Travel down the coast highway in Encinitas and you might never know you’re a very short distance from an amazing “hidden” art alley!
Colorful murals fill the alley just west of South Coast Highway 101 between D Street and E Street.
I captured photographs of all the artwork as I walked south down the alley, from a spot behind 7-Eleven.
I noticed several artist signatures and have included that info in my captions.
Enjoy!
A blonde in blue. The one mural you might glimpse from Coast Highway 101.Mural by CJTROXELLART.Cool street art depicts Prince.If you know who this might be, leave a comment! UPDATE! I’ve been informed this is from David Bowie’s album Hunky Dory!Beautifully painted bouquet.Words describe a morally blind society and its consequences.Dog running in a field.Mandala-like design and elephant.Walking south down the alley.Mural by @debisdoodles and @mayranavarroart painted in 2015.I added contrast and sharpness to this photo to pop the Day of the Dead imagery.Mural possibly depicts Mount Fuji in Japan.Bees and flowers!Art around the back door of Better Buzz Coffee Encinitas.Seawalls mural by Aaron Glasson and Celeste Byers, 2016.
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Look at all these beautiful new faces in City Heights! I saw them today during a morning walk.
An incredible 263-foot long mural is gradually coming to life at the south end of Teralta Park, which is located on the freeway cap over Interstate 15. The mural is being painted by talented San Diego graffiti artist Sake, whom I met last year.
Last time I photographed the mural-in-progress, several faces at the left end had been finished. Since then, more faces have been completed! And other painted details throughout the very long mural are appearing as well.
City Heights is a community in east San Diego that is home to many immigrants and refugees from all around the world. That diversity is reflected in this colorful, positive artwork!
If you’d like to see photographs of artist Sake at work last year, and find links to even earlier photos, you can click here!
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If you’ve ever walked from Fletcher Cove in Solana Beach toward Highway 101, you’ve probably noticed a large, super colorful mural. The artwork is painted on the west side of the Saddle Bar, on Acacia Avenue.
During my most recent visit to Solana Beach, I ambled up to the mural and discovered the old building it decorates has a Solana Beach Civic Historical Society plaque.
The building was originally the Mayme and Charles Karn’s Bicycle Shop back in 1924. It served as a United States Post Office from 1936 to 1953.
The mural was painted in 2019 by Cardiff-by-the-Sea artist Dustin (Brane) Hull.
Images in the artwork include: a friendly dog; a woman surfing; carrying surfboards on the beach; a kid skateboarding; a musician performing at the famous Belly Up Tavern; a Coaster train and the Solana Beach station; and Fiesta Del Sol, an annual festival held on the nearby streets.
I love this mural. It really captures the happy vibe of this beach community.
I took these photos!
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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 photos for you to enjoy!
A new mural was painted at the 1st Street Bar in Encinitas several months ago. I didn’t see it until this weekend, during my walk down South Coast Highway 101.
The mural is a colorful, mystical work by artists Amanda Lynn and Carly Ealey. It’s overflowing with visions of nature’s beauty and cosmic mystery.
This fantastic artwork replaces an older environmental Sea Walls mural at the same Encinitas location, painted by the same artists. I took photos of the previous 1st Street Bar mural in 2019 and posted them here.
It’s interesting to contrast the styles of the two murals. I particularly like this newer one.
Enjoy!
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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 photos for you to enjoy!
A huge, absolutely amazing mural in downtown San Diego’s East Village has been painted right next to the Quartyard. The mural is in support of wildlife conservation efforts, and is titled Empowering Hope. The artists are Carly Ealey and Christopher Konecki.
According to the promoted Key Conservation website, one can download their Key App to hook up with and support various global conservation organizations, who are working to save animals from extinction. It appears the project is presently a work in progress and more funding is needed.
If you’d like to check it all out, you can visit the Key Conservation website here.
UPDATE!
I took a photo when the amazing mural was finished…
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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!
Have you seen the cool Trevor Hoffman mural painted on the rear wall of Hansen Surfboards in Encinitas?
I finally did!
Ground Floor Murals painted this San Diego Padres mural last November.
