Tag: oceanside

Art of Nancy Cheadle benefits Oceanside library.

Nancy Duncan Cheadle was an American illustrator and portrait artist whose work has graced the covers of many romance novels. She created over 160 original oil paintings. Perhaps you’ve seen her artwork on the cover of Silhouette Romance paperbacks.

Prints of Nancy Cheadle’s paintings are on display and for purchase in Oceanside’s wonderful Jane and Evie’s Used Books, with all sales benefiting the Oceanside Public Library.

You can see one fine example, from the romance novel Dream Bride, in my first two photographs.

As the sign explains, Nancy’s family would love for many people to share the experience of having one of her paintings–all proceeds will go to the Oceanside Friends of the Public Library.

Jane and Evie’s Used Books is located at 323 North Coast Highway. My next blog post concerns this awesome used book store!

Here’s another work of art by Nancy Cheadle that you can hang on your wall, while benefitting culture, knowledge and literacy in Oceanside…

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

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Oceanside plaque for transportation visionary.

Byron Nordberg — In recognition of his many contributions to the development of passenger rail in Oceanside, San Diego County, California and the United States.

A plaque honoring Byron Nordberg is embedded in a boulder near the train platforms at the Oceanside Transit Center. It recognizes a visionary mover and shaker, who is largely responsible for the creation of this regional transportation center, where Amtrak, Metrolink, the Coaster, the Sprinter, plus Greyhound buses and several North County Transit District bus routes conveniently come together.

Here’s a great article that concerns the work of Byron Nordberg. And here’s a press release regarding his death in 1997. If you ride the San Diego trolley or the aforementioned trains, you might appreciate his early advocacy of rail in Southern California, as well as innovations that allow passengers to easily board trains without stepping up, safe tunnels and overpasses under and over tracks, and double tracks at stations that prevent unnecessary delays in the system.

From his childhood he was a lover a trains. I am, too. So I thank him.

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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 visit to the Oceanside Historical Society.

Walk along the north side of the Oceanside Civic Center and you might spy the door of the Oceanside Historical Society. The unobtrusive glass door is a portal to Oceanside’s past!

Inside Oceanside’s small history center you’ll find dozens of old photographs on several walls. A glass display case contains historical artifacts. One corner of the room is occupied by a model of Oceanside’s famous Top Gun House. Just inside the front door, stairs wind upward and end mysteriously at a wall.

The space occupied by the history center was originally the home of Oceanside’s police department. Those stairs that end in a wall once climbed to a jail on the second floor. Where the jail was located is now part of Fire Station 1, which occupies the same building. The building was designed by famed architect Irving Gill, who apparently didn’t take into account that drunks and belligerents headed for jail would be ascending those steep, winding stairs! And there was a skylight in the jail, too, very convenient for escape!

During my visit earlier this week, I learned the nearby Oceanside Museum of Art will be expanding into both the fire station and history center, and the latter two will be relocated to Civic Center Drive.

Kristi Hawthorne, Director of the Oceanside Historical Society, also told me a little about the police and firefighter artifacts in the display case, including material confiscated from bootleggers during Prohibition. She maintains a great blog called Histories and Mysteries, where you’ll discover all sort of fascinating photos and little known stories from Oceanside’s history.

She explained that the society maintains a huge archive of historical photographs, and is presently digitizing tens of thousands of documents.

I also learned the Oceanside Historical Society leads downtown history walks!

The free walks are held the second Saturday of each month, April through September. If you’d like to participate, check out this web page. (You can also download a guide for a self-guided tour.)

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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)!

Newly painted panel in Oceanside’s Artist Alley!

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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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)!

Michael the pelican on the Oceanside Pier.

Meet an old-timer on the Oceanside Pier–a California Brown Pelican named Michael.

Michael has been hanging around the pier about twenty years, according to Jeff who works at the bait shop. Michael the pelican likes to gobble handouts from passing fishermen.

He likes to watch people walking along the Oceanside Pier, too.

Michael had a foot problem. Humans helped him out and now he’s much better. I could plainly see that he and Jeff were close buddies.

But he doesn’t like strangers to get too close.

How did the bird get its name? Jeff told me that Michael has a tendency to dance around–like Michael Jackson.

(Jeff also explained that Iggy the snowy egret will sometimes join him inside the bait shop. When I happened by today, Iggy, Ziggy and several other egrets were being shy, standing on the bait shop’s roof.)

