{"id":9648,"date":"2026-04-24T02:03:25","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T02:03:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/9648\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T02:03:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T02:03:25","slug":"at-little-italy-artwalk-nature-serves-as-muse-for-featured-painters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/9648\/","title":{"rendered":"At Little Italy ArtWalk, nature serves as muse for featured painters"},"content":{"rendered":"

At a recent art show, Karla Preciado<\/a> watched from across her booth as a woman walked straight through the crowd to her paintings, put her hand to her heart and gasped, tears in her eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe said, \u2018Oh my God, I feel your paintings,’\u201d Preciado shared. \u201cI think that is the biggest compliment I have ever received. That was so meaningful to me. Because that\u2019s what you do. That\u2019s why you do it, to reach people and connect.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/a>Karla Preciado stands in front of her acrylic abstract paintings. (Photo courtesy of Karla Preciado)<\/p>\n

That kind of moment is what draws 100,000 guests each year to Mission Fed ArtWalk<\/a>, San Diego\u2019s beloved outdoor festival now celebrating its 42nd year. On April 25-26, more than 250 artists will set up along India Street in Little Italy, filling the neighborhood with original work in every medium, live music and interactive experiences. <\/p>\n

Among this year\u2019s featured artists are two women whose paths to painting could hardly look more different, yet both share a deep connection to the natural world.<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/a>Sangeetha Gopalakrishnan painting by the water. (Photo courtesy of Sangeetha Gopalakrishnan)<\/p>\n

Sangeetha Gopalakrishnan<\/a> didn\u2019t plan to become a painter. She planned to be an engineer, and for 19 years, she was. Born in South India, she arrived in San Diego County in 2007 to pursue a graduate degree in electrical engineering at UC San Diego, settling in La Jolla.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What she didn\u2019t expect was a back injury that would send her outside. Prescribed walking as part of her recovery, Gopalakrishnan discovered hiking, then camping, then backpacking. A decade of outdoor adventure followed. <\/p>\n

Then, during the COVID-19 pandemic, she picked up a brush for the first time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a random discovery,\u201d she said. \u201cI learned that I could paint outside, so it became a natural extension of my life outdoors.\u201d<\/p>\n

She found she couldn\u2019t stop. After long days at work, she would paint for hours to decompress. By early 2024, she quit her engineering job entirely.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes you get that very strong certainty about things,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gopalakrishnan works in oils, but not just any oils. Her practice is certified as a California Green Business. Troubled by the toxic solvents common in oil painting, she spent years researching alternatives and now uses a fully nontoxic process.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important the art I deliver to my collectors is safe,\u201d she said. \u201cIf they sleep in a bedroom with my painting, I don\u2019t want it to have any toxic varnishes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now based in Irvine, she carries her easel into mountain ranges across California and the Southwest. The same trails that helped heal her back now feed her work in ways she can trace by stroke.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAll my paintings start on the trails,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I\u2019m happy those colorful, joyful, bold brush strokes show up. I know what mood I was in when I was painting. It\u2019s like an art journal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Person<\/a>Gopalakrishnan painting in nature. (Photo courtesy of Sangeetha Gopalakrishnan)<\/p>\n

For ArtWalk, Gopalakrishnan is bringing large-scale California works including paintings from the Kern River, Yosemite and Wine Country, plus a nearly finished beach painting from Encinitas she is racing to dry in time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gopalakrishnan will also be accompanied by Ginger, her 4-year-old Labradoodle and trailside companion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Her advice to first-time ArtWalk visitors is to slow down.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cReally take in the art because just glancing through it, you cannot decide how you would feel once you bring it home,\u201d she said. \u201cBe present and enjoy the art.\u201d<\/p>\n

Karla Preciado grew up in Tijuana, just across the border from Chula Vista where she lives now. Ask her what the word Mexico brings to mind and the answer is immediate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>Karla Preciado surrounded by her acrylic abstract paintings. (Photo courtesy of Karla Preciado)<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me it\u2019s color,\u201d she said. \u201cYou see color everywhere, color in the buildings, color inside the restaurants, you have a party and it\u2019s full of color. To me, color is happiness. Color makes me feel just a little bit better and that\u2019s why I paint with saturated colors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Color is also, Preciado adds, a kind of alter ego.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so shy,\u201d she said. \u201cIn a group conversation, I\u2019ll participate, but I\u2019m not the loud person in the room. Color is my alter ego trying to get out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Preciado\u2019s path to painting ran through southern Spain, where her husband, a retired Navy officer, received orders to move the family to the coast of Andaluc\u00eda. She took her first painting class there and eventually developed a fluency in abstraction. She has since shown at ArtWalk\u2019s Carlsbad and Liberty Station events, but this year marks her first time at Little Italy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such an honor,\u201d she said of being named a featured artist. \u201cIt\u2019s over 250 artists and to be chosen, I\u2019m just thrilled.\u201d<\/p>\n

Working in acrylics, Preciado builds up paintings in intuitive layers \u2014 covering, reacting, revealing. The process leaves behind discoveries buried in the work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get these glimpses of history that you can\u2019t see from afar,\u201d she said. \u201cI love that about a painting. You keep rediscovering each time you see it, you notice little things that you didn\u2019t notice the first time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Person<\/a>Preciado painting outdoors. (Photo courtesy of Karla Preciado)<\/p>\n

Like Gopalakrishnan, Preciado finds painting and nature deeply intertwined, two routes to the same stillness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPainting is a form of meditation,\u201d she said. \u201cIt keeps me grounded. My troubles melt away and I get the same feeling when I\u2019m in nature.\u201d<\/p>\n

Preciado is bringing a new collection of abstract landscapes to ArtWalk that she describes as \u201ca little bit more representational but still abstract.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

She is equally eager for conversations the weekend brings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou create for yourself, and then when you get to talk with people and see what they like, that\u2019s very valuable,\u201d Preciado said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Her advice to visitors is ask questions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cGet to know the artist,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd if something pulls on your heartstrings, get it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mission Fed ArtWalk runs April 25-26 along India Street in Little Italy. Find Sangeetha Gopalakrishnan at Booth #154 and Karla Preciado at Booth #358.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For more information, go to www.artwalksandiego.org\/missionfed<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At a recent art show, Karla Preciado watched from across her booth as a woman walked straight through…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9649,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[7146,5,6165,3750,7147,7148],"class_list":["post-9648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-italy","tag-chula-vista","tag-italy","tag-little-italy","tag-nature","tag-oil-painter","tag-paintings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}