Santa Barbara’s 23rd annual I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival was held Memorial Day weekend on the plaza in front of the Old Mission. We stopped by on that Monday to see both. A crowd was gathering under bright-blue skies to watch the artists — the madonnari — put the finishing touches on their chalk drawings.

Some of the artists had set up colorful umbrellas for shade as they drew.

Others relied on broad-brimmed hats. Either way, this can’t be easy on the knees or back.

The large-scale drawings were amazing. I liked this one, in the style of an old travel poster…

…and this one’s vivid color.

And check out the illusion of 3-dimensionality in this one — incredible! To orient yourself to reality, look for the feet of passers-by in the top of the photo.

An artist’s palette

After admiring the pictures we toured the Old Mission. “Old” is relative in our young country, but the Spanish missions really are old. This one was founded in 1786, and a community of Franciscan friars still live here.

Of course, while a few original walls have been preserved, much of the structure has been reconstructed over the years, like the beautiful golden chapel, which was rebuilt after the great earthquake of 1812 destroyed it.

A large courtyard garden, maintained by volunteers, is fun to explore.

Architectural plants complement the architecture.

This kind of encapsulates Santa Barbara for me: palm, blue skies, and Spanish-style architecture.

The Franciscans provide an opportunity for a little lighthearted fun outside the mission.

Next we visited the historic Santa Barbara County Courthouse. Constructed in 1926, the courthouse is a big tourist attraction and no wonder. Check out the stunning Mural Room, which hundreds of couples a year book for their wedding ceremonies.

According to the website, “The murals depict scenes from California’s history from the native Indians to the construction of the Mission. The murals along the window wall depict renderings of leading industries, agriculture, minerals and live stock.” The ceiling is beautifully hand-stenciled.

Exploring the echoing, high-ceiling hallways, we discovered that the building is fully open to the outdoors! Inconceivable in Austin’s muggy, buggy climate, we marveled over the open-air design, seen here where a spiral stair leads up to the second floor. Sparrows and other birds, we noticed, had made themselves at home in the hallways and atria.

Walls throughout the courthouse are beautifully stenciled. I neglected to get a picture of the tile work along the staircases, but it’s well worth a look.

A bell tower is accessible via a narrow stair (or elevator partway up), and thanks to a plexiglass window, if you visit on the hour you can watch the bells ring to mark the time. We went all the way up to the viewing platform at the top and enjoyed 360-degree views of Santa Barbara’s tiled rooftops and ocean and mountain scenery. That’s the Pacific Ocean in the distance…

…and the Santa Ynez Mountains over my husband’s shoulder.

I can’t conclude my posts about Santa Barbara without showing you a jacaranda tree in full, purple bloom. I’ve been enamored of these tropical trees since visiting San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, a number of years ago. Santa Barbara’s picturesque streets were littered with purple petals as the jacarandas peaked over Memorial Day weekend. What a lovely place to visit, with plenty of natural beauty, exotic and native gardens, and ocean and mountain views.

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By the way, if you follow me on Facebook (and if not, I hope you will), I have a new Facebook page for all my garden-related conversations called Pam Penick – Garden Chat & Author Page. Please “Like” my page to enjoy photos of beautiful gardens, get notifications of my blog posts and upcoming talks, and just hang out with me and talk plants! I hope to see you there!

Speaking of garden talks, I’ll be in San Antonio next Monday at noon to give a free talk at the San Antonio Garden Center about losing the lawn and gaining a waterwise landscape or beautiful garden. Lawn Gone! book-signing afterward. Please join me! P.S. If that’s during your work day, just bring a bag lunch and come on out.
Where: 3310 N. New Braunfels, San Antonio, TX (adjacent to the San Antonio Botanical Garden)
What: Essentials of Gardening class, hosted by the Gardening Volunteers of South Texas

All material © 2006-2013 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.