Girl jumps rope. Street art on a utility box in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter.
Here’s another batch of colorful photos! These capture works of art that I’ve discovered while walking around downtown San Diego.
Enjoy!
A lion’s head decorates the Star of India’s cathead.Painted flowers inside a downtown window.Old sculptural figures surround a planter at San Diego High School, near Park Boulevard. They depict academic and athletic endeavors.This winged doughnut was painted about a week ago at the Donut Bar.Artwork on outside wall of the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum Extension.A space invader made of tile near a Horton Plaza escalator!Beautiful sculpted relief panel above door of the 700 1st Avenue building.Art that I spied on a parked car in downtown San Diego.Artwork near west entrance of San Diego’s cool House of Blues.Colorful shoes like flowers on the ceiling, at the west entrance of House of Blues San Diego.Plein air painter Paul Strahm creates a beautiful work of art near the USS Midway Museum.Street art in the Gaslamp shows child making a secret painting.
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I’ve never seen San Diego Comic-Con so crowded. Saturday is usually the busiest day of Comic-Con, but this year it was plain crazy. So crowded in places you almost couldn’t move!
I somehow managed to walk all over the place. Too much fun!
I started off my walk by getting a free Nickelodeon ice cream sandwich at Horton Plaza Park!It seems the Borg and the Federation have joined forces.That crazy, super energetic Syfy drum line is in the Gaslamp again!Must get the hair just right before taking a nice picture with a shark.It’s Jason! Run!Very cool.The latest Mummy is getting all wrapped up at Comic-Con.So much humanity, one can barely move.Profile of a Ferengi.Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman has a buddy.Lego Ninjago characters welcome a Comic-Con fan!People everywhere.Cosplay in the Petco Interactive Zone.Some laser tag action.A party inside the Hey Arnold! The Jungle Movie truck.Making friends with Godzilla.More crowds.More cosplay.Don’t ask.Heading down to the area near the Hilton behind the convention center.I guess those Star Wars lasers do manage to hit something from time to time.Salsa picante!Big video screen at the FXhibition.Bolivar Master, from Season 3 of The Strain.A creepy Strigoi Stinger from The Strain.Free water at Archer, but bring your own cup.Cool Snowfall graphic.A pleasant Legion swing.A convenient Snowfall shoe lacing station.Looking cool!Yodeling.People are eager to be screened for the X-Gene.Here comes a couple now.They are placed in a transparent tube by Sentinel Services.An alarm goes off! X-Gene detected! Mutants! The tube fills with some sort of gas!The Orville Space Training Station readies astronauts to be spun like crazy out of control.A shark fin swimming past Adult Swim.Thor and others walking near the entrance to Adult Swim.Thousands of nerds. I feel right at home.Yes, a perfect day for ice cream.Yikes. I surrender.At first I thought he was a castle. He informed me, however, that his cosplay is silverware.An original cosplay inspired by H.P Lovecraft, I was told.Conival was being held on the terrace near the Marriott Marina.Folks chill at Conival.Kylo Ren uses the Force to extract cold mist from a fan.Posing as astronauts amid flying saucers.Looks like some ordinary person is just walking along heading to the hotel.These guys started with established characters then added their own original stuff.These sinister villains are in pink and black uniforms.The Cartoon Network balloons seen from Children’s Park. One of the balloons burst I was told. A bird hit it.A caricature artist at work on MLK Promenade.Superboy transforms into The Tick.Someone had a transplant. They now have a monitor instead of a head.Cleaning up means finding cool swag!Batman’s Rogue Gallery has the Caped Crusader and Robin surrounded.The DC superheroes and supervillains seem to be getting along better than usual.An awesome Transformer stands high above the Comic-Con crowd in the Gaslamp.I don’t know this cosplay. Pretty cool, though. UPDATE! Sam commented that this is likely Azrael Batman.I’m pretty sure that’s Cable of the X-Men.Yes. It must be another San Diego Comic-Con!
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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 share and enjoy!
Rabbits have been created to commemorate the history of San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter, which once was nicknamed Rabbitville.
