Turtle Reef

I heard there was a new sea turtle exhibit at Sea World so I HAD to check it out.  After we were inside the park we learned it didn't open until June 18th!  I was so disappointed.  When we walked by the barricaded entrance we noticed a sign saying there was a preview of the exhibit - and it was opening in an hour!  Yay!  As you may know, I LOVE turtles so I was thrilled with the beautiful (but fake) coral filled tanks in which the turtles swim.  They were quite active and mostly small but they packed lots of personality and happily swam by the windows, seemingly as curious about us as we were them.

The exhibit was still under construction, parts were blocked off but I was just happy to be in the right spot at the right time.

You will be seeing some of these little guys appearing in my artwork one day...

MCASD Jennifer Steinkamp

The highlight of all the art we saw today at both locations of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, was the video animation "Madame Curie" by Jennifer Steinkamp in the Farrell Gallery.  The work was inspired by her research into the effects of atomic explosions on nature.  Sounds heavy but the video installation was magical.  Flowering branches blowing in the wind in the huge gallery space was awe inspiring. 

In between Museum visits we stopped by La Jolla Cove to listen to barking sea lions and watch a young woman boogie boarding.  The weather was a perfectly sunny 70 degrees...sigh.  

We finished off a great day with dear friends Terry and Marlene and an unusual dinner at Rei do Gado, Brazilian Steak House in the Gaslamp District.  With a wood marker on your table you indicate with the green side up, that you want more meat and over time, men with skewers of 16 different types of meat come by and slice off a piece for you.  We had beef tenderloin wrapped in bacon, chicken and cheese, pork loin, turkey, hump of brahma bull (Steve and Terry only) and one or two others.  There is a great salad and vegetable bar too.  It was a wonderful way to celebrate our 23 wedding anniversary. 

Short Trip - San Diego

San Diego from Harbor Island

Anthony's, San Diego Bay

San Diego feels like home to us. We are back for a visit and already we are more relaxed. The desert looked particularly brown and unattractive this time. That's hard for this desert lover to say. I usually see the beauty in it. But this trip seemed different. I was amazed to see the border fence so close to the dunes just past Yuma - never realized how close Mexico is to Interstate 8. Then as we were coming out of El Centro we saw this haze ahead. We couldn't tell if it was moisture or smog or what and then as we entered it - duh!!! It was smoke from a wildfire south of Jacumba in the mountains. The news here in San Diego isn't even covering it since it pales to the Willow fire in AZ. Scary and sad, no matter where the fires are. 


So sighting the beautiful San Diego Bay as we headed south on Interstate 5 made us very happy. We checked into the downtown hotel and headed back out to Anthony's for dinner. After dinner I tried out my new low light camera and I must admit, the pics look pretty good to me.

We Heart San Diego

Seeking to escape the heat and to see some dear friends, Steve and I took off Thursday for San Diego.  He lived there for several years two years after we were married.  You go where you find work and it was a great commuter setup for us.  For two or three years.  It got old after awhile but what never got old was our love of San Diego.  So many great things to do and places to go and wonderful art museums.  And on this trip we had an unusual drive by leaving later in the day.  We were escorted by a terrific storm to our left all the way across the desert.  And as beautiful the desert was with all those clouds, we never had to drive in anything more than a sprinkle. 

 Friday, we headed for our favorite spot in the city - Balboa Park.  After some Christmas shopping at the Mingei Museum we strolled through a wonderful and large exhibition of Toulouse Latrec at the San Diego Museum of Art.  I was thrilled to see so many lithographs and got some ideas for things to try in my reduction linocuts.  We take inspiration from many places and I can always find some here. 

Dr Lakra (Mexico)/Vhils (Portugal) Collaboration

JR  (France)

Saturday, after breakfast at Brians 24,  we took in a majority of the public art included in the Museum of Contemporary Art's current installation:  "Viva La Revolucion," where 20 artists from 10 countries created murals/graffiti art on buildings all over town.  We enjoyed seeing the works - many of them are accompanied by an audio commentary you can reach on your cellphone.  Great idea!  The show will be up until January 2nd 2011. 
Following the trail of art we discovered a couple of wonderful shops in Little Italy, Mixture and French Garden.  More shopping ensued followed by naps.    Gotta go - the day is calling.