Fun art in San Diego’s Bay Park neighborhood celebrates elements of the American Southwest.
During a recent walk, I spotted the above bull sculpture, a saguaro cactus and other works of street art in front of San Diego Charter’s building on Morena Boulevard.
A coyote howling to the moon in Bay Park? Yes! Courtesy of artist Beth Emmerich.
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A wall and a fence by a parking lot in Old Town San Diego have been decorated with murals by artist Memuco (@memuco). I spotted them today during a short walk.
You can see these creations for yourself near the intersection of Congress Street and Twiggs Street.
A gentleman I spoke to at nearby shop The Art of Cigar told me Memuco used both spray paint and brush for his colorful rendition of Quetzalcoatl, which was finished a couple weeks ago.
Painting on the fence’s many vertical slats must have been an interesting undertaking. The snaky, scaly effect he achieved is quite wonderful!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
An extraordinary sculpture by renowned artist James Hubbell can be enjoyed near the center of downtown El Cajon. His interpretation of mythical flying horse Pegasus stands in the succulent and cactus garden at the Olaf Wieghorst Museum!
I took a tour of the museum today, viewing the fine art of internationally recognized painter of western scenes Olaf Wieghorst, who lived for a time in El Cajon.
As we strolled through the museum’s lush garden, I was surprised to see this wonderful sculpture by James Hubbell, another beloved artist. Hubbell’s studio is located in the nearby mountains.
If you love outstanding art (or the Old West or amazing gardens) you must pay a visit to the free Olaf Wieghorst Museum. I’ll be blogging much more about this surprising museum in the next few days!
The sculpture Pegasus near the rustic home of Old West artist Olaf Wieghorst. His house can toured at the Olaf Wieghorst Museum.Pegasus, by James Hubbell, was a gift of the East County Chapter of the Fine Arts Society of San Diego.An abstract bronze Pegasus flies gracefully in downtown El Cajon.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
If you’ve driven down Encinitas Boulevard under Interstate 5 you’ve seen this wonderful, very colorful public art. Four long mosaic strips depicting local plants and animals have added life to the freeway undercrossing for about a year now.
In 2021 the City of Encinitas chose this design by Minneapolis-based artists Amy Baur and Brian Boldon.
The three foot tall strips feature glazed ceramic surfaces that shine in the sunlight and resemble stained glass. Here’s an article concerning the installation. The artist has stated: “Imagery from Encinitas’ environment — birds, plants, water, coastal and mountain flora and fauna — are layered with geometric shapes reflecting concrete patterns above and below the artwork.”
During my last walk in Encinitas, I took photographs of the beautiful artwork. What birds and plants do you recognize?
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
Visitors to the Comic-Con Museum are in for a treat! A large gallery on the second floor of the museum now features exquisite masterpieces by multiple award-winning artist Colleen Doran. The exhibition, which opened about a week ago, is titled Colleen Doran Illustrates Neil Gaiman.
It doesn’t matter if, like me, you are unfamiliar with the artist, or the author of short stories that she illustrates. The pieces of gorgeous original art on display will dazzle and enchant you.
The meticulous, lush art transports the viewer to another place, where fairy tales and Arthurian legends blend easily with this ordinary world we all know.
The centerpiece of Colleen Doran Illustrates Neil Gaiman is artwork from her Eisner-winning graphic novel Chivalry. The moment my eyes gazed into the first painted page of Chivalry, I was spellbound.
I suppose I need to read the story. It’s described on Amazon as a delightfully humorous and sweet fantasy. A sign at the Comic-Con Museum explains Chivalry is a story about memories, trust, and relationships. The characters are modeled on the artist’s own family. Her questing hero Galaad (Sir Galahad) isn’t ridiculed or vilified, as he would be in most contemporary literature, but is found worthy of the Grail he seeks.
Doran’s painted scenes convey to my eyes a deep love for life, where the human heart triumphs.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
Those who love art should head over to Spanish Village in Balboa Park soon. An exhibition by the Chinese Brush Painting Society of San Diego can be enjoyed inside Gallery 21. The Flow of Ink and Color will be on view through Monday, October 9.
I gazed at fine works by seven members of the society, and wondered how the human hand can produce such beauty.
