Gems of Santa Barbara

After a long absence, we visited Santa Barbara last summer and discovered two amazing places 

not to miss on your next foray to the Central California Coast. There is a lot to see in 

Santa Barbara, with beautiful beaches and a great zoo. The historic downtown is 

beautiful, with Spanish architecture, tile walkways, and those wonderful red tile roofs.

When our B&B hosts said not to miss the courthouse downtown, we said "Sure, why not! 

We are going to be right down there anyway." Little did we know what we were in for, 

especially this mural loving traveler who has spent much of her career studying, admiring and 

and executing decorative painting and mural techniques. 

This building was dedicated in 1929, and I will let their website tell you more about specifics. 

I'm going straight to the eye candy! 

 

 

I am always so astounded at art 

and architecture of this scale

and so enjoy seeing unusual treatments, 

such as that of the sky in this mural. 

The underlying diamond pattern was

a unifying factor, and even though the 

brushwork was so apparent, it completely 

reads as sky when you are in the room.  

If that wasn't enough, we spent an entire afternoon enjoying the Santa Barbara Botanical Gardens.

Contemplating a joyous balance of planted and natural foliage, we embarked on a 

wonderful walk through a creek-fed ravine, sat for long periods on private benches and sketched 

to my heart's content. It was just what we needed to decompress after a busy weekend in LA.


 

If you're in the area, these are definitely worth the effort to see. Happy travels!

Sheri Hoeger  
www.arttoliveby.com
www.madstencilist.com