Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Secret San Diego arts

Art restoration, stonecutting, gourmet cooking, men's fashion, fireworks, and art realist David Baze

Kevin Brueckner: “The most dangerous firework ever made is a sparkler!" - Image by Sandy Huffaker, Jr.
Kevin Brueckner: “The most dangerous firework ever made is a sparkler!"
Betty Court: "Even early in this century, a restorer might sand off the old paint and repaint the whole canvas. That is no longer seen as ethical."

Balboa Park museums do surgery on masterpieces

“At this point, I have removed the old discolored varnish and the old inpainting that no longer matched, but there is a residual varnish down within the interstices of the brushstrokes that is very noticeable in the lighter areas of the tabletop. If I can get that out, I will. If my tests show me — and I’ll be doing this under the microscope — that whatever solvent would be needed to get out that very tough old material would endanger the original paint, then I’ll leave it. By Stephen Dobyns, Jan. 16, 1997 Read full article

Mille Fleurs' Martin Woesle: "There’s even a reluctance to wait 15 minutes for a dish."

Most San Diegans won't eat snooty food

“The American supermarket is a child's idea of cornucopia. They are wonderful, in their way, but nothing has any taste. People can’t tell the difference between Zacky’s and free-range chicken, except that they probably prefer the former. In London, you know, I used to make a veal with a jus de persil, a parsley sauce, very concentrated, very intense. I served it here and it was sent back. It was too green! It really alarmed them. And it’s out of the question to use kidneys or liver or brains.

Sponsored
Sponsored

By Lawrence Osborne, May 28, 1992 Read full article

Ray from the Clemens Granite Company began working as a child in the granite quarry.

Remember you must die, and someone has to carve your epitaph

“The Jewish retain more of their customs. Catholics are still strong with theirs, too. You get a good, strong Italian family and they’ve still got it. American Indians have unveiling rituals at the anniversary of their deaths. But the Orientals that are coming over are just steeped in tradition. They have to take things to the grave. When we’re setting the stone, they’re over there with their mats, they’ve got books and things that they’re doing.”

By Mary Lang, Aug. 26, 1993 Read full article

"Cave painters gave me my cue."

A little bit warped and kind of sexy

"My clue was Caravaggio. He was thoroughly trounced for using Christ and religious figures in his paintings. He didn’t paint them in the clothing and rooms of their day; he’d update them to his own period and put them in 14th- and 15th-century dress. That was a very odd thing at the time. That was my move too: I would update paintings so the so they had this new hyper-realist look, use my friends as models, put sailors in, stuff I knew about."

By Patrick Daugherty, Oct. 6, 1994 Read full article

The Southern California male does find his center of gravity — where he is comfortable and swaggering — in the aesthetic of the gym and Great Outdoors.

Mice and peacocks

"Olive is the color of the moment right now. but the old dark blues, greys, and glen plaids are right where they’ve always been. Only black has dropped out of it — too funereal.” Not many people even in La Jolla can be seen strutting about in a beautiful Southwick two-piece, but at least here the Southern Californian man can anchor himself in a mythic past that soars above the scruffy present world of flapping beachwear, sloganized baseball caps, and demagogic crop-tops.

By Lawrence Osborne, Aug. 27, 1992 Read full article

Brueckner personally has known two professional pyrotechnicians whose deaths were linked to fireworks.

San Diego fireworks fans in a county that forbids them

Pyro Spectaculars had entered the San Diego market about 1973, and it posed the first serious competition for the Pelusos, according to Dixon. But the demand for professional fireworks displays here also grew fast in the ’70s and early ’80s. When Dixon looked at San Diego Fireworks’ assets after the Peluso brothers decided to close the company, he saw an untapped potential. “Being a business major, you’re always kind of frustrated running a business for somebody else."