Talking to Wendy Nakamura, one of the artists, I learned that one thing distinguishing Chinese brush painting from Japanese brush painting is the color palette. I also learned how traditional brush art can inspire contemporary, more brightly colorful or abstract pieces.
Wendy demonstrated how she handled a brush to quickly render an image of bamboo. Visitors are invited to try their own hand!
I noticed many displayed pieces are for sale. Do you collect beautiful art, or simply love to view it? Swing on by!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
A live art installation that visitors could view during the past few days in Balboa Park has been completed!
The artwork, brought to life by the San Diego Museum of Art and renowned Iranian-born artist Mohammad Barrangi (@mohammad.barrangi), decorates a section of wall outside the museum’s courtyard, near the entrance to Panama 66. As I understand it, this work will remain on display through October.
I took these photos early this evening. You can compare them to photos I took the past two days as the art was being created by clicking here. You’ll also see a smiling photograph of the artist!
During the live installation, Mohammad demonstrated the reverse print transfer process while creating a diptych inspired by Iranian history and visual traditions. You can see a short video of him working on this artwork here.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
During the next few days, renowned illustrator and artist Mohammad Barrangi will be performing a live demonstration of the reverse print transfer process as he installs new art in San Diego’s always amazing Balboa Park!
Those walking through the Plaza de Panama near the San Diego Museum of Art’s outdoor courtyard should look for Mohammad and his work in progress. The finished large-scale piece will be a diptych inspired by Iranian history and visual traditions.
The installation precedes this weekend’s Mehregan Fall Fête at the San Diego Museum of Art. The Iranian festival of Mehregan will be celebrated at the museum with a performance of Voices Unveiled, which invites audiences to listen to and feel the stories of two Iranian women as they experience oppression and seek freedom and justice.
Click the above links to learn more!
I’ll try to swing by in the next few days and provide an update here with additional photographs!
UPDATE!
The following day, I walked by in the early evening and took these photos…
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
Are those holograms? No! The archway just inside the San Ysidro Library’s front door features a cool 3D effect produced by its two lenticular print columns.
This amazing public art, titled Pasaje, debuted in 2019 when the new branch library opened. The artists are brothers Jamex de la Torre and Einar de la Torre.
The San Diego Civic Art Collection website explains: The interior artwork, Pasaje, consists of an archway which serves as both a literal and symbolic entrance to the library. The columns of the archway are wrapped with colorful, illuminated lenticular prints drawing on themes related to San Ysidro, architecture, and the library as a source of knowledge. These densely layered and highly dynamic lenticular images produce the illusion of depth and change when viewed from different angles. Sitting atop the columns is a cantera stone lintel inspired by both Spanish colonial and Mesoamerican architectural motifs.
The San Ysidro Library website further explains: The arch columns feature back-lit lenticular transparencies that exhibit two images in flip format, one showing historical pictures of San Ysidro and the other showing a plethora of images that symbolize curious illustrations in the exploration of books.
Your own eyes have to experience this fantastic optical art!
I found it hard to take good, focused photographs, because the seemingly layered images fade in and out with every slight movement the camera makes. (If you’ve ridden the main elevator at the San Diego Central Library, you’ve probably marveled at similar lenticular artwork by the same artists!)
Hopefully these photos entice you to visit the library in person!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
Picadillo Folklorico and El Movimiento are two works of public art decorating the exterior of the San Ysidro Branch Library.
Visitors to the library might crane their necks to gaze up at these two large steel screens, but closely observing the intricate water-jet cut designs in each can be difficult. So I took a few photos that provide a better look at some of the detail.
The artists who created Picadillo Folklorico and El Movimiento are Einar and Jamex de la Torre, “brothers and artistic collaborators who were born in Guadalajara, Mexico, and maintain studios in Baja California and San Diego.”
According to the San Diego Civic Art Collection description, the two pieces were inspired by the Mexican folk art of paper-cutting and traditional Moorish screens.
By examining these close-up photographs, you can discover all sorts of interesting little figures incorporated into each design. Many of the figures appear like ancient pictographs, perhaps representing real or mythical creatures.
All of the elements combine to create the impression, in my own mind, of complex, outwardly expanding life.
What do you see?
(The same two artists created amazing public art inside the San Ysidro Library. I’ll post those photos coming up!)
El Movimiento
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
Cool San Diego Sights! 