So far, I’ve photographed their Tony Gwynn, Fernando Tatis, Jr., Manny Machado and Yu Darvish murals. Click the links to see the photos and learn more about these talented artists. Their awesome Padres baseball player murals are located all around San Diego!
For many years, Trevor Hoffman held the all-time pitching saves record in Major League Baseball. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018.
Go Pads!
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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 photos for you to enjoy!
Some very colorful abstract art was spray painted last month on a long wall beside the Massachusetts Avenue trolley station parking lot. The artist is Maxx Moses, whose distinctive work can be found all over San Diego.
The first time I glimpsed this mural I was riding the Orange Line. With sudden surprise and excitement, I jumped off.
I love the murals of Maxx Moses, they are so jammed with creativity and imagination. They often show technology fused with ancient culture, producing unique images of humanity that make you simply stand and stare with wonder. His artwork is simultaneously weird and familiar. All of it is filled with heart.
(Perhaps you recall seeing photos of another phenomenal mural he helped to create at the 62nd Street/Encanto trolley station, which just is a short ride up the Orange Line. If you haven’t, they are here!)
To view more cool art by Maxx Moses, check out his Instagram page here!
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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 photos for you to enjoy!
Two amazing murals by well known regional artists can be found in a new public plaza located in San Diego’s East Village neighborhood.
The murals, designed by artists Rafael Lopez of San Diego and Joel Sotelo of Tijuana, decorate opposing walls in the amphitheater-like space between the UCSD Downtown Center building and the 34-story The Merian apartment tower. Walk north up the sidewalk from the corner of Market Street and Park Boulevard and you’ll find it.
This welcoming new plaza is so remarkable that it earned a San Diego Architectural Foundation Orchid Award!
For many months I’ve been waiting for a construction site fence to come down, and it finally did, allowing entrance to the new plaza.
If you’d like to read more about this unique public plaza’s inspiration, design and construction, here’s a great article.
My first photos are of the Rafael Lopez mural, titled Iluminación, which was painted by Gran Prestoz. It was completed a couple of summers ago, but not accessible to the public.
Lopez is widely known for his award-winning illustrations in numerous acclaimed children’s books. He has even designed several United States postage stamps!
The next photos are of the mural on the plaza’s east side, by artist Joel Sotelo. The mural’s title is Pulsar Ultra-Marino. According to a plaque I found, “Sotelo’s colorful mural is based on the idea of wonder, from the micro to the macro, from the beauty of nature to the revelations of science.”
(Doing a little research, I was surprised to find out that Joel Sotelo helped conceive of the Tweet Street linear city park with its artistic birdhouses. Tweet Street on Cortez Hill is only a few steps from where I live!)
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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 photos for you to enjoy!
Logan Avenue in Barrio Logan is a magnet for San Diego artists, and for lovers of street art. Walk down the sidewalk and there’s a good chance you’ll discover new artwork you hadn’t seen before.
The last time I walked along Logan Avenue, during the afternoon of the Las Posadas event, I came across an amazing mural a bit northwest of Sampson Street. It depicts four legendary Barrio Logan artists: Chunky Sanchez, Victor Ochoa, Carmen Kahlo and Yolanda Lopez.
The artwork was painted in late October and early November 2021 by Ground Floor Murals, Chloe and eyegato.
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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 photos for you to enjoy!
Does anybody know the history of this old mural in Escondido? It decorates the east side of the Conrad Prebys Escondido Branch of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego.
During a walk through Escondido last weekend, I photographed this colorful mural from the distant sidewalk. It appears to be a mosaic made of small tiles. Youth are depicted reading, playing basketball, and engaged in other activity. The artwork is dated 1976. Tiles spell out two clear signatures: A. Dluhos and T. Pardue.
After some internet searching, I believe the first artist is Andre Dluhos, and the second is Terry Pardue. I’m pretty sure about the second name, because I read this article.
Andre Dluhos was born in 1940 in eastern Czechoslovakia and moved to the United States in 1969.
If anyone out there knows anything about this nearly half century old mural, please leave a comment.
It would be fascinating to learn more about it, and the artists, too!
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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!
Cool San Diego Sights! 