Tag: southern california

Huge graffiti mural completed at UC San Diego!

A huge 10,000-square-foot mural has just been completed at UC San Diego! You can’t possibly miss the super colorful artwork on the east side of the UCSD Visual Arts Facility, facing the new Epstein Family Amphitheater.

I spied the giant mural from the San Diego Trolley as it pulled into the UC San Diego Central Campus station. I rapidly jumped off!

A gentleman on a cherry picker informed me the mural is now finished. I couldn’t distinguish his name above the roar of nearby machinery, but this web page explains much about its creation, and how the artwork depicts authentic wild-style and contemporary graffiti styles that are rooted in Southern California, and was developed with the guidance of a committee comprised of Department of Visual Arts faculty and representatives of the campus community...

(The other mural referred to in the article can be found here. A bit of it is visible in the next photo, taken from the elevated trolley station.)

Construction fences limited what I could see. But still, check it out!

UPDATE!

Here are pics of the mural’s right half. I took these during a later visit to UCSD…

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Cool cars of the Vista Rod Run mural!

This very cool mural in downtown Vista can be found at the parking lot near the intersection of Main Street and Michigan Avenue. It depicts classic cars and hot rods along Historic U.S. Route 395, and pays tribute to the Vista Rod Run!

The Vista Rod Run is a popular car show that has over 3 decades of history.

The nostalgic artwork was designed by Kait Matthews in 2014, and painted by Raziah Roushan, Phyllis Swanson and Cynthia Kostylo.

The mural might be slowly fading and peeling away, but it still is pretty awesome!

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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!

Christmas trees on Carlsbad’s coastal bluffs!

A number of unusual Christmas trees can be found atop the coastal bluffs in Carlsbad!

Today, Monday the 26th, is the official observed holiday for Christmas this year. I decided to jump on the Coaster train and enjoy a walk by the ocean.

I walked north along Carlsbad Boulevard (historic Highway 101) from a point near the Poinsettia train station all the way into Carlsbad Village. Imagine my surprise when I saw several of these trees, decorated profusely with dangling ornaments. Most of the windswept trees were dead, which perhaps made the placement of the colorful ornaments more meaningful.

I don’t visit Carlsbad that often, so I don’t know the story behind these trees. If you do, please leave a comment!

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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!

Nature murals at Harbaugh Seaside Trails.

Extraordinary murals depicting native wildlife, birds, flowers and plants welcome people who enter a system of trails in and around San Elijo Lagoon north of Solana Beach.

Heading up Highway 101, you might see an outdoor installation with the words Harbaugh Seaside Trails. That’s the donor plaza where you’ll find these mosaics. If the beautiful ceramic artwork appears familiar, perhaps that’s because local artist Betsy Schulz created them. You might have seen her similar work elsewhere around San Diego.

Harbaugh Seaside Trails is a 3-acre coastal overlook between Solana Beach and Cardiff-by-the-Sea. Should you feel in an adventurous mood, you can walk from this scenic area down an easy trail that passes under the railroad tracks.

On the other side of the tracks is the San Elijo Lagoon State Marine Conservation Area, where you’ll discover a large wetland containing more natural beauty and wildlife. (I’ll be blogging about this shortly.)

You’d love to see these murals in person . . . and feel the fresh breeze, and watch birds moving down near the water, and simply experience this beautiful place.

Why not do it today?

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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!

La Mesa to create Downtown Village Sign!

Plans are underway to create a landmark sign in La Mesa’s downtown Village!

La Mesa families are preparing painted tiles that will decorate the columns of the archway sign!

The “La Mesa Village District Sign” will span La Mesa Boulevard at Palm Avenue. It will resemble the distinctive gateway signs in other San Diego neighborhoods and cities in the county.

I knew nothing about this project until I walked past a banner and posters in windows at the intersection where the sign will be erected.

The ongoing “Leave a Legacy Tile” fundraiser will eventually produce a “Community Quilt” installed on the base of each column!

If you’d like to participate, here’s the website!

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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!

Life on and off the shore at Cardiff.

