If you’ve driven down Encinitas Boulevard under Interstate 5 you’ve seen this wonderful, very colorful public art. Four long mosaic strips depicting local plants and animals have added life to the freeway undercrossing for about a year now.
In 2021 the City of Encinitas chose this design by Minneapolis-based artists Amy Baur and Brian Boldon.
The three foot tall strips feature glazed ceramic surfaces that shine in the sunlight and resemble stained glass. Here’s an article concerning the installation. The artist has stated: “Imagery from Encinitas’ environment — birds, plants, water, coastal and mountain flora and fauna — are layered with geometric shapes reflecting concrete patterns above and below the artwork.”
During my last walk in Encinitas, I took photographs of the beautiful artwork. What birds and plants do you recognize?
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Look what I spotted while walking home from Balboa Park this afternoon! A red-tailed hawk was perched in a palm tree next to the Sixth Avenue sidewalk, at the west edge of the park.
The bird, perhaps ten feet above my camera, was unfazed by my presence.
A young person staring at a phone walked directly under the hawk without noticing it. What other wonders in this world go unseen?
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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!
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A beautiful new park has opened in Mission Valley. The linear Creekside Park, located inside Civita, is centered around an elevated walkway that stretches between Civita Park and Friars Road.
I walked the length of the park this afternoon, my camera at the ready. It’s a green, tranquil place that is inviting to those who love the sunny outdoors.
The north end of Creekside Park at Civita Boulevard.Sign shows the San Diego River watershed. Runoff from the large Civita community passes from Civita Creek through Creekside Park, part of an extensive natural filtration system.Heading south with a kids play structure ahead.Colorful mosaics with a river theme can be enjoyed around and near this large planter. Created by La Jolla artist Jane Wheeler.IMAGINEPAUSEContinuing south, approaching Westside Drive.About to pass shady picnic benches and a fenced dog run.Friars Road in the distance.Looking to the west as I descend toward Friars Road.Another park map at the south end of Creekside Park. The park’s walkway connects with a sidewalk on the north side of Friars Road.Looking north at Creekside Park from Friars Road.
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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)!
There’s an installation of public art in Mission Hills that’s easily overlooked. The art is titled Guard Posts. Redwood posts wrapped with copper stand at the side of the road where Goldfinch Street turns west and becomes Lewis Street. Engraved in copper are words that describe the canyon beyond the guard posts.
Why do I call this public art hidden? Not only are the posts inconspicuous from a distance, but some of the art is actually hidden in the branches of nearby vegetation.
Local artists Richard Keely and Maidie Morris finished the Guard Posts in 1994. You can see how time and weather have altered the artwork–made the copper appear more natural.
Most of the words atop these posts were contributed by members of the Mission Hills community. I did my best to transcribe…
HAWKS AND FALCONS FLYING OVER AT VARIOUS TIMES OF THE DAY, THE CANYONS ARE AN UNBELIEVABLE ECOLOGICAL SYSTEM ON THEIR OWN… MISSION HILLS RESIDENTWE HEARD OF PEOPLE LIVING DOWN IN THIS CANYON… MISSION HILLS RESIDENTIN THE SPRING EVERY SIDE OF THE CANYON IS SO DIFERENT. JUST LIKE A PALETTE. MISSION HILLS RESIDENTCANYONS, WHERE THEY SLIP APART LIKE FINGERS, ACT JUST LIKE A CHIMNEY. WE DON’T WANT TO… CANYON FIRE EVER (I can’t make out some of the words. If you know the full text, please leave a comment!)CANYONS…WELL. AS A PET SHOP OWNER I CAN SAY THERE’S A LOT OF WILD LIFE DOWN IN THE CANYONS… FOX. SKUNKS. LITTLE CREATURES
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Georgia O’Keeffe. Henry Moore. What do these two famous modernist artists, who lived on two separate continents, have in common? Love of nature. And a singular exhibition now open at the San Diego Museum of Art!
I enjoyed a very special tour of O’Keeffe and Moore a few days ago and I’m still deeply moved while thinking about it.
I, like many people, have always loved the paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe. However I knew precious little about Henry Moore, apart from a curvaceous sculpture he created, Reclining Figure: Arch Leg, that stands in the sculpture garden at the San Diego Museum of Art.
When compared side by side, the abstract work of both artists is strikingly similar. Organic, sensuous, familiar, elemental, inspired by forms found in nature. It’s no surprise that their art seems to be distilled from flowers, landscapes, bones and clouds. Because both artists loved nature and closely studied these things.
Both Georgia O’Keeffe and Henry Moore collected bones, driftwood and smooth river stones. Their studios resembled work areas at a natural history museum. In one gallery at the San Diego Museum of Art, recreations of the two artist studios are displayed for visitors to enjoy.
I was surprised to learn that O’Keeffe created sculptures, and that Henry Moore, the sculptor, also painted. The exhibition contains over a hundred pieces between the two artists.
Here is some of O’Keefe’s beautiful work:
The White Flower (White Trumpet Flower), Georgia O’Keeffe, 1932. Oil on canvas. “I have painted what each flower is to me and I have painted it big enough so that others would see what I see.”Red Hill and White Shell, Georgia O’Keeffe, 1938. Oil on canvas. A moon snail shell from the Atlantic shore in the New Mexico desert.Ram’s Head, Blue Morning Glory, Georgia O’Keeffe, 1938. Oil on canvas. Juxtaposition of skull with a flower.
