The guest was artist, Harrison Howard. Harrison Howard started his career at the age of 19, following in the footsteps of his late and well-known father, Wing Howard. Wing Howard is well-loved in San Diego for his murals at the Whaling Bar of the La Valencia Hotel in La Jolla. Wing Howard painted 4 pieces at La Valenica hotel as young artist. It is said that some of the work was done in trade for room and board. As La Valencia begins a major renovation project to expand the Café La Rue restaurant into the space that was formerly occupied by The Whaling Bar, the management is committed to preserving these paintings and displaying them in new restaurant when it is finished. Wing Howard was commissioned to do four major murals throughout his career, three of them being in the southern California area and one for the New Orleans Trade Building. The last twenty years of his life he lived in Pennsylvania near the town he was born and raised. New Year’s Day of 1998, he died in the early morning hours at the age of 77.

Harrison Howard, Wing’s son, is a working artist in San Diego. His paintings are fanciful fashion design motifs mixed in with the images of some of the Chinoiserie designs of the 18th century Frenchman, Jean Pillement. Like his father, Harrison paints murals in addition to traditional canvases. His work is largely commissioned in private homes.

The evening was largely be a reflection of his father’s career, which began back in 1941 with a one man show at the Philadelphia Print Club, and it has influenced Harrison’s career.

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