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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 street art in south Oceanside!

These street art photographs are from a walk I enjoyed a couple days ago. They were taken as I wandered down several blocks in south Oceanside, from 1719 to 1840 South Coast Highway.

Here they are!

A funny cow stands on the sidewalk in front of Estate Sale Warehouse.

Gentlemen’s Den Barber Shop mural features sun, beach and Oceanside Pier.

The Whet Noodle (now Wrench and Rodent Seabasstropub) mural. I believe it’s by Kris Markovich.

Michael Jordan saves a heart balloon on the side of The Frame House. By artist Hung Tran.

Mural at Revolution Roasters. By artist Geoff Gouveia in 2017.

Pelican flies on wall at Matafied Hair Studio. By artist Paul Knebels.

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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)!

Colorful mural at SALT in Oceanside!

This wonderful mural depicting life, sunshine and landmarks in Oceanside can be found at the SALT Apartments at 311 N. Cleveland Street. It was created by well-known abstract artist Lee Calderon.

I see the Oceanside Pier, a surfer, the harbor lighthouse, and Mission San Luis Rey. And many bright, vibrant colors!

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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)!

Art from the Great Depression in Oceanside.

A very fine exhibition of American art from around the time of the Great Depression is now on view at the Oceanside Museum of Art.

Art for the People: WPA-Era Paintings from the Dijkstra Collection contains works that were created between the 1920s and the end of World War II. Many pieces by California artists are included, including San Diego’s own Charles Reiffel. The paintings are often dark, with images of poverty, violence and barren places. But there are glimpses of beauty, too, and of life’s striving, and inextinguishable humanity.

According to one sign: “Names for this art have ranged from Regionalism and American Scene Painting to Social Realism and American Expressionism.” I’m by no means an art expert, but I can tell you these diverse works are emotionally stirring. The artists, through the lens of their own experience, sought to capture true things from a difficult period of American history.

Enjoy a visit to the Oceanside Museum of Art no later than November 5, 2023. You’ll see how extraordinary this special exhibition is. It was organized by the Crocker Art Museum, Oceanside Museum of Art, and The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens.

Hooverville on East Tenth Street, Louis Ribak, circa 1940. In the late 1930s, Ribak worked on several murals for the Works Progress Administration.

The Hex Sign, Lancaster County, PA, Ernest Fiene, 1936.

Harlem Cows, Jan Matulka, circa 1924. The depiction of cows evidences the artist’s exposure to Cubism.

A Vale in Death Valley, Helen Forbes, 1939. The artist during the WPA era produced murals for post offices in Susanville, Merced and Monrovia, California.

Worker and Machine, Hugo Gellert, 1928. The artist focused on the struggles of the working class. He was an illustrator for The New Yorker and New York Times.

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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)!

Super Girl surfers compete in Oceanside!

A fantastic event is taking place all this weekend by the Oceanside Pier. It’s the annual Super Girl Surf Pro!

I arrived late in the morning to enjoy what is essentially an enormous festival. The theme is female empowerment, and there’s plenty of inspiration and activities for everybody. There are free concerts, fitness camps, a volleyball competition, and, of course, lots of great food!

The main attraction is the surfing competition. The action continues throughout each day, and can be observed from the beach or pier. Amateur and professional female athletes conquer the waves with mind-blowing skill. Many of the world’s top surfers are participating!

Enjoy this collection of photos.

The longboard surfers made the best subjects for my modest camera–they were nearest the pier and illuminated perfectly in the Oceanside sunshine!

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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)!

Fun street art and signs from various walks.

This morning, before I head out to watch the big stickball tournament in Little Italy, I’m going through hundreds of old, unused photographs stored on my computer. All are from various past walks. A few of the photos are so old I’ve forgotten when and where they were taken!

Here are the fun pictures of street art and signs that I’d like to share. It would be a shame not to post them!

A very colorful East Village mural.

He who plants a garden plants happiness.

Sunshine on a Little Italy window by @artbysoup.

Sunshine, surf and surfboard in Oceanside behind the Regal Cinemas.

Voted #1 ice cream in the world by my daughters.

Street art by Jorge Mendoza.

dreamer @nestmurals

Oceanside chalk art on a sidewalk.

Long live the rose that grew from concrete -Tupac Shakur

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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)!