A “hop-up” art gallery can be found in the Gaslamp during 2017 San Diego Comic-Con! This fun Rabbitville exhibition, located at 453 Fifth Avenue, features a roomful of large colorful rabbits created by local artists! Their artwork celebrates the rich, unique history of the Gaslamp Quarter and San Diego.
You might recall we saw the Willabee rabbit at the Jacaranda Spring Thing, when I blogged about it here. Well, now you can enjoy a whole warren of art bunnies!
Swing on by during Comic-Con (through Sunday) and check them out!
People attending 2017 San Diego Comic-Con look at an artfully painted rabbit outside the Rabbitville “Hop-Up” Gallery.Honoring the Disdained: Carp Jumping Dragon Gate, by artist Tasha Hobbs. Art that honors the contributions of Chinese immigrants in early San Diego.Alonzo Horton is the father of modern San Diego. He journeyed to San Diego in 1867, then purchased the area now known as downtown and called it New Town.The Stingaree was a red-light district filled with prostitutes and gamblers, including the famous Wyatt Earp, who would run three gambling halls in San Diego.
Steampunk author Jack Tyler is writing an exciting novel about San Diego’s infamous Stingaree. I blogged about it here!
It’s an exciting read. Check it out!
Mirrored Rabbit, by artist Mario Herbelin-Canelas.Ordinate, by artist Rebecca Nuvoletta. This rabbit celebrates the visions of a distant future in the founding of New Town.Willabee, by artist Matt Forderer. This rabbit has traveled through time to collect historical images of San Diego.Against All Odds, We Thrive! by artist Sarah Soward. Alonzo Horton’s passion and vision for San Diego is celebrated.Diego, by artist Monty Montgomery. The colors and shapes on this rabbit are visual impressions of experiences on the streets of San Diego.
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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 share and enjoy!
A whole flock of Cartoon Network characters take to the sky! Fun balloons fly over the fountain at Children’s Park during 2017 San Diego Comic-Con!
Fourteen of seventeen Cartoon Network character balloons have been inflated so far for 2017 Comic-Con. You can see them soaring above the fountain at Children’s Park on MLK Promenade! I learned this morning two more balloons will be added tomorrow, and one final balloon on Friday!
Do you recognize some of these characters? If you do, feel free to leave a comment!
This helpful sign appeared on Thursday!
The Cartoon Network balloon characters include: K.O., Ice Bear, Four Arms, Richard, Robin, Darwin, Buttercup, Cannonbolt, Panda, Steven Universe, Beast Boy, Gumball, Raven, Omnitrix, Grizz, and Steven’s Shirt!
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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!
Someone’s artistic bicycle has a potted plant in its basket.
I captured these quick photos during a walk in North Park, along Adams Avenue between 30th Street and the I-805 bridge. Bits of art add flavor to life in the city.
Someone rests on a painted transformer box on Adams Avenue near 30th Street.A monkey on a utility box, crowned by a rummage sale notice.A dog sees a yummy doughnut!A cool lady seems to stand on the sidewalk.Looking down from the Adams Avenue bridge over Interstate 805.Abstract mural incorporates nearby utility boxes.An awesome Jimi Hendrix street mural near dumpster and motorcycle.
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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!
Local artist Suzka has created some colorful artwork that includes elements from San Diego Comic-Con, popular culture and comic books.
Check this out! There’s a bunch of cool, original San Diego Comic-Con artwork on display in an eatery not far from the convention center! Head a couple blocks up First Avenue and step inside Simon’s Cafe to see these colorful Comic-Con paintings!
The artist’s name is Suzka, and you can read her bio in one of my photos–click it to enlarge for easier reading.
This morning I had a lot of fun looking at this art inside the cafe while waiting for my breakfast burrito. (Which was pretty good, too!)
Biography of painter and writer Suzka. Some of her art celebrating San Diego Comic-Con can be seen inside Simon’s Cafe on First Avenue, a couple blocks north of Harbor Drive.Cool original San Diego Comic-Con art shows timeline of the international pop culture phenomenon.An enormous Superman seems to stand guard near a harbor.Dr. Fate is in a big hurry to save Inza from danger!Fun versions of Batman and Superman welcome everyone to Comic-Con!
