Tag: creativity

Persian carpet garden in Escondido!

This is one of the most uplifting and creative exhibitions of art you’re likely to experience. It’s a garden of flowers, trees and animals that was created using Persian carpets! You read that correctly!

This unique exhibition at the museum of the California Center for the Arts, Escondido is titled Maryam Bayat: Unrolling Paradise.

I stepped into the “garden” yesterday during my museum visit. With the sound of birds chirping in the background, I wandered through the plush, colorful foliage and wished there was a “park bench” where I could sit and simply be happy and alive.

In this garden paradise life is good. All cares drop away. From my photos you might understand the wonderful feeling this installation produces. It’s like a comfy living room that has come to life all around you!

The exhibition webpage explains: Unrolling Paradise explores the Persian garden as a living design tradition carried through textiles, memory, and everyday objects. Interdisciplinary artist Maryam Bayat reinterprets centuries-old carpet aesthetics through sculptural works that merge traditional Persian rugs with contemporary form and function.

Raised in Tehran in a family of rug producers and now based in North County San Diego, Bayat draws from inherited craft to create installations that reflect on place, belonging, and cultural continuity. Her woven sculptures—appearing as furniture, abstract trees, and domestic interiors—extend the symbolism of the garden into three-dimensional space, linking ideas of sanctuary to personal and collective memory.

If you tend not to visit museums, this might be the time you consider going. There are several other exhibits, as well, including one that concerns graphics used in computer and video games. Swing on by and have a great time!

Maryam Bayat: Unrolling Paradise can be experienced through Sunday, August 16, 2026, at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido’s museum.

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New mural at renovated Escondido Library!

I recently read that a huge new mural was being painted outside the Escondido Public Library during its major renovation. So I had to swing by to see what I might see!

The 100 foot mural is by artist Tim Topalov of Flow&Form, a San Diego-based studio. The Escondido community voted to select the design.

I found this Instagram story showing the mural being painted!

I took these photos today from behind a construction fence, but you can see how amazing this public art will be when it’s finally in full view.

You can find the mural on the east side of the library building, at the corner of East 2nd Avenue and Kalmia Street.

The mural tells a mythological story. It begins:

In the beginning, the earth was covered with water. Two brothers lived under the water and wondered what lay above. They climbed a high mountain, and the younger brother reached the top first. From there he saw the earth being formed by insects coming up from inside the mountain, each carrying a small bit of rock, building the land as ants built their hills…

It is the Kumeyaay creation story. Read more about it here.

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Live glassblowing and beer in Escondido!

A cool event is being held today and tomorrow at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido. Hot Glass, Cold Beer: A Fundraiser for the Arts features lots of amazing glass art created by local artists! Beer, too!

By sheer coincidence I ran into the event today while walking to the nearby museum. It’s very similar to the glassblowing event I experienced last year in the same Cal Club Courtyard.

If you want to check out an amazing variety of glass art and colorful glassware, head over tomorrow, April 4, 2026, between noon and 5 pm. The event is free. The glassblowing demonstration is led by renowned glass artist James Stone of Stone & Glass.

Sit down, watch, and enjoy a beer. Here’s the event website listing some of the participating artists and organizations.

James Stone and participating artists will generously donate hand-blown glass cups, which will be given away with a complimentary drink ticket in exchange for a $25 donation.

My next photo shows some of the hand-crafted fused glass created by Parris Toyzan (@parrisorginals). Here’s the website.

Parris was nice enough to describe how he carefully makes these amazing creations with a kiln and colored glass!

By purchasing a beautiful glass on one table you support kids learning glassblowing at schools in Escondido and North San Diego County!

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AI creates bizarre San Diego weirdly!

Just a fun post.

I thought I’d activate Galaxy AI Drawing Assist on my Samsung smartphone and have it create crazy images of San Diego!

Using the text “bizarre San Diego weirdly” and the pop art setting generated some wild results!

Lots of big surfboards, waves, tacos, hot air balloons, lighthouses, and strange structures, some of which kind of look like San Diego buildings!

Shelbi Bennett to exhibit at Brokers Gallery.

Perhaps, like me, you’ve wondered about the art gallery located next to San Diego’s downtown Fifth Avenue trolley station. Sometimes I’ll peer curiously at the windows when I walk past.

Today the door was wide open!

Inside, what did I find? Singer/songwriter/artist Shelbi Bennett and some of her beautiful artwork, which is being installed in the gallery for an exhibition that opens on April 1, 2026!

Brokers Building Art Gallery is the name of the place. According to its website, the gallery traces its roots to a grassroots artist collective that has existed in San Diego for over 40 years. Originally housed in the historic Brokers Building at Fourth Avenue and Market Street in the Gaslamp Quarter, the gallery functioned as a rare, artist-run cultural space embedded directly within the city’s commercial core.

