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!)
…
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! Sometimes I meet really interesting people! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Are you a blogger? Do you want to help others and make the world a better place? You might want to join Bloggers Lifting Others Generously.
Photo of exterior of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla. The famous building was designed by renowned modernist architect Louis Kahn.
One of the world’s most famous works of modern architecture is located in San Diego. I’m referring to the Salk Institute building in La Jolla. Its designer was Louis Kahn, considered to have been one of the most important, innovative architects of the 20th century.
An exhibition now running at the San Diego Museum of Art takes a thorough look at the remarkable life, work and genius of Louis Kahn.
Last weekend I was given a personal tour of the amazing exhibit and found myself completely blown away by its scope. The photos, films, sketches, notes and architectural models, including a life-size portion of an extraordinary house–even works of art produced by Louis Kahn himself– were too much for my mind to absorb in one visit.
Kahn was undoubtedly a genius. His unique modern structures seem like ancient timeless monuments, made beautifully functional. They are simultaneously complex and simple. They are geometric, symmetric, modular, clean. They seem solid but light-filled. They contain unusual surprises of line, curve and angle. They are iconic.
Louis Kahn had a long, prolific career. His work can be found throughout the world, and includes the enormous, citadel-like National Assembly Building of Bangladesh. Some of his more famous creations in the United States include the Kimball Art Museum, the Yale University Art Gallery, the library at Philips Exeter Academy, the Norman Fisher House in Philadelphia, the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park, and, of course, San Diego’s own remarkable Salk Institute.
There is so much to see in this impressive exhibit–there were so many amazing designs produced by Kahn during his productive lifetime–that I can’t begin to cover it all in this blog. So I must direct you to the San Diego Museum of Art’s website. To get a small hint of what you will discover at the museum, you might want to check out the Wikipedia article on Louis Kahn.
This weekend I headed up to La Jolla to see if I could snap some good photos of Louis Kahn’s very famous Salk Institute building. Walking around, I managed to photograph the exterior, but I was unable to access the interior courtyard. So I’ve included one photo from Wikimedia Commons, just to provide a quick idea. Peering through a fence, I did glimpse some scaffolding in the interior area, so I suppose that would have nullified my photographic attempts, anyway.
The Salk Institute building’s walls are made of smooth exposed concrete. While this material might appear stark, the monumental appearance, the intriguing shapes and architectural symmetry are absolutely impressive. There is a mathematical, complex interaction between shadow and light that is difficult to describe–and quite beautiful.
Want to see more of Kahn’s brilliant work? Head over to the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park before this special exhibition closes on January 31, 2017.
Louis Kahn: The Power of Architecture is a special exhibit showing at the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park through January 31, 2017.Salk Institute in La Jolla from the interior courtyard. (A cropped public domain photo from Wikimedia Commons.)Interior section of the Salk Institute just beyond the main entrance.Kahn’s design seems both simple and futuristic. The interior space utilized by medical research scientists is said to be intellectually inspiring and uniquely functional.Another photo of the Salk Institute building’s fascinating exterior.A monumental building made of smooth exposed concrete with simple, clean lines, between green grass and blue San Diego sky.A small but interesting portion of the Salk Institute building.The surface of the Salk Institute building is stark but surprisingly beautiful. Time has made the concrete appear more earthen and natural. Almost like marble.Laboratory visible through one window. Jonas Salk invented the polio vaccine. Salk Institute today is a world leader in medical research.It’s a sunny day in La Jolla as someone walks toward a brilliant creation of the human mind: a building designed by famed modernist architect Louis Kahn.
…
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 interesting 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.
…
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.
…
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 simple, homemade lending library box next to somebody’s front yard in Crown Point, a neighborhood on Mission Bay. Leave a book or take one!
Here’s a cool idea that almost anyone can bring to life!
Once in a while, as I walk about, I notice cabinet-like wooden boxes on neighborhood streets that are filled with books. They’re usually placed near a sidewalk–a spot that anybody passing by can easily reach. These community “lending library” boxes are filled with used books, magazines and other reading material that neighbors can freely borrow and return when they please. Anybody can add to the small library. Now that’s very cool!
Here are photos of several boxes I’ve come across. Their designs appear to be rather simple. They can be built however one likes, as long as the shelves are visible and sheltered from the elements. And they can be painted creatively!