At Cardiff State Beach, in San Diego’s North County, restored coastal dunes are roped off, protecting fragile habitat from human feet.

Signs posted on the perimeter explain the “constructed dunes” and Our Living Shoreline.

One sign explains that coastal dunes provide a natural buffer against waves, tides and storms in winter.

Made resilient with native vegetation, the dunes provide important wildlife habitat and protect San Elijo Lagoon from flooding.

The roped dunes at Cardiff State Beach constitute a snowy plover and least tern preserve. These birds have decreasing populations, largely due to development, recreation and other human activity. The birds nest in vulnerable bowl-like depressions in the sand.

A second Our Living Shoreline sign concerns native coastal scrub and dune plants. Among these are sand-verbena, beach evening-primrose and woolly-heads.

The plants provide cover and food for native and migrating birds.

This colorful information sign, near the entrance to South Cardiff State Beach, concerns California’s kelp forests.

The underwater “Hidden Forest, Rich with Life” can be viewed from the shoreline as floating brown-green patches of seaweed.

The kelp plants hold to the ocean floor and stretch up 100 feet or more. They support an unseen world teeming with life, including diverse fish, marine mammals, sea slugs, sea stars, sea anemones and spiny sea urchins.

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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!

Photo memories on this First Day of Winter.

Today is the Winter Solstice. The shortest day and longest night. The first day of winter.

I’ve taken many winter photographs around San Diego over the years. My camera has captured wild storms and their aftermath, high winds and crashing waves, snow in the mountains, umbrellas in the city, and the unique beauty of winter in nature.

Would you like to see some of these photos? Click the upcoming links and you’ll be transported back in time…

Click the following links to explore past winters…

Winter beauty by the San Diego River.

Snowing in Balboa Park?

A hike in Tecolote Canyon near Genesee.

Walking through Little Italy in morning rain.

Photos of high winds downtown.

Balboa Park’s magical winter garden.

A city reflected from puddles.

Early winter and three Santee bridges.

Snow and winter beauty at Cuyamaca.

Boats destroyed by El Nino winds in San Diego.

Los Peñasquitos Lagoon between winter storms.

Glimpses of nature’s beauty after a storm.

Storm brings huge surf to Ocean Beach Pier.

Morning rain and umbrellas downtown.

Photos of San Diego River, after three storms.

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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!

New art in Artist Alley Oceanside!

During my North County adventure last week, I noticed that new artwork has appeared in Artist Alley Oceanside!

First, the long mural on the low wall identifying the alley has changed considerably. You can compare how it looked previously by checking out this blog post from two years ago.

You’ll also notice a couple of cool new murals on either side of Ikigai Artifacts, and a painting that greets customers just inside their front door.

Sadly, the Van Gogh sunflowers mural at one end of the Artist Alley, which I photographed here, has been vandalized again. Hopefully somebody restores it and keeps an eye on it!

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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!

Mysterious mural shows Oceanside history.

Does anyone out there know anything about this faded mural in Oceanside? It’s a mystery to me.

The long mural was painted in an alley off Mission Avenue, between Freeman Street and Ditmar Street. The Murals in Oceanside web page merely calls it the 608 mural, presumably after a restaurant that used to be on the other side of the wall. The location is now Rosewood Kitchen.

I can find no signature or date on the mural. I do see scenes from Oceanside’s history.

The Hayes Land Co., Oceanside’s first pier, and Mission San Luis Rey are recognizable.

The artwork is rather faint, so I had to greatly increase the contrast of my photos.

Leave a comment if you have any information!

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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!

A spinning Sexy Helix adds color to Oceanside!

A spinning Sexy Helix now stands in front of the Oceanside Museum of Art. Those who walk past the curvaceous artwork might be dazzled. The kinetic sculpture casts colorful shards of light in every direction as it turns in the Southern California sunshine!

Sexy Helix was created by artist Deanne Sabeck. The sculpture is part of the museum’s current Legacy: 25 Years of Art and Community exhibition. Visitors pausing at the front entrance can watch the wind spin the sculpture, or give a gentle push with a finger.

Rainbow fragments spill and reflect from the sensuous curve of dichroic glass.

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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!