I learned the Brokers Gallery as it exists today hosts many events, including the monthly Open Mic Night, culture nights, live music, and rotating art exhibitions. Check out their event page by clicking here.

It was a pleasure to briefly meet Shelbi Bennett, who I recognized from her past performance on KUSI television. Fine works of art she has created were going up on the gallery wall!

If you’d like to visit her Instagram page, here it is!

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Creek Trail Mural to be unveiled in Escondido!

Everyone is invited to the debut of new public art in Escondido!

On Saturday, April 18, at 3:30 pm, six new large-scale murals created by local artists will be unveiled on the Neighborhood Healthcare Building located at 460 North Elm Street on the wall that flanks the Escondido Creek Trail.

The project is known as the Escondido Creek Trail Outdoor Art Gallery. Learn more about it by clicking here.

Each mural reflects the spirit and identity of Escondido, transforming public spaces into storytelling experiences. The initiative continues ESCO Alley Art’s mission to elevate public art and foster community pride.

At the unveiling ceremony and community gathering there will be an artists meet-and-greet, kid’s activities, music and refreshments.

Bring the whole family to experience an event that promises to be historic, fun and inspiring!

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Art contest, exhibit for San Diego seniors!

Are you a senior in San Diego who loves creating art? Do you know a senior who fits that description? Heads up!

Seniors age 60 or better are invited to enter the AgeWell Services Art Contest & Exhibit!

AgeWell is a program of the City of San Diego. Their services can be enjoyed at several community centers, including the Balboa Park Senior Lounge.

The Senior Lounge is where I saw this art contest notice today. (Thank you Mark for pointing it out on the bulletin board!)

Entries will be accepted May 1 to May 11, 2026 at the locations indicated on the notice. You can enlarge my photograph to read it. A public Art Exhibit including the contest entries will be on display at Park de la Cruz from May 18 to June 22.

For more info you can call AgeWell Services at 619-525-8247. Or email cool guy Skyler at SLemire@sandiego.gov!

Keep on creating!

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Community art: One Day in the Life on Imperial.

A special art exhibition will soon be opening in Grant Hill, across Imperial Avenue from neighboring Logan Heights. One Day in the Life on Imperial will feature works by members of the San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild. The exhibition will be open to the public beginning March 21, 2026 at the TULAROSA gallery, located at 2602 Imperial Avenue. The Opening Reception is from 4 to 7 pm.

The San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild has initiated an “Atelier” for the purpose of experimentation with conceptual art and community engagement. This exhibition is its inaugural event. The Barrio Artists Partnership is participating, too. The Atelier artists have, for three months, been walking, talking, observing and creating art based on their community centered dialogue.

Seventeen artists from diverse areas of San Diego will present their finished art as well as their concept behind the art.

Everyone is invited to drop by and see their inspired work!

After March 29 the exhibit will be moved to Gallery 21 in Balboa Park’s Spanish Village Art Center, where it will open on April 7.

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Emojis, memes and emotion in Oceanside.

Much of social media is geared toward eliciting an emotional response. Much of art serves the same purpose. An exhibition of art in Oceanside fuses the simple emojis and memes of social media with framed artistic creation.

Neon Afterlife is the title of the exhibition. It can be freely viewed in the Oceanside Museum of Art’s annex gallery inside The Seabird Ocean Resort & Spa, a short walk from the beach and Oceanside Pier.

Pieces by Southern California artists Magz Yang, Jon Savage and Evyn Hewett utilize the “language” of Gen Z and today’s digital pop culture–an increasingly illiterate culture saturated with adrenaline fueled gaming and provocative short videos.

These works of art, like many of the images on one’s phone, might arrest shortened attention spans. They produce an emotional response by using simplistic symbols and bright colors. It’s as if the small screens people endlessly scroll have been splashed onto the gallery walls.

I do love the creativity. And I smiled when I noticed fun is made of the pretentiousness of much social media.

Does an emoji or meme suffice for life’s complexity?

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Skull and crossbones created at Oceanside beach!

A hot day for mid-March. I stayed near the beach–in Oceanside. As I walked out onto the Oceanside Pier, look what I saw! Someone was digging a huge skull and crossbones into the sand!

Turns out the friendly, creative guy was David. He was working on his pirate Jolly Roger flag design in the sunshine, while people strolling along the beach would stop, look and chat.

He’s been making artwork in the sand like this for several months, he told me. He’s created perhaps a dozen such works at the beach.

He told me there’s another guy who makes cool designs using a garden rake. That sounds awesome, too. Perhaps I’ll stumble upon that one day.

Here’s what I saw around noon as I walked out on the pier:

After I ate lunch, I returned to the pier and saw this:

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