Tag: creativity

Exquisite masterpieces come to Comic-Con Museum!

Visitors to the Comic-Con Museum are in for a treat! A large gallery on the second floor of the museum now features exquisite masterpieces by multiple award-winning artist Colleen Doran. The exhibition, which opened about a week ago, is titled Colleen Doran Illustrates Neil Gaiman.

It doesn’t matter if, like me, you are unfamiliar with the artist, or the author of short stories that she illustrates. The pieces of gorgeous original art on display will dazzle and enchant you.

The meticulous, lush art transports the viewer to another place, where fairy tales and Arthurian legends blend easily with this ordinary world we all know.

The centerpiece of Colleen Doran Illustrates Neil Gaiman is artwork from her Eisner-winning graphic novel Chivalry. The moment my eyes gazed into the first painted page of Chivalry, I was spellbound.

I suppose I need to read the story. It’s described on Amazon as a delightfully humorous and sweet fantasy. A sign at the Comic-Con Museum explains Chivalry is a story about memories, trust, and relationships. The characters are modeled on the artist’s own family. Her questing hero Galaad (Sir Galahad) isn’t ridiculed or vilified, as he would be in most contemporary literature, but is found worthy of the Grail he seeks.

Doran’s painted scenes convey to my eyes a deep love for life, where the human heart triumphs.

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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)!

Holiday crafts sale coming to Balboa Park!

Mark your calendars! An epic craft sale will be coming to Balboa Park during the holiday season!

The public is invited to peruse all sorts of beautiful creations, many with a Christmas theme, on the weekend of December 16th and 17th. The annual craft sale will take place on both outdoor patios of the Casa del Prado and inside Room 101.

I learned about the upcoming 2023 AgeWell Services Annual Craft Sale when I poked my head into the Balboa Park Senior Lounge today. (They were busy decorating the lounge for Halloween and Thanksgiving!)

Homemade crafts for sale are all created by skilled crafters age 55 and older. I checked out this big event last year. Shoppers will discover tables and tables full of great, heart-warming gifts! You can view a few photographs that I took here.

Are you a senior in San Diego? If you’d like to learn about additional AgeWell activities, 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)!

Beautiful new Iranian art installed in Balboa Park!

A live art installation that visitors could view during the past few days in Balboa Park has been completed!

The artwork, brought to life by the San Diego Museum of Art and renowned Iranian-born artist Mohammad Barrangi (@mohammad.barrangi), decorates a section of wall outside the museum’s courtyard, near the entrance to Panama 66. As I understand it, this work will remain on display through October.

I took these photos early this evening. You can compare them to photos I took the past two days as the art was being created by clicking here. You’ll also see a smiling photograph of the artist!

During the live installation, Mohammad demonstrated the reverse print transfer process while creating a diptych inspired by Iranian history and visual traditions. You can see a short video of him working on this artwork 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)!

A big thank you on World Teachers’ Day!

In the one room Mason Street School in Old Town San Diego, younger and older children sat together before the teacher and learned their letters.

Today is World Teachers’ Day!

What would the world be like without teachers? Very poor and very dull.

You probably remember some of your teachers fondly, how they inspired you to learn, grow, expand your horizons, become confident.

Today would be a great day to convey your gratitude!

To help pay for my own indebtedness, I’d like to pass along some information that teachers in San Diego might find very useful.

Write Out Loud offers a variety of inspirational programs that encourage reading and writing. Teachers can make free use of them.

Here they are:

Let Your Voice Be Heard is a poetry contest open to San Diego County students in grades K – 12. Learn about it here.

READ-IMAGINE-CREATE is a contest where Middle and High School Students will READ either the full book, or selections from CIRCE by Madeline Miller or MYTHOLOGY by Edith Hamilton.. Students will RE-IMAGINE the images, themes, or characters and then CREATE a project in a medium important to them. Learn about it here.

Poetry Out Loud is a FREE program for High School students. Students select poems from the National Poetry Foundation Anthology, and memorize, interpret, and recite their poems in a competition at the entry level. Two winners from each competition advance to the Regional Competition and one Regional winner advances to the State Competition. Learn about it here.

“Ripples from Walden Pond” is a 55-minute one-person play written by Richard Platt appropriate for Middle and High School Literature and History Students. Performances are followed by a talk-back with the actor, Steve Smith. Study Guide is provided. This program is provided without cost, through the generosity of passionate private donors. Learn about it here.

