During my walk through Liberty Station this morning I noticed several volunteers working on sidewalks near storm drains. Turns out that today was Storm Drain Stenciling Day!
Think Blue and I Love A Clean San Diego teamed up for this cool volunteer event. The freshly painted messages near storm drains remind everyone that these drains don’t lead to a sewer system, but drain directly into San Diego Bay and other local waterways.
Litter, waste, oil and chemicals that find their way into storm drains end up polluting beaches, estuaries and lagoons, harming birds, fish, other natural wildlife . . . and people!
This important stenciled message has faded over time.Volunteer on a sidewalk in Liberty Station applies a new coat of paint on the curb above a storm drain.Newly stenciled message by a storm drain in Point Loma. NO DUMPING GOES TO OCEANLiberty Station in Point Loma is a very beautiful part of San Diego.I Love a Clean San Diego! (Don’t you?)Let’s all keep San Diego safe, beautiful and clean!
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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!
Thao Huynh and Kolten French of Mindful Murals encourage school kids to #CREATE with a super colorful interactive mural!
Yesterday during my mural walking adventure I was introduced by Love City Heights to two people who are doing something that is brilliant and inspiring. Thao Huynh and Kolten French have together created Mindful Murals, an enterprise that’s all about engaging young students at schools with large, affirming, fun graphics!
Check out these six interactive murals that were recently completed at Edison Elementary School. They decorate the backstops of outdoor handball courts. Big splashes of color feature short positive messages like BELIEVE IN YOURSELF, BE LOVING, and NEVER GIVE UP. The murals not only encourage positive thoughts and behavior, but they become a motivating part of a student’s outdoor physical activity.
In addition to interactive murals, Mindful Murals creates sensory paths for schools. These pathways invite kids to walk, twist and turn all about, as they head down a colorful path to discover happy emojis and surprises. It’s a cool idea that engages a growing body, mind and spirit!
To learn more about Mindful Murals, check out their Instagram page here!
Several of the Mindful Murals recently painted in the playground of Edison Elementary School, located in San Diego’s City Heights neighborhood.PERSEVEREBELIEVE IN YOURSELFEMPATHYBE LOVINGI love how this bold message faces the school’s soccer field. NEVER GIVE UP
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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!
Mimi Gonzalez Martinez (to the right) poses by her new mural in City Heights with her artistic mentor Brise Birdsong.
Today I met San Diego’s newest muralist!
Mimi Gonzalez Martinez has painted a colorful mural for #theavenuemuralproject on University Avenue in City Heights. Please check out her new Instagram page!
Guided by Carlos Quezada of Love City Heights, I was able to meet Mimi and enjoy her artwork during a tour of several new street murals along University Avenue. Love City Heights is a group of community leaders working to enliven this culturally diverse San Diego neighborhood.
Mimi’s first mural was created with a little help from her mentor Brise Birdsong, a prolific local artist and muralist whose often humorous street art I stumble upon from time to time during my walks around San Diego.
Mimi told me a little about the mural, and the symbolism that it contains. Her family is very important to her, and being of Mayan descent, she incorporated the Mayan logogram that represents a companion spirit. You can see it in the following photograph at the center of the lower tea cup. The next cup up contains elements representing Korea, a place that is special to her. The third cup up contains colors from both the Mexican and American flags.
Other designs in the mural like the flowers and butterfly? Painted just for fun!
A very cool new work of art brightens City Heights!
The colorful mural contains diverse symbols that hold special meaning for the artist.Mimi Gonzalez Martinez poses by her new City Heights mural with her family!
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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!
Planes Roar Into Action from the U.S. Aircraft Carriers Wasp and Enterprise, watercolor, 1941. The Irvine Museum Collection.
An extraordinary exhibition of work by one of America’s greatest artists is now on display at the Maritime Museum of San Diego. Art of the Sea collects many iconic works by Arthur Beaumont (1890-1978), renowned for his wartime commissions for National Geographic Magazine, and for being named by the U.S. Navy the Artist Laureate of the Fleet in 1958.
Arthur Beaumont’s dramatic paintings not only depict massive warships in action at sea, but ships of every type in locations around the world, and diverse landscapes painted from his travels and rich personal experience.
As a young man Beaumont worked on a ranch in Canada, where he developed his love for sketching and painting. He moved to California and became a ranch hand in the San Joaquin Valley; he then later lived in Los Angeles, working as an artist. His fine portraits were noticed by the U.S. Navy, for whom he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Naval Reserve. He eventually became America’s foremost military artist. His dramatic paintings record important aspects our nation’s history through many decades.
My poor yellowish photographs in the softly lit Gould Eddy Gallery hardly do justice to the dynamic, brilliantly colorful paintings you’ll experience in this world-class exhibition. Over the years, the Maritime Museum of San Diego has featured some very important artwork, including a breathtaking collection of works by James E. Buttersworth, but this might be my favorite so far!
If you love fine art, or military history, or the sweep of American and world history in general, you must not miss Art of the Sea. After you check out these amazing paintings, stretch your legs and enjoy the many historic ships of the Maritime Museum of San Diego, rated one of the very best maritime museums in the world!
