Kathleen Elsey

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Kathleen Elsey - California Painter, Juror and Workshop Teacher

Kathleen ElseyOrganizations

New Fauves
Plein Air Painters of New Mexico, Signature Member
Santa Barbara Studio Artists
American Impressionist Society Signature Member
Laguna Plein Air Painters
National Association of Women Artists

Statement

My interest in painting is with direct paint application in an expressive manner while using pure color combinations and meaty brushstrokes. My colors are intensified and spontaneous in my hopes for a painting full of spirit. Often I make up the colors in my paintings as a Fauve. I try to hit the values in the range they should be, but with color, I think anything goes. I like to experiment with planes and their relationships to each other. With big brushes I make swift rough strokes using blocks of color beside each other until an image emerges, especially when painting a multitude of figures like in " At the Beach, Brighton " and " Parade ."  One recent art reviewer described my paintings as mighty and memorable with a bold touch of post-Fauvist meets punk. Ten years ago, a San Francisco art critic said my Fauvist paintings exhibited a dramatic brush with life. Since then, I have been teaching painting workshops known as “Brush with Life” across the country.

I paint interior spaces, figures, beaches, still life, and landscapes in acrylic and oil on canvas. I chase light and shadows. I freeze colors and shapes and make those marks on my canvas. Recently my compositions have taken on a complexity forcing me to simplify as I sort through the shapes I see and try to organize them through paint. This has led my recent works toward a more abstract interpretation.


Education

1967-1971 Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree, Honors Program
1980 UC Davis, Chico, CA Fine Arts travel/study program, London, Paris, Basel
1988-1999 Post Graduate study, drawing, painting, color theory, Foothill College, College of Marin, CA

Solo Exhibitions

2011 "Brush with Life" Thos. Moser Showrom, San Francisco, CA
2011 Solo Exhibition Chalk Hill Vineyards, Healdsburg, CA
2009 "Inside Out" The Architectural Foundation, Santa Barbara, CA
2009 Solo Exhibition, Divine Inspiration Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
2007 "Bold Visions" Santa Barbara University Club, Santa Barbara, CA
2006 "New Paintings" Bartholomew Park Winery, Sonoma, CA
2005 "Lavender and Country Scenes"  October, Matanzas Creek Winery, Santa Rosa, CA
2003 "New Paintings", The Sun Valley Gallery, Sun Valley, ID
2002 "New Paintings", The Marine Gallery, Kirkland, WA
2002 Lavender, Olives & Vineyards, Matanzas Creek Winery, Santa Rosa, CA
2002 "Spring Color", The Edmunds Gallery, Sonoma, CA
2000 November-February 2001 Bank of the Redwoods, Santa Rosa, CA
2000 October City Hall, Sebastopol, CA
2000 June California Collectors' Gallery, Kentfield, CA
2000 April William Lester Gallery, Pte. Reyes, CA
1999 December R. W. Nielsen, Sunnyvale, CA