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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!
I’m starting to get excited about upcoming 2017 San Diego Comic-Con! It begins in less than two weeks!
Now that I’m beginning to think again about Comic-Con, I’ve been remembering some of the cool cosplay photos I’ve taken the past few years. Just for fun I’ve collected links to old blog posts that contain lots of cosplay photos!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera. This year I’m going to photograph lots more Comic-Con stuff! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Normal Heights is home to lots of creative street art and other cool sights!
Here come lots of photos of street art in Normal Heights. I captured these while walking east along the south side of Adams Avenue, from I-805 to 35th Street. Then I crossed the street and walked back west to the bridge that spans the freeway.
(Please note–I haven’t included some artwork along Adams Avenue that I’ve already blogged. Check the related links at the bottom of this post, or use the search box.)
Here we go!
A smiling face painted on a transformer box along Adams Avenue.Big lips.A big eyeball.An animated red fire extinguisher chases and douses a flame on the wall of All County Fire.A classic car and tire tracks painted on a utility box on the sidewalk in front of Tire Depot.A tropical island scene.A cool cat.A skull in sunglasses above palm trees and flowers.I think I’m quite ready for another adventure. Bilbo Baggins. (A favorite book!)Stenciled mandalas line the sidewalk not far from Pilgrimage of the Heart Yoga.A mosaic composed of many different tiles graces the front of some shops along Adams Avenue in Normal Heights.Marquee of old Adams Avenue Theater, which is now home to Discount Fabrics.Fabric art in windows of the old theater, where movie posters were once displayed.Colorful terrazzo design at entrance to old theater.Two faces watch people walking down the sidewalk.Colorful designs attract attention.A series of fun utility boxes.A snow-capped mountain peak on the side of a newspaper box.Real wrenches have been affixed to this utility box near an auto repair shop!On the other side is this nostalgic graphic showing some car culture history in Normal Heights.Colorful plant life painted in the city.One wall has a mural with a couple of surprises flying behind a bush: parrots!And behind another bush is this human form, sitting among small flowers!These smiling flowers want you to have fun at the Adams Avenue Recreation Center!Now I’ve crossed Adams Avenue at 35th and am heading back west on the north side. Check out the cool mural near the rooftop of Humphrey Appliance.This box has some really good artistry.A mysterious face on another side.Butterflies are flitting about the wall of Mariposa Ice Cream.Two fantastic female faces, by talented muralists Gloria Muriel and Amanda Lynn. You’ve seen the distinctive work of each artist elsewhere on this blog!A beautiful face in a tropical setting.A bright design has emerged from human imagination.I love this box! Check out the face that seems to peer from behind bricks.Eyes peer from one corner of the top.Another side.Many colorful stick figures around the planet Earth.Painted scene of a painted scene in Normal Heights.
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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 share and enjoy!
Double Talk by artist Richard Deacon, winner of the Turner Prize. Laminated wood and imitation leather. 1987.
Look at these photos! Enjoy a taste of some wonders that have materialized inside the San Diego Museum of Art!
My docent friend took me on a tour yesterday morning of the jaw-dropping exhibition Richard Deacon: What You See Is What You Get. The abstract artwork of this world-renowned British contemporary sculptor, winner of the Turner Prize, is being shown for the first time in a major American museum–right here at the San Diego Museum of Art!
I don’t know how to begin explaining the various pieces. I did plainly see that Richard Deacon takes joy in inventive creation, working diverse materials, seeing organic forms bubble and expand into life. Gazing at his often huge pieces, I felt myself tumbling through a space filled with living shapes, mythological symbols, dreamlike visions. His muscle-crafted marvels have been extracted from infinite possibility, bent into reality.
I don’t know what else to say. I’ve added a little more description in my photo captions. But words are insufficient. What you see is what you get!
It’s great news that this special exhibition at the San Diego Museum of Art has been extended through Labor Day, September 04, 2017. Go feast your eyes!
