Two new potential stars of the burgeoning San Diego arts scene have come together to delight residents and visitors alike in Bankers Hill.
La Jolla artist Don Hyslop’s first solo exhibition is now on display through at least Jan. 15 at Curio Caffé, the charming new coffee house located at the corner of Fifth and Laurel streets.
Curio Caffé is not a common coffee bar. The bright, sunny corner location, right across from Laurel Restaurant and just a block from Balboa Park, is filled with changing exhibitions of eye-catching art, colorful plants, fragrant Illy coffee and diet-treacherous baked goods to savor, along with convenient free wireless service.
Artists, musicians, writers and singers stop in regularly to entertain and interact with guests.
This month showcases the serene landscapes and floral fantasies of watercolorist Hyslop, whose remarkable life story and interrupted return to his early love of fine art add context to his artistic accomplishments.
His palette reflects the brilliant sky and vivid hues of his native Hondo River Valley in New Mexico, where he grew up exposed to the influence of prominent local artist and watercolorist Peter Hurd, father of a childhood friend. Hyslop’s recent focus is landscapes, with an increasingly abstract twist.
Hyslop had originally planned to become a commercial artist. He began drawing and exploring art while at the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, continuing his studies in commercial art at Texas Tech University.
With the draft and Vietnam looming, he opted to enlist in the Navy.
“I thought I might as well get it over with,” Hyslop said.
That decision would change his life.
Hyslop trained as a scuba diver, volunteered for Underwater Demolition Training and served his first tour in Vietnam. He transferred to Navy SEAL Team One and returned to Vietnam. While on a reconnaissance mission he was shot in the neck, leaving him a quadriplegic. He paints with a brace on his arms.
He returned to Roswell to continue his rehabilitation and education after a lengthy stint at the Long Beach Veterans Administration (VA) Spinal Cord Injury Center. Then he faced a new challenge: college.
“The University of Houston was wheelchair accessible. There were only three colleges at that time “” the early ’70s “” that were wheelchair accessible,” he explained, where he could also study art.
The Americans with Disabilities Act, which opened previously closed doors for millions of disabled Americans, was not passed until 1990.
“A lot of guys returning from Vietnam helped pass that. Curb cuts didn’t exist then,” he said. “One of the big things after I was injured [was that] I wasn’t allowed to fly by myself. That was the way it was back then.”
The Houston climate and lack of art classes drove him to return to Coronado, his former Navy station, within a year. He quickly enrolled in the Coronado School of Fine Arts, studying under Monty Lewis, the prominent WPA Depression muralist.
“Basically, I painted and drew all day long for eight hours,” said Hyslop, who also learned printing and etching techniques at the Coronado school. He shifted his focus to fine art from commercial art after his injury.
“I didn’t have the dexterity I had before. At Texas Tech you had to do all the lettering by hand with India ink. It would have been very difficult for me then,” he said, noting that computers have since radically altered commercial art techniques.
Nowadays he works primarily in watercolors, which he first studied under artist Jim Kacirk ” another Underwater Demolition Training graduate ” after Hyslop moved to La Jolla in 1974. With Kacirk’s mentoring, he successfully entered the San Diego Art Institute’s annual Juried Art Show. Last year, one of his watercolors won a second-place prize in its division at the Reflections Art Show in Balboa Park.
While Hyslop maintained his interest in art, the time gap between major exhibitions is revealing. For 25 years, this modest, competitive athlete redirected his energies to helping found, and later run, a new San Diego Chapter of Paralyzed Veterans of America, the Cal-Diego PVA. He also traveled extensively, advocating on behalf of disabled veterans’ health, welfare and benefits issues, and serving on the national board.
When he moved to San Diego, the local VA Hospital had no spinal cord center, forcing paralyzed veterans to travel to Long Beach for treatment.
“We formed the chapter here in San Diego to show there were enough people here to warrant having a spinal cord center,” he said.
It took 10 years, but thanks to his and his chapter’s efforts and the support of the late Sen. Alan Cranston, the San Diego VA Hospital now has a spinal cord center.
Hyslop later ran the chapter for 10 years, building it up to its current full-time professional staff.
“I went from being an artist to running a nonprofit,” he said. “We started off with around 100 members. Now we have about 500.”
He finally had time to refocus on his art once he gave up the PVA presidency.
His style has evolved, he explained, as he incorporates more abstract techniques into his once purely representational approach to landscapes. Time has also deepened his appreciation for technique and use of color.
“I understand more now what my teachers were trying to teach me. Things make a lot more sense than they did before,” he said with a laugh.
The engaging appeal of Hyslop’s work and the quality of his technique were the attributes that led Curio Caffé co-owner Stacie Le to ask him to exhibit his watercolors for her café’s grand opening celebration, she explained. She expects to change her shows of local artists’ work, all offered for sale, about once a month.
“We like to promote local artists, including painters, musicians, poets and writers,” she said. “Throughout the month we’ll have live musicians, and once a month an open mic.”
Event and artist information is posted on the café’s Web site, www.curiocaffe.com.
Curio Caffé, located at 2505 Fifth Avenue, is open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday. For information, call (619) 696-8699.