Does your neighborhood have a “lending library” book box? Looks like a fun, inspirational project! It enriches the life of your community and promotes literacy!
A lending library book box built like a two-door cabinet along a sidewalk in San Diego. The contents are always changing. Today the shelves were almost empty!This fancy book box has a sliding glass door and sloped roof. You can find this tiny library at the east end of the Quince Street Trestle pedestrian bridge in Bankers Hill!If you’re feeling really creative, you could make an imaginative “Little Free Library” like this!A lending box created by Boy Scouts and the Friends of the Coronado Public Library.
…
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!
To read a few short works of fiction that I’ve written, visit my special writing blog Short Stories by Richard!
A sexy San Diego lady and graffiti on a wall inside the very unique SILO venue in East Village.
Check out these photos! I discovered more street art murals at SILO in East Village!
I’ve blogged about this very cool special event venue several times in the past, here and here and here. The spray-painted murals and graffiti are constantly changing, and there are a number of newer works that I hadn’t seen until I walked by this morning. Here they are!
The wall along F Street at SILO has been painted with various cool bits of urban art. That doughnut is making me hungry.A San Diego Sea Walls mural on the same wall features a bearded face and two hands. Not sure about the symbolism.Walking along the sidewalk, we now spy a funky purplish face.A squished-up greenish face.An orange face with oddly protruding eyeballs.Some colorful graffiti I hadn’t seen previously inside SILO. It’s probably been a year since I walked by here. I took this and the following photos through a fence.Looks like a strange scene from Alice in Wonderland.Female face spray painted on a wall.A look down into the fantastic SILO special event venue. I don’t recall seeing that cargo container before.Just tons of cool images. Like a crazy dream in the center of the city! I think that mural on top might be somewhat new.A very cool abstract jumble of street art on a brick wall.Looks like some sort of cosmic bird deities have arrived from outer space. You tell me what this one means!
…
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 unique photos for you to enjoy!
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!
…
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.
Colorful dots on the side of a building in downtown San Diego.
Every walk through the city is a voyage of discovery. Everywhere you turn there are sudden surprises of color, form and depth. An inquisitive scientist might see geometric order; an artist might discern shades, intimations, emotion.
This morning, during a walk through downtown, I photographed dots, squares, cubes and a rather crazy tangle.
Six blue squares on the north side of the Columbia Place building.Steel cubes on west side of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, which is housed in the Santa Fe Depot’s old baggage terminal. Art by Richard Serra, 2005. Litter atop cube 1 is by Anonymous. Idealized (though rusty) art meets messy (real) life.A crazy tangle of electrical lines in the entrance of the David C. Copley Building in downtown San Diego. A sculpture at MCASD. Power Maze with Sconce, Roman de Salvo, 1998.
…
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!
Check out some photos of cool, creative door handles that I’ve spotted while walking around San Diego. I snapped a couple of these photographs months ago, and unfortunately I’ve forgotten where I took them. I guess I’m not terribly organized! Or perhaps I’m just lazy and took no notes.
Electric guitar door handle at Hard Rock Cafe in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter.Two door handles made of artistically bent rebar.These door handles at the Yard House don’t contain beer. One must step inside.Interesting door handles together form a disk and raised leaf.One very ornate door handle in San Diego.A lion’s head handle on a rusty gate.
…
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk! 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!
The Nest Murals include a big blue whale on a yellow fence in Barrio Logan, not far from downtown San Diego.
I stumbled upon a collection of colorful murals the other day while walking through Barrio Logan. A project of The Nest, founded by San Diego artist Jorge Mendoza, this very cool street art can be found near the intersection of National Avenue and Evans Street, a block southeast of Chicano Park.
Check out these pics!
Boldly spray painted designs dazzle the eye and inspire imagination.A large eye watches Evans Street, a block southeast of Chicano Park.Swirls of blue, green, pink, and an old Volkswagen Beetle.Entering an alley, we see a lot more cool street art spray painted on a fence.A brush-head and skull-flower makes one look twice.Three eyes in a blazing sun, which shines from The Nest Murals in Barrio Logan.Odd creatures made of cloth, buttons and pins paint graffiti on a garage door.A hand emerges from the mouth of a fish at The Nest Murals.Colorful artwork includes images of cheese.A face with odd features in the Barrio Logan alley.Very creative street art at The Nest Murals, located near Chicano Park.
…
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk! 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!
Cool San Diego Sights! 