or in their language Ipai/Tipai (meaning people). This sculpture faces in the direction of the spirit of the ancient Kumeyaay village site of Cosoy.

(Google AI explains: In the late 1980s, Native American lobbyists and individuals asked the YMCA to stop using the “Indian” theme because it was often stereotypical. Those old programs, which encouraged fathers to connect with their children, have evolved into Adventure Clubs.)

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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.

Thank you for sharing!

Journey among poems, walking in City Heights.

When I visited the Lunar New Year celebration in City Heights last weekend, I was surprised to find hundreds of words affixed to a stretch of 44th Street behind Officer Jeremy Henwood Memorial Park. (It’s the alley-like street between the City Heights Library and Recreation Center, and the sports fields of City Heights Park to the east.)

I hadn’t recalled seeing this public art before.

I found a detailed article concerning the unique outdoor installation. The project is titled Memoria Terra and is intended to last for five years. The art debuted last summer.

Artist Shinpei Takeda and five young writers composed poems that tickle passing feet. The poems regard the history of this very diverse community (with its substantial immigrant and refugee population), social issues and gentrification.

As residents make their personal journey, they are also encouraged to gaze down at the abundant words to create their own poem.

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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.

Thank you for sharing!

Cool murals and art at Carrillo Pottery!

“Life’s Rad” proclaims a mural painted outside Carrillo Pottery in Oceanside. This and a mural depicting an Aztec figure drew my curiosity as I walked up South Coast Highway.

Then a guy came out the front door and greeted me. It was Joey Carrillo. Come on in! he said smiling.

What I found inside Carrillo Pottery was beyond cool.

Super colorful, authentic Mexican pottery, and super unique handcrafted decor fill the large shop to overflowing. Bright colors are everywhere. The vibe inside the place is definitely SoCal.

Joey showed me how all sorts of products by local artists are for sale, too, making the place something of an art gallery.

Life’s Rad is a California lifestyle brand featured at Carrillo Pottery. The brand thrives with the help of artist Sean Dominguez (@artbydomo), who created the outdoor Life’s Rad mural, the brand logo, shirt designs and more.

I’m so glad I ventured into Carrillo Pottery. It brightened my walk through Oceanside. Joey Carrillo is the coolest guy you could ever hope to meet–he’s a musician, too!

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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.

Thank you for sharing!

Hidden murals in Oceanside under train tracks.

These two murals in Oceanside are seen by relatively few people. They were painted fifteen years ago along a little used nature trail, under a shadowy bridge that supports train tracks.

One of the murals seems to depict nearby Buccaneer Beach, with a view of Oceanside Pier in the distance. The opposite mural appears to show Loma Alta Creek that the nature trail–Loma Alta Marsh Footpath–follows. (I’ll be blogging about this short trail soon.)

I noticed an artist signature: Betty Gilroy 2010.

I walked under the railroad tracks last Friday. These two murals are like weather-beaten hidden treasures.

The following photos are of the Loma Alta Creek mural. You can see the actual creek beyond it. The artwork is filled with many of the birds one can see from the trail…

The next group of photos show the opposite mural, depicting people at the beach. The art was behind a chain link fence, making photography a challenge…

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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.

Thank you for sharing!