Hungry?
Feast your eyes on this tasty street art at a busy intersection in Escondido!
I used to drive past the corner of West Valley Parkway and Auto Park Way and think I should take photographs of this electrical box. I finally did yesterday.
The cheeseburger and fries looks particularly good.
Several eateries are located nearby. This colorful food art seems to be strategically positioned!
Yum!
That’s San Diego artist James Watts (@jewattso) in the above photo. He was painting an image of Japan’s Seven Lucky Gods (or Shichifukujin) on the downtown sidewalk outside his studio yesterday. It’s number 93 of the 100 paintings he’s presently working on.
I had to look up those lucky gods to understand what he was painting. He also showed me a painting of his own family, which got me to thinking.
Mythology, literature, and every creative work uses symbolism. We use symbols in order to better understand and engage with an infinitely larger reality.
Now, what do we understand best? Our own lives.
So it isn’t surprising the symbols we create reflect our human experience. The deities of mythology explain the mysteries of this world, but tend to be very human. The illuminating words of great literature rely upon human experience and interaction. In a strange way, created symbols and reality combine in our own minds. Symbols inform our living.
James Watts loves mythology, literature and life, and his symbolic art connects it all. Or so it seems to me.
His next painting is of the characters in Voltaire’s novel Candide…
The next photograph shows James Watts’ family years ago, when he was a youth. That’s him in a white t-shirt…
And here’s a painting he recently created, based on the old photo…
Symbols we create can be extremely powerful.
Might we all strive to understand, remember, live fully.
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I love these fanciful paintings of neighborhood eateries! They were created by San Diego artist James Watts (@jewattso) as part of his ongoing 100 Paintings project.
I happened to walk down the sidewalk in front of his downtown studio today and he was there outside in the sunshine with his two cats, working with a smile on painting #93. Read about his 100 Paintings project here.
I ventured into his amazing studio, and he showed me some of his latest work. Among many great new paintings, he showed me these three colorful pieces. You might recognize the restaurants they depict!
James Watts is a creative dynamo who is a true San Diego treasure. He’s a super cool friendly downtown neighbor, too!
Read the photo captions. (More on his paintings in my next blog post!)
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Very few people see this beautiful mural. It was painted in an extremely narrow space next to Scoops Ice Cream on Avenida de la Playa in La Jolla.
Someone eating ice cream at an outdoor table feet from the mural didn’t notice it until they saw me taking photographs!
The nice lady serving ice cream at Scoops thinks the artwork was painted years ago. The artist is Charlene Mosley (@cm__art).
Painted on the wall across from a scene of undersea life is an image of two kids eating ice cream. The employee I spoke to believes they were painted by the same artist.
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Lovers of art in San Diego are in for a treat. Head down to the Wisteria Cottage Gallery in La Jolla and you can admire the work of two celebrated local artists who taught at UC San Diego.
Double Bill: The Art of Manny Farber and Patricia Patterson contains numerous fine works by this husband and wife team who made their home in Leucadia.
Paintings large and small, beautiful sketches, historical photographs, and books the pair published are all on display.
Both artists liked to create images of simple, familiar things. Family life and home are frequent subjects. The images are friendly and warm. If I could reach into two dimensions, I’d happily take the depicted scenes and objects into my hands and make them my own.
You’ll notice when you visit the gallery that Patricia often paints people and moments in life. Manny often creates collage-like images of ordinary objects. To viewers who love living, they can all make a powerful connection.
Here’s the exhibition webpage.
Double Bill: The Art of Manny Farber and Patricia Patterson will be open free to the public through February 1, 2026.
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Mary at the Stove is a painting by Patricia Patterson, a former professor of art at UC San Diego. You can find in heading up some stairs at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library in La Jolla.
This beautiful work of art was originally painted on a plasterboard wall at the Athenaeum for an exhibition in 1993. Now it’s part of the library’s permanent art collection.
When I visited the Athenaeum a couple days ago, I told the friendly librarian at the front desk I would be walking over to the Wisteria Cottage Gallery next, to view the exhibition Double Bill: The Art of Manny Farber and Patricia Patterson. That’s when she told me about Patterson’s Mary at the Stove.
