Johnny McDonald | Downtown News
Visiting the village of artists
Be sure to take a look over the shoulder of any talented artist when visiting colorful Spanish Village. Don’t worry, they’re happy to know you’re interested and willing to converse.
There are 37 studios managed by 250 juried artists in this friendly colony, celebrating over 78 years in a location sandwiched between the Natural History Museum and the San Diego Zoo.
“When you step inside one of our studios, someone should be working on a project or be on the internet showing people what we do,” said ceramic artist Vaughan Nelson. “We encourage people to be a participant.”
Quick learning, Nelson is relatively new to the Spanish Village scene, having moved there just three-and-a-half years ago.
His pottery achievements, which now go beyond San Diego, began when he took a class at San Diego Mesa College.
“Twenty minutes into the class I fell in love with it,” he said, while unloading some pottery in front of his studio. Pottery work time means 40-plus hours a week.
Nelson shares a studio with Chris Stell, who offers diachronic glassware and jewelry, Gail Woods with her polymer clay, Jan Petec’s lamp work glass beads and jewelry and Howard Mosley with objects made in cold glass or metal sculptures.
“This is my way of being around people, because I do much of my work at home,” he said.
He sells to shops and exhibits in galleries throughout the United States. A few days earlier, he had been in Philadelphia.
His price range might run from $34 to $350 … and involve anything from wedding plates to large urns. Nelson was born in Portugal and raised in England and has been in this country since 1987.
Danielle Deaton showcases eye-catching watercolors, as does Sally Bly in another studio that includes Laura Wells’ jewelry and lamp work. You might believe the majority of the residents here are from other countries but Deaton, who was born in Paris, said no. “Maybe only 10 percent here are foreign born,” she said.
Deaton is a Village veteran, sharing different studios over 20 years. Her watercolor choices include seascapes and deserts to house portraits.
“There’s a great companionship among these sharing artists,” she said. “I came to the United States with my parents when I was 16.”
Her side job? She teaches French at the San Diego Oasis, a unique educational program for mature adults who want to continue to learn. When on commission, Deaton said she paints at home. She proudly held up a copy of a painting of the US Navy destroyer she had done.
“I was commissioned to do this and when it was completed, I was invited by its (the ship’s) captain to be a guest for lunch aboard the ship,” she said.
Samplings of quality work – oil seascapes created by Carol Foster and Yanush Godlewski, talented artists with over 25 years of experience … Kay Frances Hubbard’s watercolors, photography by Denise Strahm, and ceramic tiles by Kathy Wailer … Lucy Wang’s delicate and beautiful watercolor on silk and rice paper. Wang also teaches Chinese brush painting. Then there’s Rebecca Lowell’s hand-woven baskets of palm sheath … Michelle Gonzalez’ mixed-media watercolor and acrylics, Laura LeMaster’s silk paintings … Fused glass jewelry handcrafted in gold and silver by Grace Miller and Sandra Davis.
And elsewhere around the Park – The San Diego Zoo’s newest exhibit, Australian Outback, is a three-acre home to more than 20 Queensland koalas. It also includes a variety of other pouched mammals, such as wombats and wallabies and also has 23 species of Australian birds … Featured through Sept. 10 at the Natural History Museum will be a photographic exhibition of the Sea of Cortez’ marine life by Raul Gonzalez. This exhibit was produced in collaboration with National Geographic and sponsored by Sony Electronics Inc., which has a major research and conservation stake in the museum. Sixty plates will illustrate the magnificent marine life that John Steinbeck and naturalist Edward Ricketts chronicled during their historic journey to the Sea of Cortez (known also known as the Gulf of California) back in 1940.
After an award winning, 38-year sports-writing career with the San Diego Union and authoring three books, Johnny McDonald now considers writing a hobby. He enjoys covering aspects of the port district, convention center, Balboa Park, zoo, and stories with a historical bent. You can reach him at [email protected].
