Pillars of Providence at Gazebo

Last week, Gazebo Gardens owner Steve Domines and artist/sculptor Francis Jansen unveiled a new offering at the garden and flower shop: Pillars of Providence, a pair of limestone pillars representing and exemplifying what Jansen calls the harmonious stewardship of humanity. “This isn’t just a piece of art,” Jansen said, “It has a lot of deeper underlying meaning on how to live sustainably and responsibly.” 

The pillars represent the masculine and feminine according to Jansen: the masculine pillar expresses a rich connectivity to creation and bears with grace and ease the role of guardian to the young, the innocent and the pure. “This is a return to our first and most essential responsibility, to foster future generations towards their greatest benevolence,” she said. “The feminine energy, which dwells within us all, has many striations and complexities. This is the reason why the female pillar is expressed in three forms, the mother, the virgin and the wise-woman.” 

Jansen has been a resident of Santa Barbara for the last twenty years; she had another monument, Transformation Through Forgiveness, which stood on the grounds of La Casa de Maria for two decades before being lost in the 1/9 debris flow. The Pillars of Providence were also carved at La Casa de Maria, and this is the first time they are on display to the public. 

View the Pillars on the corner of San Ysidro and East Valley Roads; the 4,000-pound statues are for sale at Gazebo Gardens, (805) 969-4367. 

For more information about Jansen, visit www.graceinstone.com.