Do you know a teacher in San Diego? Let them know these great programs are available!

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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)!

Watch a Live Art Installation in Balboa Park!

During the next few days, renowned illustrator and artist Mohammad Barrangi will be performing a live demonstration of the reverse print transfer process as he installs new art in San Diego’s always amazing Balboa Park!

Those walking through the Plaza de Panama near the San Diego Museum of Art’s outdoor courtyard should look for Mohammad and his work in progress. The finished large-scale piece will be a diptych inspired by Iranian history and visual traditions.

The installation precedes this weekend’s Mehregan Fall Fête at the San Diego Museum of Art. The Iranian festival of Mehregan will be celebrated at the museum with a performance of Voices Unveiled, which invites audiences to listen to and feel the stories of two Iranian women as they experience oppression and seek freedom and justice.

Click the above links to learn more!

I’ll try to swing by in the next few days and provide an update here with additional photographs!

UPDATE!

The following day, I walked by in the early evening and took these photos…

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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)!

Wildlife street art on electrical boxes.

I spotted this great street art during my recent walk through the new Creekside Park in Mission Valley.

Depicted are wild animals, birds and insects that one can find in San Diego County’s vast backcountry. Mountain and desert habitats appear to be well represented.

I’m not sure who the artist is, but the artwork appears to be fairly new. I didn’t notice a signature.

These electrical boxes are located about halfway along linear Creekside Park, inside the Civita residential development. Look for them where the park’s main path intersects Westside Drive.

If you’d like to see more street art in Civita painted on electrical boxes, 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)!

Illuminations: mosaic art near Imperial Beach Pier.

Those who approach the Imperial Beach Pier through nearby Portwood Pier Plaza might notice patterned glass tiles on curving, low beachside walls. Illuminations is the title of this colorful mosaic artwork, commissioned by the San Diego Unified Port District. The beautiful public art was created by artist Mary Lynn Dominguez in 1999.

Twenty four years later some of the tiles are damaged or missing, but the overall effect remains vibrant and cheerful. During my visit to Imperial Beach yesterday, I bent down to take several photographs of Illuminations. Then I sat down on a bench and gazed out at the ocean.

A couple years ago I posted a blog about the surfboard benches that fill Portwood Pier Plaza. You can see some of the tiles in those photos.

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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)!

Big, fun, expanding mural in Chula Vista!

A very big, very fun outdoor mural is gradually being painted on the east side of La Bella Cafe & Games in Chula Vista!

Check it out!

I believe several artists are involved in this project.

On the smaller perpendicular wall, more fun imagery was painted a while back by artist Shirish Villaseñor. For a better look at that section of the artwork, click here and view the first two photographs.

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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)!

27th Annual Exhibition of 7 Printmakers opens!

The 27th Annual Exhibition of 7 Printmakers has opened in San Diego. The public is invited to enjoy the work of seven master printmakers inside Gallery 21 at Balboa Park’s Spanish Village Art Center. The free exhibition will be short-lived, however. Make sure to see it by September 25, 2023.

The art on display is extraordinary. You’ll observe pieces created using several different processes of printmaking. There’s the woodcut, wood-engraving, collograph, etching, engraving, drypoint, aquatint, lithograph and serigraph.

All of these many, often complicated printing techniques boggled my mind, even as friendly artist Angelika Villagrana provided a detailed explanation of various processes.

The seven artists with fine work on display are: Raymond Brownfield, Jacqueline Dotson, Igor Koutsenko, Kathleen McCord, Sfona Pelah, Julianne Ricksecker and Angelika Villagrana. They’ve been exhibiting together for many years now!

If you’re looking to purchase some very fine art, swing on by. There’s much that you can choose from.

An opening reception will be held in Gallery 21 this coming Sunday, September 17, from 4 – 7 pm.

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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)!

Racing Thoughts painted in a North Park alley!

This cool mural was painted several months ago in a North Park alley during the North Park Music Fest. The large mural, titled Racing Thoughts, was created by Carly Ealey and Christoper Konecki. Their awesome street art is all over San Diego.

Racing Thoughts can be viewed from the sidewalk on the north side of University Avenue, just west of 30th Street. It’s directly opposite that fierce panda mural which I observed in the same alley a couple weeks ago.

Capturing a single image of the long mural was impractical, given the narrow alley, so you’ll have to visualize the mural’s entirety from multiple photographs:

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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)!