Dozens of extraordinary paintings by famed artist Arthur Beaumont fill the Gould Eddy Gallery in the Steam Ferry Berkeley, at the Maritime Museum of San Diego.Sign describes the life and work of Arthur E. Beaumont, named by the Navy the Artist Laureate of the U.S. Fleet in 1958. He is also known for his wartime commissions for National Geographic Magazine.A painting of a California Mission, watercolor on paper, 1949. The Irvine Museum Collection.Cowboy at the Corral Lassoing a Steer, oil, 1929. The Bowers Museum.John Paul Jones on the USS Ranger, July 4, 1777, pen and ink, 1934. The Stuart Bourdon Collection.Portrait of Admiral William D. Leahy, oil on canvas, 1936. U.S. Naval Academy Museum.Heavy and Light Cruisers Range Far to Scout or Fight; USS Astoria and USS Phoenix, watercolor on board, 1941. The Irvine Museum Collection.Navy Sea Planes, watercolor, 1941. The N. Arthur Astor Family Trust.War Weary USS San Diego Returns to Home Port, watercolor, 1967. The Hilbert Museum.Snow Field Training, watercolor, 1942. Catherine Campbell Beaumont Collection.Fog Horn, watercolor, ca. 1950. The Hilbert Collection.Chinese Junk Boat, watercolor, 1963. Robert Dreibelbis Collection.Stella Polaris, Howard Hughes’ yacht, watercolor, 1935. The Los Angeles Maritime Museum.Relief of McMurdo, watercolor, 1959. The Irvine Museum Collection.The Last Voyage of the Queen Mary, in the company of the USS Long Beach, watercolor, 1972. Catherine Campbell Beaumont Collection.
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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!
Texas Tractor, 2002, Carol Lindemulder. Oil on linen.
A great new art exhibition has recently opened at the San Diego History Center!
Carol Lindemulder: Color Story features a collection of vibrant paintings by a local artist who loves to travel about the landscapes of Southern California and the American Southwest. In her paintings, deserts, fields, mountains and small towns are frequently defined by swaths of radiant color–like patches of bright sunshine before your eyes!
Carol Lindemulder, a San Diego native, is a founding member of the Save Our Heritage Organization. She was responsible for the restoration of the Giant Dipper roller coaster in Mission Beach. Her paintings are informed by a deep knowledge of our region’s history, its backroads and lesser known spaces.
Head over to the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park and see these amazing paintings for yourself!
Photograph of Carol Lindemulder painting.Most of my paintings have a path–a road, a street, a river–a place from which we start the adventure.The Road Less Traveled, 2003, Carol Lindemulder. Oil on linen.Fish Creek Afternoon, 2012, Carol Lindemulder. Oil on linen.Stonebridge Canyon, 2016, Carol Lindemulder. Oil on linen.October, Canyon de Chelly, 2002, Carol Lindemulder. Oil on linen.When Shadow’s Fall, 1996, Carol Lindemulder. Oil on linen.Ocotillo, 2010, Carol Lindemulder. Oil on linen.Storm from Temecula, 2001, Carol Lindemulder. Oil on linen.Henshaw After the Storm, 2007, Carol Lindemulder. Oil on linen.Just Around the Corner from the Stop Sign, 2013, Carol Lindemulder. Oil on linen.
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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!
During my walk around downtown yesterday morning, I wandered past The New Children’s Museum. My camera immediately took aim at the 1950s Dodge pickup Flower Truck out on the Paint Patio. Kids have applied so many coats of paint to the museum’s current Painted Object that the vintage truck appears to be covered with dripped candle wax!
I also enjoyed looking at the long, rainbow-like SMILE mural on the museum’s entrance bridge, painted by street artist Paola Villaseñor, who signs her work PANCA. Her urban artwork, which is usually more “adult” and grotesque, can be found in both Tijuana and San Diego.
Those words on a low wall bordering the museum’s playground and The Garden Project are part of FOLLOWING THE WORDS, poetry by Quincy Troupe, professor emeritus at the University of California, San Diego.
In late 2014 I posted photos of the small garden and other lines of the linguistically lip-lively poem here.
Perhaps one day I’ll photograph the entire long poem!
Section of SMILE, by artist PANCA. The fun 48-foot-long mural decorates the bridge leading to the entrance of The New Children’s Museum.YOU ARE YOUR OWN SONGHIP AS FLIP-FLOPS KIDS HAVE ON
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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!
This morning I was walking down First Avenue, a couple blocks north of the San Diego Convention Center, when I made a cool discovery! Glancing through a window of Simon’s Cafe, I spied some new Comic-Con related artwork by local artist Suzka!
Back in 2017 I posted some of her fun Comic-Con themed paintings here!
I didn’t order anything at Simon’s Cafe this morning, having already eaten breakfast, but the friendly lady at the counter said I could take these photos.
If you want to learn more about Suzka, visit her website here!
Able To Leap… by artist Suzka.Miz Apple by artist Suzka.Birdic-Con by artist Suzka.Gaslamp-Kitty by artist Suzka.
UPDATE!
In late May I enjoyed a yummy breakfast plate at Simon’s Cafe. I noticed some new artwork on the walls…
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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!
During my Sunday walk along Broadway toward Golden Hill, I passed the new Broadstone Makers Quarter apartments.
I noticed some artwork on display in a few of the leasing office windows, so I took photos. I don’t know the artists, but I thought their creations were definitely cool!
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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 finished writing another short story. This one is titled Light at the Edges.
I don’t know how to paint, but I do like to watch artists animate their canvases with small dabs of color. I also observe people, and the effect of light upon the human heart.
How does one paint light?
I hope this little story, about living in the big city, and human generosity, makes you smile.
Taking the ferry from downtown San Diego to Coronado is like crossing into a dream. It’s a journey to a magical place. The island is like a small, carefree paradise.
I had a variety of photos from my ferry ride and walk yesterday, so I thought I’d try converting a few into oil paintings! I cropped selected images then used the Oilify artistic filter that comes with the GIMP graphics editor.
It was a beautiful misty winter day.
Those are sea lions lying on a buoy in the bay!
The words etched in the sand near the Coronado Ferry Landing? I’ll let you decide.
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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! 