A place for artists to be found

Tucked away on a Westside Costa Mesa side street lined with warehouses, a small art scene is taking root.

Artist Geoffrey Doolittle has carved an art gallery, dubbed Eyetorrent Artspace, out of a vacant jujitsu dojo off of Superior Avenue. The walls of the bathroom are lined with AstroTurf, and one hallway is covered in chicken wire.

Next door, artist Neight Adamson just began publishing Find art magazine, which promotes the work of emerging local artists ranging from classically trained painters and graphic artists for surf wear companies to a homeless oil painter.

“This is the last place like this in Costa Mesa. It’s kind of like the edge,” Doolittle said, over the noise of the pressurized hoses from the car wash across the street from his fledgling gallery.

The artists plan to turn the industrial area into an art exhibition and auction tonight to celebrate the launch of Find magazine and the Eyetorrent gallery. The event will feature live music and food.

Artists will create live art installations during the event, painting on the side of an old donated moving van and the hoods of old cars.

The Find art exhibition will be on display at Eyetorrent, 1630 Superior Ave., through May 10. Doolittle, Adamson and Find Editor Skip Sneed were busy Friday, hanging works of art on the walls ranging from Dali-esque oil paintings covered in skulls to seascapes and abstract pieces painted on sheets on aluminum.

“It’s hard to imagine, but all of this art has never been seen before because the people who created it had no idea how to show it or be a part of an art scene,” Sneed said.

All of the artwork from the exhibition can be found in the second issue of Find, which is free at tattoo parlors, restaurants, record stores and other local businesses.

Adamson founded the magazine to help gain exposure for up-and-coming local artists, he said.

“A lot of artists are introverts and don’t know how to market themselves,” Adamson said.

He decided to make the glossy color magazine in a 5-by-7-inch format so that each piece of artwork reproduced within its pages can easily be cut out and framed.

The second issue features 80 pages of artwork, as well as a interviews with Southern California artists.

Adamson found all of the advertisers to support the cost of publication.

“I think it’s great they are bringing local artists together,” said Costa Mesa artist Rick Reitveld, whose work graces the cover of the current issue of Find magazine. “This is an art community, so we should act like a community.”