Museum visitors admire Georgia O’Keeffe’s recreated studio which was located at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico:
Abstraction, Georgia O’Keefe, 1946. White lacquered bronze. Inspired by spiral of ram horns.
And here’s Moore at work, and a recreation of a studio in rural Hertfordshire:
Moore Working on the Elmwood Reclining Figure 1959-64. Photographer unknown.Recreation of Henry Moore’s Bourne Maquette Studio, which was named for a stream near the old farmhouse where he lived and worked.
A few of Moore’s sculptures, some of which are models for even larger pieces:
Working Model for Seated Woman, Henry Moore, 1980. Plaster with surface color. Enlarged from a small maquette created in 1956.Mother and Child, Henry Moore, 1978. Stalactite. Inspired by two seashells. (You don’t often see a sculpted piece of stalactite!)Working Model for Oval with Points, Henry Moore, 1968-69. Bronze. Inspired by the interior of an elephant skull.
This truly extraordinary exhibit is made possible by the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and Henry Moore Foundation. It will be on view at the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park until August 27, 2023.
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This year the theme at the San Diego County Fair is Get Out There! Throughout the Del Mar Fairgrounds visitors encounter displays that celebrate recreation in the Great Outdoors.
This theme works perfectly with one of the most popular attractions at the San Diego County Fair: the outdoor Paul Ecke Jr. Garden Show!
Gardening clubs, local students and civic organizations have created their own themed landscape displays. In the spirit of Get Out There, many of the small gardens that I saw during my visit include camping tents and lawn chairs, nestled among native Southern California plants. There is also a fun potted garden competition.
I also found a gigantic animatronic snail. And model trains running through a representation of Yellowstone National Park. And a display that pays tribute to Route 66. And there are old wagons filled with flowers. And a plant sale. And art, 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 Twitter!
Every year the San Diego County Fair attracts a good crowd to its Flower Show. This year was no exception.
Today I meandered past tables of beautiful floral displays at the Paul Ecke Jr. Flower Show inside the fairground’s spacious O’Brien Hall. Don’t ask me how ribbons are awarded in a competitive show such as this. The flowers all appeared perfectly amazing to me.
I saw different types of flowers and some carefully assembled floral arrangements. I took these photos as I walked along.
I spent several hours at the 2023 San Diego County Fair today and now have a boatload of fun and interesting photos coming up! Stay tuned in the next few days!
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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!
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In mid-April, community volunteers and members of the San Diego River Park Foundation celebrated Earth Day by creating another beautiful mural in Mission Valley!
A wall along the San Diego River Bikeway at Cottonwood Grove, a very short walk west of the Sefton Park Baseball Fields, was painted with colorful flowers and butterflies.
The easiest way to visit the mural is to park at the Sefton Baseball Fields (2508 Hotel Circle Place), which are visible from Interstate 8 at the west end of Mission Valley. A trailhead is located at the west end of the Little League ballfields. The long mural can be spied beyond the sign for Cottonwood Grove. It decorates a low wall that parallels the freeway.
Cottonwood Grove is part of Mission Valley Preserve, whose protected riparian environment is surrounded by sprawling urban development. Here one can find wild natural beauty. Sadly, it’s also a place where one encounters trash and graffiti (including some on the new mural that I didn’t photograph). I also observed evidence of drug activity, so use common sense and be alert if you walk this way.
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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!
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San Diego architect Sim Bruce Richards is best known for designing houses that appeal not only to the eyes, but to other human senses as well. The museum exhibit, with its many photographs and drawings, celebrates the unique vision of an architect whose creations feel both rustic and modern. It’s an aesthetic that appeals to an essential human connection with nature.
His houses are truly homes. They are warm and welcoming. They contain natural, textured materials that are pleasant to the senses, like stone, adobe, and beautiful woods, including mahogany, redwood and aromatic cedar. Fireplaces are centerpieces where life gathers. Natural outdoor light shines through large windows. As one display explains: Richards took inspiration from his Cherokee heritage, his apprenticeship with Frank Lloyd Wright, and fondness for the work of San Diegan Irving Gill and other early twentieth century architects…
Reading the fascinating displays, I learned he often collaborated with noted San Diego artist James Hubbell.
Richards also designed commercial and church buildings using the same aesthetic. Did you know the Morley Field Tennis Club building in Balboa Park was one of his projects?
Beautifully inviting furniture that he designed is also part of the exhibit.
The Sensuous Environment – Sim Bruce Richards, Architect presents material from the archives of the San Diego History Center and UC Santa Barbara’s Art, Architecture and Design Museum.
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I was about to enter the building for an Our Walls Speak event (celebrating outdoor murals!) when my attention was grabbed by this spray painted artwork. It’s by Encinitas artist Skye Walker. Apparently the mural, filled with ocean surf and images from nature, promotes Strainge Beast Hard Kombucha. It was painted in 2022.
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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 Twitter!
Cool San Diego Sights! 