I was pulling into the parking lot at Fenton Marketplace in Mission Valley when I spied two large electrical boxes painted by local artist Brise Birdsong!
In the past I’ve photographed other examples of Brise’s fun street art. You can recognize her work on a couple of boxes along nearby Fenton Parkway. See those here!
About a year ago I briefly met the artist in City Heights. She helped to mentor new muralist Mimi Gonzalez Martinez. Read about that here!
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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!
Today I watched as a father and his son made beautiful candles in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park.
The father, Paul, is the owner of Toby’s Candle and Soap Shop. His son is a super friendly young man named KC.
This talented family has been making candles by hand for three generations. I learned their business has been operating for about 38 years (including a period at Knott’s Berry Farm) and has been located in Old Town now for about 24 years.
For a few minutes I watched as Paul used a special carving tool to cut and curl back soft wax as he made an elaborate, very beautiful, multicolored candle. He told me he had about 8 minutes to complete the task, before the wax cooled and hardened. After carving a well at the top of the candle, he dipped his finished creation in clear wax, then a hard glaze.
Sometimes he’ll add shells or figurines to these decorative candles, to make them even more fantastic. I also learned that these fancy many-layered candles, which begin modestly as a solid mold, can take anywhere from 6 to 10 hours to create!
Outside the shop, tourists and curious passersby were watching KC dip taper candles. He’d dip each group of wicks, which are suspended vertically in a circle, about 30 to 35 times, depending on the outdoor temperature. He was careful not to leave the forming candles in the hot wax for too long. After the candles grew in girth to the correct size, he removed the excess wax for future use, and used scissors to cut the candles free, as you can see in my last photo!
Toby’s Candle and Soap Shop is located in the historically and architecturally important Sessions Building, which was designed by renowned San Diego architect Richard Requa. Learn more about it here!
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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!
I spotted a new mural in Hillcrest at the corner of University and Third Avenue! A rainbow heart and glamorous face decorate one wall of Urban MO’s Bar and Grill.
The artwork, adding even more color to the dynamic LGBT community in Hillcrest, was spray painted by cool local artist Alex Julian.
Check it out!
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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 recently walked down University Avenue, from I-805 to Fairmount Avenue, then back again on the opposite sidewalk.
I found more cool street art in this stretch of City Heights, including a fantastic mural painted by Hugo Fernando Fierro!
Cool mural by Hugo Fernando Fierro (@hoyote) in City Heights.
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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 Bard, Reginald Willoughby Machell, c. 1895. Oil on canvas. One of the Theosophical Society artist’s allegorical works concerning spirituality.
Until yesterday, I didn’t know very much about Lomaland. I knew it was a Theosophical community in Point Loma with several exotic buildings that were located where Point Loma Nazarene University stands today, but that’s about all.
After viewing the San Diego History Center’s current exhibition The Path of the Mystic: Art & Theosophy at Lomaland, and doing a little online research, I now know more about this unique utopian community that made important cultural contributions to San Diego in the first half of the 20th century.
Lomaland was established by Katherine Tingley in 1897. The home of the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society, the community became a haven for learning, culture and social reform. Artists and like-minded individuals from around the world came to Lomaland to lead spiritual, contemplative, idealistic lives.
According to the San Diego History Center website: “Tingley’s progressive Theosophical vision, which placed strong emphasis on cultural pursuits including music, dance, drama, literature and visual art, attracted artists from the United States and abroad. As the community developed, many artists came to live and work at Lomaland, including Marguerite Lemke Barton, Grace “Gay” Betts, Maurice Braun, Benjamin Gordon, Leonard Lester, Marian Plummer Lester, Reginald Willoughby Machell, and Edith White.”
I learned from Wikipedia: “Led by Katherine Tingley, the group came to Point Loma to establish a community that would model the philosophical and humanitarian goals of Theosophy. The “White City” envisioned by Tingley was to be located on the extreme western edge of the North American continent but oriented toward India, the spiritual center of Theosophical beliefs. The blend of new world confidence, Victorian morality, a love of antiquity, and Indian spirituality created a unique community …”
The buildings of Lomaland were completed in 1900, and the Theosophical community flourished in Point Loma until 1942, when it relocated to Covina. The main building and Temple of Peace, which often appear in Theosophical Society artwork, had domes of aquamarine and amethyst colored glass. They could be seen far out to sea, and as far east as Mt. Cuyamaca. They were destroyed by fire in 1952. The Spaulding house today serves as the administration building at Point Loma Nazarene University.
I took a few photos of the exhibition in subdued lighting, but my poor old camera doesn’t capture the full detail and beauty of this artwork.
Many more paintings, historical photographs and other works of unique art in The Path of the Mystic: Art & Theosophy at Lomaland will be on display through April 19, 2020 at the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park.
Katherine Tingley, founder of Lomaland, in her office.Roman Gate, entrance to Lomaland in Point Loma.Marian Plummer Lester, Untitled, c. 1908. Ink on paper. Small drawing of the Temple of Peace and Raja-Yoga Academy buildings at Lomaland when the artist was fifteen years old.Edith White, Landscape, 1917. Oil on canvas. Painting of foxglove inspired by Lomaland’s International Garden.Edith Whilte, Roses on a Fence, c. 1915. Oil on canvas. Close-up photo of a beautiful painting created in Lomaland.The Prodigal or The Kingdom of Heaven is Within You, Reginald Willoughby Machell, c. 1895. Oil on canvas. Painted in England before artist moved to Point Loma in 1900.
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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 prolific artists of @ladieswhopaint have created even more murals on F Street in San Diego’s East Village! These three colorful murals can be seen just west of Park Boulevard. Here are several photos!
The third mural has a small sign painted next to it that reads:
Saudade
A TANGLE OF EMOTIONS
BOTH HAPPY AND SAD
ABOUT MISSING SOMEONE
OR SOMETHING.
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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!
Should you ever walk through San Ysidro, a short distance north of the border crossing between San Diego and Tijuana, you’ll notice lots of colorful street art! Much of of the artwork celebrates Mexican culture, depicting kids with piñatas, vaqueros, mariachis, baile folklórico dancers, Aztec and Día de los Muertos imagery, and a whole variety of festive scenes.
I enjoyed a long walk from the San Ysidro/Tijuana Transit Center over the long pedestrian bridge that overlooks the busy Port of Entry, and west down Camino de la Plaza near Las Americas Premium Outlets. I then retraced my steps and headed north up San Ysidro Boulevard.
I noticed that much of the street art on electrical boxes, which has become faded over time, was painted by Gerardo Meza. I also saw some street lamp banners sponsored by the Border Public Art Committee featuring images by the same artist.
And look at the funny mural that I spotted! A shopper with a clown nose has money flying out of her purse!
San Ysidro is always bustling with humanity. The gritty streets and sidewalks hum with activity, as tourists, shoppers, workers and commuters head north and south at all hours. The nearby San Ysidro Port of Entry is the busiest land border crossing in the Western Hemisphere!
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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!
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!
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!
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!
Cool San Diego Sights! 