Embroidery exhibit at Mission Valley Library.

Muchas Manos de San Diego, a group of hand embroidery enthusiasts, is celebrating their 50th Anniversary with an exhibit inside the Mission Valley Library. The library’s large display case is filled with carefully stitched examples of very beautiful embroidery!

If you’d like to join the supportive group and have fun creating amazing, exquisite objects like these, here’s their website! They meet once a month.

Muchas Manos de San Diego is part of the Embroiderers’ Guild of America.

Here’s what I saw yesterday during a visit to the Mission Valley branch of the San Diego Library…

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Dolphin mosaics at La Jolla Shores beach restrooms.

I really love these dolphin mosaics at the Kellogg Park North Comfort Station in La Jolla Shores. They’re so lively and colorful!

I had to take some photos during my latest walk along the beach there.

A circular plaque in the structure, to the right of the showers, recalls how construction of the comfort station and its restrooms was primarily funded by the John G. Watson Foundation and supported by Friends of La Jolla Shores.

“Oceans of Thanks” is a phrase used by the Walter Munk Foundation for the Oceans to express gratitude to supporters, donors, and the community, particularly during annual celebrations like Walter Munk Day.

Walter Munk was a world-renowned oceanographer at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. He was often called the Einstein of the Oceans. The efforts of his wife Mary Coakley Munk were instrumental in creating the new comfort station.

The Kellogg Park North Comfort Station and its mosaics were dedicated on October 30, 2014.

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Beautiful murals at Flowers Tino in Chula Vista!

Without a doubt, these two murals delight the eyes of people driving down Third Avenue in south Chula Vista. Very beautiful artwork is painted on two sides of the Flowers Tino flower shop!

Both murals were created years ago by San Diego artist David Mena (@menamurals).

The bright, colorful images are bursting with many different types of flowers. It’s like a vertical garden with a bit of added Toltec imagery!

Here’s the amazing mural on the north side:

And here’s the south side:

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Jugando sculpture by Chula Vista Memorial Park.

People walking around Memorial Park in Chula Vista could easily miss this wonderful public art. It’s located on the other side of a fence at the north end of the park. The bronze sculpture depicting a loving mother and two children stands in front of the One Park Apartments.

Jugando is the name of the sculpture. That’s Spanish for the word “playing.” Jugando was created in 1986 by artist Miriam Newman. The graceful figures are very plain, almost featureless. Diverse people who regard these figures might personally relate.

The Smithsonian Institution Art Inventories Catalog describes the work: A woman stands holding a nude baby above her head with both hands. A young girl embraces the woman from the front. Both the woman and the young girl are wearing long, pleated skirts. All three figures are faceless.

I took these photos a couple weeks ago…

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Mural by famous artist on La Mesa school!

Artist and architectural designer Millard Owen Sheets earned international fame for his work around Southern California. Perhaps you’ve seen his gorgeous mosaic murals on the exteriors of buildings that were originally Home Savings Bank branches.

One of those mosaics still exists in La Mesa. People heading down Jackson Drive might notice it above the front entrance of JCS Manzanita Elementary school, on a building that began as Home Savings.

The colorful artwork depicts friars and vaqueros. It was created back in 1976. According to this website, the mosaic was worked on by Millard Sheets and assisting artists Denis O’Connor and Susan Lautmann Hertel.

Around San Diego, three mosaic murals by Millard Owen Sheets can be found in Chula Vista, Coronado and Pacific Beach.

How absolutely amazing is this?

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A hidden mural at La Jolla Shores!

Very few people see this beautiful mural. It was painted in an extremely narrow space next to Scoops Ice Cream on Avenida de la Playa in La Jolla.

Someone eating ice cream at an outdoor table feet from the mural didn’t notice it until they saw me taking photographs!

The nice lady serving ice cream at Scoops thinks the artwork was painted years ago. The artist is Charlene Mosley (@cm__art).

Painted on the wall across from a scene of undersea life is an image of two kids eating ice cream. The employee I spoke to believes they were painted by the same artist.

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Paragliders over Scripps Institution of Oceanography!

Paragliders that launch from the Torrey Pines Gliderport can often be seen soaring above the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla!

I photographed several serenely gliding paragliders during my latest walk through the Scripps campus. It was a beautiful sight.

The paragliders are often observed from an ocean overlook near the Ted and Jean Scripps Marine Conservation and Technology Facility. That’s the building in the above photograph.

You can also watch paragliders from the upper portion of the Scripps Coastal Meander trail, whose trailhead is near the same building. To see what I’m talking about, check out this past blog post.

Enjoy a few photographs and imagine yourself looking up toward clouds and blue sky. In the next photo we can see Scripps Pier and the area of La Jolla Cove across the water beyond it…

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Views from UC San Diego sunset overlook.

The UC San Diego Brian & Nancy Malk Sunset Overlook opened last summer. Situated high above Scripps Institution of Oceanography, an elevated platform offers wide views of the Pacific Ocean and parts of coastal La Jolla.

If you’d like to enjoy amazing panoramic views, head down La Jolla Shores Drive to Midpac Lane and look for the small parking lot.

The new overlook includes picnic tables and a bench where you can sit, relax and gaze out over the ocean. Native plants flourish around the platform and pathway.

Nearby, an informative sign tells how the Kumeyaay people lived in La Jolla (Matlahual) for thousands of years and have acted as stewards of the land. This area was part of a lagoon. It was an important natural resource that provided useful materials–for basket making, medicines, fishing, hunting, gathering and more. The sign at the overlook was developed in partnership with Jamul Indian Village and Mary Munk.

I visited recently on a sunny day…

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Mary at the Stove at the Athenaeum.

Mary at the Stove is a painting by Patricia Patterson, a former professor of art at UC San Diego. You can find in heading up some stairs at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library in La Jolla.

This beautiful work of art was originally painted on a plasterboard wall at the Athenaeum for an exhibition in 1993. Now it’s part of the library’s permanent art collection.

When I visited the Athenaeum a couple days ago, I told the friendly librarian at the front desk I would be walking over to the Wisteria Cottage Gallery next, to view the exhibition Double Bill: The Art of Manny Farber and Patricia Patterson. That’s when she told me about Patterson’s Mary at the Stove.

I love the image and its simple warmth. It shows ordinary life in an unpretentious, almost nostalgic way. It struck me this painting is something between a Japanese print and folk art. But what do I know?

As you’ll see in my next blog post, Patricia Patterson created many such wonderful images.

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Beautiful historical mosaic at Chula Vista bank.

Perhaps you’ve seen this beautiful mosaic while driving through downtown Chula Vista. It decorates the California Bank and Trust building at 444 Third Avenue.

The mosaic mural was the creation of internationally renowned artist and architectural designer Millard Owen Sheets. He with the help of other Sheets Studio artists produced many such mosaics for Home Savings Bank branches around Southern California. Perhaps you’ve seen his work in Pacific Beach and Coronado.

This particular mosaic in Chula Vista was created in 1987. It depicts ocean waves and seagulls. According to this website, it was worked on by Denis O’Connor, Monika Scharff; Studio MosaicArt Colledani Milan/NOVA Designs; Kathryn Yelsa.

The mosaic mural stretches horizontally just below the bank’s rooftop. Situated high up, partially obscured by nearby trees, it can be easy to miss. Pause on the sidewalk below to enjoy this very beautiful, historical public art!

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