By Jeannette DeWyze, July 3, 1997 Read full article

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule
Next Article

Flowering pear trees in Kensington not that nice

Empty dirt plots in front of Ken Cinema
Kevin Brueckner: “The most dangerous firework ever made is a sparkler!" - Image by Sandy Huffaker, Jr.
Kevin Brueckner: “The most dangerous firework ever made is a sparkler!"
Betty Court: "Even early in this century, a restorer might sand off the old paint and repaint the whole canvas. That is no longer seen as ethical."

Balboa Park museums do surgery on masterpieces

“At this point, I have removed the old discolored varnish and the old inpainting that no longer matched, but there is a residual varnish down within the interstices of the brushstrokes that is very noticeable in the lighter areas of the tabletop. If I can get that out, I will. If my tests show me — and I’ll be doing this under the microscope — that whatever solvent would be needed to get out that very tough old material would endanger the original paint, then I’ll leave it. By Stephen Dobyns, Jan. 16, 1997 Read full article

Mille Fleurs' Martin Woesle: "There’s even a reluctance to wait 15 minutes for a dish."

Most San Diegans won't eat snooty food

“The American supermarket is a child's idea of cornucopia. They are wonderful, in their way, but nothing has any taste. People can’t tell the difference between Zacky’s and free-range chicken, except that they probably prefer the former. In London, you know, I used to make a veal with a jus de persil, a parsley sauce, very concentrated, very intense. I served it here and it was sent back. It was too green! It really alarmed them. And it’s out of the question to use kidneys or liver or brains.

Sponsored
Sponsored

By Lawrence Osborne, May 28, 1992 Read full article

Ray from the Clemens Granite Company began working as a child in the granite quarry.

Remember you must die, and someone has to carve your epitaph

“The Jewish retain more of their customs. Catholics are still strong with theirs, too. You get a good, strong Italian family and they’ve still got it. American Indians have unveiling rituals at the anniversary of their deaths. But the Orientals that are coming over are just steeped in tradition. They have to take things to the grave. When we’re setting the stone, they’re over there with their mats, they’ve got books and things that they’re doing.”

By Mary Lang, Aug. 26, 1993 Read full article

"Cave painters gave me my cue."

A little bit warped and kind of sexy

"My clue was Caravaggio. He was thoroughly trounced for using Christ and religious figures in his paintings. He didn’t paint them in the clothing and rooms of their day; he’d update them to his own period and put them in 14th- and 15th-century dress. That was a very odd thing at the time. That was my move too: I would update paintings so the so they had this new hyper-realist look, use my friends as models, put sailors in, stuff I knew about."

By Patrick Daugherty, Oct. 6, 1994 Read full article

The Southern California male does find his center of gravity — where he is comfortable and swaggering — in the aesthetic of the gym and Great Outdoors.

Mice and peacocks

"Olive is the color of the moment right now. but the old dark blues, greys, and glen plaids are right where they’ve always been. Only black has dropped out of it — too funereal.” Not many people even in La Jolla can be seen strutting about in a beautiful Southwick two-piece, but at least here the Southern Californian man can anchor himself in a mythic past that soars above the scruffy present world of flapping beachwear, sloganized baseball caps, and demagogic crop-tops.

By Lawrence Osborne, Aug. 27, 1992 Read full article

Brueckner personally has known two professional pyrotechnicians whose deaths were linked to fireworks.

San Diego fireworks fans in a county that forbids them

Pyro Spectaculars had entered the San Diego market about 1973, and it posed the first serious competition for the Pelusos, according to Dixon. But the demand for professional fireworks displays here also grew fast in the ’70s and early ’80s. When Dixon looked at San Diego Fireworks’ assets after the Peluso brothers decided to close the company, he saw an untapped potential. “Being a business major, you’re always kind of frustrated running a business for somebody else."

By Jeannette DeWyze, July 3, 1997 Read full article

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Melissa Etheridge, The Imaginary Amazon

Events April 1-April 3, 2024
Next Article

San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.