Richard Deacon. What you see is what you get. To see it, head over to the San Diego Museum of Art!Eyes are met with an astonishing work of abstract art. Dancing in Front of My Eyes, 2006. Wood, aluminum.In places screws, glue, and the wood itself seem to be “unfinished” parts of a living whole. The fluid piece undulates from the hand of its inventive creator.An intangible tangle of shadow on the floor seems to be an important part of the sculpture. The artist calls himself a fabricator.An amazing creation, that seems to me like active muscles or tendons in a living body. Dead Leg, 2007. Steamed oak, stainless steel.The wood is artistically bent using steam and heat. During this process, Richard Deacon has about two minutes to permanently alter the wood’s shape.This looks to me like supple leather. A portion of Fish out of Water. Laminated hardboard, screws. 1986-87.Richard Deacon creates astonishing art using many different materials. These huge pieces are ceramic. They seem to have bubbled up from the Earth, or the artist’s mind.Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow C. Glazed ceramic. 2000.Housing 10, 2012. Marbling on folded STPI handmade paper, constructed with magnet button.Richard Deacon enjoys playful, suggestive language and has called this huge piece Double Talk. The viewer can decide what is meant.The abstract sculpture stretches and curves in an inviting way. It is both natural and larger than life.Falling on Deaf Ears, No. 1. Galvanized steel, canvas. 1984. My docent friend explained this represents the ship of Odysseus, as he sailed past the treacherous Sirens.Across this room soars Like a Bird. Laminated wood, 1984. Richard Deacon creates spacious wonders that tickle the mind and expand the spirit.
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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!
Senna Osawa, Tamayo Watermelon, mixed media, Second Grade, Kumeyaay Elementary.
Look what I discovered!
The San Diego Museum of Art has a free exhibition of art that was created by local school students. It’s called Young Art 2017: Beyond the Ordinary. You can find it in Gallery 15, which leads from the museum’s outdoor sculpture court to the restrooms that are often used by diners at Panama 66.
Every two years, a new exhibition of Young Art is presented by the museum. All I can say is once you step through the door your jaw will drop! Dozens of outstanding, truly amazing works of art line the walls and fill a few display cases.
Inspired students from Kindergarten to Twelfth Grade, from schools throughout San Diego County, have created all sorts of fantastic still life artwork, including paintings, drawings, mixed media, photography and ceramic sculptures. Some of the students have written a sentence or two explaining their thoughts and creative process.
My quick photos of these few examples barely scratch the surface. I just chose some of the art that I personally like. Funny–perhaps my favorite piece was created by a talented young artist in Kindergarten!
If you visit Balboa Park, you must take a look!
Beyond the Ordinary. Young Art 2017. Amazing, inspired artwork in a free exhibition at the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park!Catherine Zhao, Message in a Bottle, painting, Twelfth Grade, Westview High School.The Great Fruit Bowl, a drawing by many Christ Church Day School Second Grade student artists.Fizzah Arshad, Tea, drawing, Ninth Grade, Otay Ranch High School.Arissa Diaz-Lelevier, Multi-media Still Life, mixed media, Eighth Grade, Stella Maris Academy.Mirabella Komniey, Pitcher, mixed media, Fifth Grade, Vista Grande Elementary.Emma Cecil, Enticement, painting, Twelfth Grade, Torrey Pines High School.Camryn Melendez, Apricot Sunrise, drawing, Eleventh Grade, Westview High School.Eric Pak, Flora and Skull, painting, Twelfth Grade, Westview High School.Karina Spinazzola, Lemons and Lilies, drawing, Eleventh Grade, Westview High School.Anh Huynh, Distilled, painting, Twelfth Grade, Westview High School.Caden Glazner, Time for Tea, painting, Third Grade, Del Sur Elementary.Joy Zou, Tea Time, drawing, Eleventh Grade, Westview High School.Bella Anderson and Cate Hunsberger, Medieval Lunch, painting, Seventh Grade, Coronado Middle School.Skylar Britt, O’Keeffe Flower, mixed media, Kindergarten, Kumeyaay Elementary.Jenna Vo, Magritte Floating Still Life, mixed media, Fourth Grade, Kumeyaay Elementary.
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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!