Painting A San Ysidro Ranch Wedding, Montecito, California

The Savitt-Diamond Wedding, San Ysidro Ranch— oil on canvas, 48 x 60 inches, by Sam Day

Forbes Magazine recently called this “America’s Best Hotel," but the San Ysidro Ranch has been familiar with such accolades since it became a resort in 1892. In its early years it became a darling retreat for a new industry: Hollywood. Winston Churchill brought his family here. John Huston wrote the screenplay for The African Queen here. Sir Lawrence Olivier married Vivien Leigh in this same garden. The Kennedys honeymooned here; a cottage is named for them. Jessica Simpson got married here this summer.

But it is not a place of glamour and glitter to the glitterati: it’s a place to get away from all that. Indeed, it seems like Eden. Originally deeded along with the Santa Barbara Presidio by King Charles III of Spain in 1780, and for much of the 19^th century a working citrus ranch, the property still covers five hundred acres. Two hundred of those acres are meticulously gardened, with not a pebble out of place. (I know, I tried to look for one to weigh down the vase that held my brushes. I probably would have had to hike down to the creek to find one.) The forty-one cottages are secluded and homey, unostentatiously decorated with antiques, oriental rugs, and fine paintings. It seems every structure is covered by bougainvillea.

Detail of couple 

Though there are many separate gardens— from the Rose Garden to the Chef’s Organic Garden (plotted with traditional Spanish geometry, with a fountain in the center)— this couple were married on the main lawn behind the hacienda, between the pergola and the reflecting pool full of water lilies, under a chuppah laden with hydrangea and roses.

I painted from mid afternoon until the end of cocktails, just before the sun set. The bride and groom found a few minutes to stand for their portraits between photos and dinner at the Stonehouse Restaurant, a short stroll away. I then took the easel down to the Hydrangea Cottage, where the painting was displayed during dancing in the courtyard.

Adjacent to that structure, I relaxed in what became my favorite building on the property: the old faithfully restored adobe cabin, which dates to 1825. 

The Duval-Thommes Wedding, Santa Barbara Historical Museum, June 29, 2013

Santa Barbara has always been a city of romance. Now it is a city of weddings.

I set up my easel in the north corner of the courtyard of the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, under the veranda’s golden chalice vines. The space was elegantly and rustically decorated, much as it might have been in the Mexican colonial era, when some of these adobe buildings first baked in the California sun. A fountain burbled at the far end of the yard, and a light breeze darted under the old timbers. The band was just setting up, and catering brought me lemonade.

The couple were married in the mid afternoon in the old Presdio chapel, two blocks away. A mariachi band then lead the guests to the courtyard of the Casa Covarrubias for cocktails. From there, they made their way to the dinner tables within my view.  At 6:00 the couple made their grand entrance into this larger museum courtyard as husband and wife.

By that time, I had painted the setting—with the sky a little darker, in anticipation of evening— and was beginning to lay in the figures of the guests.

But the couple still had not been told that I would be there painting, and eventually the bride’s grandmother brought them to my corner to see what I was doing. It was her gift to them. I painted them quickly as they watched, and then they returned to their guests, delighted. 

For all the work of gifted planners, designers, and other wedding professionals, what makes a wedding wonderful are the couple and their friends and families. This was a convivial company, and they joyfully filled the dance floor, shaking brightly painted maracas until the grand exit at 10 pm.  

I was finished an hour before they left.

And when they left, they left in grand style, as you can see in this little vid from my phone:

Inset photo by Melissa Musgrove.  Marvelous wedding design by Tonya Szele of Soinge Productions. 

Story about me in Santa Barbara News-Press

I'm tremendously grateful to Marilyn McMahon for the story she wrote about me in the Santa Barbara News Press, February 25, 2012. A link to the archived story is here.

The Best of Santa Barbara, at the Rockwood Women's Club

On Sunday, February 26, 2012, I was delighted to participate in the Simply the Best of Santa Barbara Wedding Show. I was invited by Bonnie Hope, whom I met in Las Vegas last September. Bonnie produces this show twice a year. It was my first trip to Santa Barbara, a town of unrivaled beauty, perfect weather, and innumerable weddings.

The event is held in the Rockwood Women’s Club, a gracious 1927 Spanish Colonial Revival

building just up Mission Canyon Road from the historic Santa Barbara Mission. The club is still the home of regular luncheons for the town’s best connected ladies, but on the weekends it becomes a sought-after wedding venue.

I painted from the stage, which I shared alternately with guitarist Gilbert Herrera and a pianist Neil DiMaggio at the Steinway, whose wife joined him at times on the flute. From this vantage I could really appreciate something one doesn’t notice in most wedding venues: the hall has extraordinary acoustics. The position also gave me a marvelous overview of the show.

I look forward to coming back to paint in this room with an actual bride and groom as the focus of my picture.

Moved as I was by the architecture, I took my easel outside after the show, and painted the exterior of the building— then gave the painting to the venue. A manager said she knew just where to hang it.

Simply the Best! Wedding Showcase of Santa Barbara

I'm off to Santa Barbara, California this weekend for a wedding show, thanks to Bonnie Hope of Music by Bonnie, who organizes two of these shows a year. I met her at the Wedding MBA show in Las Vegas last September. I'm eager to get a finger (and a brush) in this exciting wedding market!