A long panel was painted for Oceanside’s outdoor Artist Alley last year. Check it out!
A variety of artists applied their creativity, filling the panel with life and color. There must have been a special 2023 event during which this panel was painted. You can see some artist signatures. Not all of the works have been completed. Leave a comment if you know more about this.
I happened to see this new artwork today during a long, meandering Oceanside walk.
After I’ve strolled through Artist Alley the past few years, I’ve posted photographs here (where you can read more about the alley) and here and here. Some of the art has changed over time.
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My docent friend provided an excellent tour of fifty Korean masterpieces that were created during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Many artists are represented and the styles are diverse.
The exhibition emphasizes the use of color in Korean painting. Polychrome painting (chaesaekhwa) flourished for half a millennium during Korea’s long Joseon dynasty. Many of the amazing colors you’ll see in these more contemporary pieces will cause you to stand and stare!
Four overarching themes in five museum galleries represent ideas that have been historically prominent in Korean culture: the protection against evil spirits provided by guardian animals; the symbols of abundance and longevity that are found in nature; the value of scholarly objects and books; and the unique appreciation of mountain landscapes.
The artwork–whether religious or secular–is complex and often mysterious. Looking closely, visitors to the exhibition will spy surprising, tiny details that compound the possible meaning and effect produced by each work. Some of the works are intricately beautiful. Others are disturbing. Some of the symbolism can be perplexing. That’s art.
If you pay a visit to the museum, make sure to enjoy a tour led by a docent. Much of this astonishing artwork might not be easily understood or appreciated by those (like me) who know little about Korean history, geography and culture. Once you view these fine works, you’ll certainly have a greater appreciation of this great big world we live in!
If you’d like to view some fantastic art, visit the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park before the exhibition ends on March 3, 2024.
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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 large Year of the Dragon mural is now being painted in the heart of San Diego’s Little Saigon!
Thao Huynh French has begun creating this street art, which will be located at El Cajon Boulevard and Menlo Avenue, across from Sin Lee Food and the oft-photographed Little Saigon postcard mural.
I happened to noticed this nascent artwork as I walked in east San Diego this morning.
The Year of the Dragon, according to the Chinese zodiac, begins February 10, 2024. A number of festivals will be held around San Diego. I plan to visit one or two!
Next time I walk this way I hope to capture cool photos of this Year of the Dragon mural, finally completed.
If you want to see another incredible mural by the same artist, which was painted a couple years ago on Menlo Avenue north of El Cajon Boulevard, click here!
UPDATE!
To see the completed mural, which is utterly awesome, click 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)!
Did you know there’s a special talent show for seniors in San Diego?
I learned about the AgeWell Services 48th Annual Talent Show today when I wandered into Balboa Park’s Senior Lounge. The talent show is quite popular, and is held in the War Memorial Building in Balboa Park–just north of the San Diego Zoo. Participants must be age 60 or better.
Here’s a photo of the flyer if you (or someone you know) would like to participate or purchase tickets to the show!
Auditions are coming up very soon–on February 7, 2024. The talent show itself will take place on March 28, 2024. Tickets will go on sale starting February 7.
There are group discounts available for 10 or more. The entertainment is inexpensive and promises to be great fun!
If you’d like to either sign up for the audition or purchase show tickets, you can visit this web page. You can also call (619) 525-8247.
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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)!
Enormous champagne bubbles are flying up the wall of a Hillcrest liquor store!
Bubbles Market & Spirits had this huge mural created last year by San Diego artist Jeremy “Jermz” (@jm47art). Here’s his Instagram page.
It’s a bubbly work of art that definitely attracts the attention of passersby! I thought you might enjoy seeing it, too!
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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)!
At the corner of Plaza Boulevard and Highland Avenue in National City, you’ll find monsters, myth and love!
These four electrical boxes have been painted this way for many years. Today I enjoyed a long walk through National City before the rain started. As I approached the intersection, I remembered that I hadn’t yet photographed this particular street art!
So here we go!
One box has a cool design that appears to have been inspired by mythology. Another shows Godzilla battling King Ghidorah. Then there’s the abstract elephant, a feline rocket ship and a rainbow-powered cat! And love on roller skates!
As always, if you know more about this very creative artwork, please leave a comment.
Stay tuned for more street art photos from my walk. The next blog post will be amazing!
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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)!
The Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater in Balboa Park hosted Steve Taylor’s funny “Magical Marionettes Show” this weekend. I enjoyed a fun performance this afternoon!
Balboa Park’s historic Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater, which got its start back in 1947, remains a favorite destination for families looking for child-friendly, light-hearted entertainment.
I’m sure Steve Taylor’s puppeteering brought smiles to every face in the audience. Very young kids clapped and danced with the marionettes. Older folks like me were often chuckling at clever bits of gentle humor.
During the 30 minute show, we watched as King Kong’s baby played electric guitar, and as Charlie Chaplin adopted a lovable rescue dog. We watched ventriloquist dummy Rudy O’Reilly engage Steve in humorous dialogue. We saw an elephant take a bubble bath (and squirt the excited audience) and a goofy skeleton dance.
Steve Taylor has been putting on puppet shows for 55 years! He got his start as an apprentice to Marie Hitchcock when he was nine years old!
He’s awesome!
As I exited the theater, I noticed some information on a wall that might interest you. Workshops are offered by the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater where anyone can learn about Hand, Marionette, Shadow and Full Body Puppetry. You can also learn how to write a story, and be wild and crazy!
Read the contact info at the bottom of the next image!
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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)!
Dreams live in Normal Heights on the corner of Felton Street and Adams Avenue. These dreams are given life by artists.
But dreams are fleeting. They eventually fade; new dreams appear.
I photographed different dreamlike street art on this San Diego corner almost seven years ago. The group of electrical boxes has been decorated for as long as I can remember. Some of the past artwork was nightmarish. See those old photos here.
New, happier dreams have been painted since then.
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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)!
It’s true: time flies. Soon another New Year’s Day will have passed us by.
Every year, on January 1, many people vow to make positive changes in their life. Of course, every day, every hour, every moment provides us with a new beginning.
Cool San Diego Sights readers might know that I also write short fiction. Occasionally I’ll post a blog concerning stories that I’ve written. The approach of New Year’s Day provides an opportunity to share eleven inspiring short stories about new beginnings.
If you enjoy reading, you might explore the following links:
Inspired artist James Watts works in downtown San Diego. His studio is a fantasyland jammed wall to wall with amazing creativity. I like to swing on by occasionally to see what he’s up to!
Having finished his whittled fingers and toes project, James is now sewing together one hundred pillow-like clouds. Not ordinary clouds, mind you, but ones that gather and radiate orgone life energy like a battery!
James, whose creativity has no limit, intends to use the finished clouds to form a portal–an art installation on a wall where people can experience heavenly orgone energy. The carefully handsewn clouds are made of canvas, filled with steel wool and cotton, and painted in twenty shades of blue. It’s the same canvas the artist used for his fantastic Jekyll and Hyde project.
James explained that artists are like alchemists. They transform otherwise ordinary materials into things of immense value. Of course, he’s exactly right.
His unique visual art stirs up complex, subtle ideas. His surprising art inspires those who gaze upon it with an open heart and mind.
James Watts has also painted clouds–like ancient wisdom–on scrolls!
Check out his whittled fingers and toes, the cool project that preceded his clouds…
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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! 