I love the image and its simple warmth. It shows ordinary life in an unpretentious, almost nostalgic way. It struck me this painting is something between a Japanese print and folk art. But what do I know?
As you’ll see in my next blog post, Patricia Patterson created many such wonderful images.
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I really like this fun artwork. It’s now on public display at San Diego’s downtown Central Library. The five original paintings and the digital illustration prints were created by Mike McCarley (aka Mike Mike), who resides in Ocean Beach and imbues his work with a playful, laid-back beach vibe.
As a sign explains, his work has roots in skateboard art, cartoons, and an enduring love for the color blue. To see these in person, head up to the Central Library’s second floor near the escalators and look for the glass display cases. I believe the exhibit continues through December, so there isn’t much time left.
If you dig Mike Mike’s stuff, check out his Instagram page here. He works professionally in architecture, but his creative heart belongs to painting and illustration.
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Last month a large shipping container was painted by community members in Pacific Beach. The container stands behind the old, long-vacant Pacific Beach Library, on the southeast corner of the Pacific Beach Middle School campus.
Why was this Community Paint Day held? Because the old library is being converted by the organization Beautiful PB into the PB Arts Center!
According to their website, the PB Arts Center will be a multipurpose venue, a vibrant hub connecting Pacific Beach residents, surrounding neighborhoods and visitors to art and to each other… Collaborative funding will allow for affordable art classes, performances, festivals and cultural activities to inspire creativity in an arts-underserved area.
Very cool project!
The lead artist for the shipping container mural was Hilary Dufour. Based in San Diego, she creates beautiful art that is inspired by nature.
A couple days ago I spotted the new public art during a walk through Pacific Beach. I took photos of the colorful shipping container through a fence…
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The Courthouse Gallery in downtown San Diego has a second exhibition. It’s titled: San Diego Pastoral – From the Desert through the Mountains to the Sea.
From the sidewalk, anyone walking down Broadway near Front Street can gaze into the large windows of the Edward J. Schwartz Courthouse and view juried artwork by local artists. The pieces celebrate the natural beauty and biodiversity of the Southern District of California, which covers San Diego and Imperial Counties.
The displayed art is primarily beautiful paintings. Beaches to canyons to foothills to mountains to the desert beyond them, the depicted region is immense. These varied landscapes support what is said to be the greatest biodiversity in the United States.
I blogged about the very first exhibition of the new Courthouse Gallery earlier this year here. This second exhibition runs October 6, 2025 to February 2, 2026.
Yesterday I took a few photos at an angle through the windows to avoid reflections from the street…
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Above the clouds–above confused mists and storms–life is clear, bright and essentially good.
There’s a place in Escondido where you can rise above confining clouds, and even sit on them!
Dave Eassa: Head Above the Clouds is an immersive exhibition now showing at the California Center for the Arts Museum. Stepping into the gallery full of bright art is to launch yourself into sunny heights where memory, love, hopes and happiness are unbounded.
Colorful paintings brimming with joyful everyday life and wonder fill every horizon. Four sails suspended in the atmosphere soar with dreams created by young hands.
Here’s the exhibition’s webpage. It explains how artist Dave Eassa created a dreamscape shaped by memory, love, and imagination. Drawing from personal and familial archives, Eassa transforms the gallery into a space for reflection and connection, where life-sized portraits become monuments, clouds anchor the ground, and suspended sails carry the dreams of youth and community voices.
Dave Eassa is a San Diego-based visual artist, curator, and cultural organizer. Here’s his website. He is the Director of Philanthropy and Engagement at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library in La Jolla.
I learned that Dave Eassa himself helped children visiting the museum to create the art on the sails. The names of the young artists are even listed on one wall as visitors step into the gallery.
Super cool!
You have an opportunity to put your head above the clouds at the California Center for the Arts Museum through March 1, 2026.
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If you’d like to see San Diego through my lens, find the “Follow” box in the sidebar to receive new posts in your email, or bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
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Cool San Diego Sights! 