The other day we found the "Alley Cats" alley in El Cajon Ca. Located 1/2 block north of Main Street (the first alley)

The alley is decorated with, well, Cats!  Fat cats and silly cats.  Scardy cats and even some rats.  Singing cats and wild cats.  Cats at work and sexy cats.  Just about any old cat you can think of. 

 Just lots of cats!!

The paintings cover most of the walls, fences, trash bins, electric boxes, over some doors, and any other available space that suits the artists vision.

 

 

 

 

The alley is between the El Cajon courthouse and Magnolia street, behind Por Favor Mexican Restaurant whose entrance is on Main Street.  On the other side of the alley is the Art Museum of Olaf Weighorst.  Mostly wild west, some American Indian paintings - each painting has at least one horse.  El Cajon has some pretty cool stuff in little corners, if you look hard enough. 

 

 

 

 

All photos taken with my iPhone.

That's how busy Nicole was,

we think there was Three of her!











We have had a guest artist here at the Hacienda Deinna for a few days. Her name is Nicole Pipitone. Nicole has decorated the screen doors for the Greenhouse. She is beginning her senior year at Valhalla High School. After Deinna showed her what the idea was, she kind of took over and completed both doors on her own. She cut the decorations out of wood, applied them and selected the colors to paint, working five full days to complete her masterpiece. Below are some details of her handiwork. She is the daughter of Joel, whose motorcycle pictures were featured on our blog HERE a few weeks ago.

Ever wonder where some of the things you see in life come from?
Deinna and I had that opportunity to meet the artist of one creation yesterday in Downtown San Diego.


































Jeremy Wright and his niece work on his masterpiece located at 16th and Island street. He is a sculptor/teacher from Encinitas CA.















Looking through his collection of chards for that next "perfect piece", Jeremy selects it....



















butters it....































and places it just so.

Jeremy was given permission to decorate the outside walls with his mosaic mural. Many local people have joined in by decorating a small part of the wall. You will find broken plates, bottle caps, cup handles, ceramic tiles, a spark plug, and even an old wrench and hammer. This building has now become the site of many photographic shoots, newspaper articles, and blog entries.






















This labor of love is now in the middle of it's 3rd year. The theme is COLOR!
















Almost in the shadow of Petco Park, the Island street side of the building reveals many religious symbols, a baseball player and some very interesting characters.

































God's Extended Hand is a community outreach and homeless shelter located at 16th and Island streets in downtown San Diego. For seventy five years, GEH has been a place of hope, love, refuge, and encouragement. Reaching out to the community in meaningful ways, it has been located on this corner for the last 50 years in one of the roughest parts of the East Village area.