Group Exhibitions

2010 "The Spirit of Place" Millicent Rogers Museum, Taos, New Mexico
2009 National Association of Women Artists' Annual Exhibition, Salmagundi Art Club, New York, NY
2008 Albuquerque Museum "Miniatures & More" Albuquerque, New Mexico
2008 Fielding Institution, Santa Barbara, California
2008 International Society of Acrylic Painters Juried Exhibition, Santa Cruz, California
2007 American Impressionist Society Juried Exhibition, Chicago, IL
2007 International Society of Acrylic Painters Juried Exhibition, San Luis Obispo, CA
2007 "Figuratively Speaking" Harris & Fredda Meisel Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
2006 Sedona Plein Air Invitational, Sedona, AZ
2006 Carmel Plein Air Invitational, Carmel, CA
2006 William Lester Gallery, Pte. Reyes Station, CA
2005 Carmel Plein Air Invitional, Carmel, CA
2005 Marin/Scapes Invitational Benefit Exhibition, Larkspur, CA
2004 Carmel Plein Air Invitational, Carmel, CA
2004 Marin/Scapes Invitational Benefit Exhibition, Larkspur, CA
2004 "En Couleur", Nancy Dodds Gallery, Carmel, CA
2004 "En Couleur", William Lester Gallery, Pte. Reyes Station, CA
2003 Two-person show, California Collectors' Gallery, Kentfield, CA
2003 En Couleur, William Lester Gallery, Pte Reyes Station, CA
2002 MarinScapes, Larkspur, CA
2002 En Couleur, William Lester Gallery, Pte. Reyes Station, CA
2001 National Juried Exhibition of Painting, Bristol Art Museum, Bristol, RI
2001 National Association of Women Artists Juried Exhibition, Jemison-Carnegie Heritage Hall Museum, Talladega, AL
2001 American Impressionist Society National Juried Exhibition, William Lester Gallery, Pte. Reyes Station, CA
2001 Two-person Exhibition,"New Color", California Collectors Gallery, Kentfield, CA
2001 May, En Couleur Group Exhibition, William Lester Gallery, Pte. Reyes Station, CA
2001 June 30 Days of Wine & Lavender Invitational, Matanzas Creek, Santa Rosa, CA
2001 November, California Collectors Gallery, Kentfield, CA
2000 Marin Open Space Invitational, William Lester Gallery, Pte. Reyes, CA
2000 Carmel Art Festival Juried Plein Air Exhibition, Carmel, CA
"Art at the Source", Western Sonoma County, CA
2000 "Arts on Fire", Juried Exhibition, Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, CA
"Monday Morning Painters," Juried Exhibition, Gallery One, Petaluma, CA
1999 Sausalito Art Festival, Sausalito, CA
"Vineyards, Vines & Foods", California Collectors’ Gallery, Kentfield, CA
Mill Valley Paint Off, Mill Valley, CA
Marin Open Studios, CA
Don Pedro Exhibition, Sayulita, Mexico
"Open Fine Arts", Marin Society of Artists, Ross, CA
1998-1999 " Energy-The Gift of Nature" EPRI, Palo Alto, CA
1998 Mill Valley Paint Off, Mill Valley, CA
1981 Women in Design, San Diego, CA

Awards/Commissions

2007 Winner of the Golden Award, International Society of Acrylic Painters’ Juried Exhibition
2006 Special Award, SCAPE Spring Exhibition, Santa Barbara, CA
2005 Best Oil or Acrylic Painting, Carmel International Plein Air Festival, Carmel, CA
2005 Second Place, Southern California Artists Painting the Environment, Santa Barbara, CA
2005 International Society Acrylic Painters, Honorable Mention
2005 Featured Artist Sawtooth Botanical Gardens Sun Valley, Idaho
2004 Carmel Plein Air Invitational, Honorable Mention, Carmel, CA
2003 American Impressionist Society National Exhibition, Honorable Mention, Vero Beach, Florida
2003 National Association of Women Artists Juried Exhibition, Jeffrey Childs Willis Memorial Award, NYC
1999 "Open Fine Arts", Honorable Mention, Marin Society of Artists, Ross, California
1998 EPRI, Palo Alto, CA "Energy the Gift of Nature", Commission
1988 Print Magazine graphic design award of merit
1967-1971 Scholarship to Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH
1960-1999 Student art selected to be part of permanent historical murals "The History of the United States", Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio

Juror/Painting Classes/Painting Workshops/Art-Related Employment

2007-Present Kathryne Designs & Gallery, Montecito, CA
2007-Present Auld Alliance Gallery, Nashville, TN
2007 - 2009 Selected as juror of emerging artists as well as professional painters for the Santa Barbara Art Association, Goleta Valley Art Association and Santa Barbara Library Exhibitions
2007 - 2009 Private painting lessons, Santa Barbara, CA
2003 Juror for Pittsburg Arts Collaborative, Winter Fine Arts Festival, Pittsburg, CA
2001 - 2009 "Brush with Life" Painting Workshops in Santa Rosa, Sonoma, Santa Barbara, California and Taos, New Mexico
2001-2002 "Marketing for the Professional Artist, Santa Rosa, CA
1994-1995 Volunteer art teacher, Cesar Chavez Elementary School, San Francisco, CA
1984-1999 Owner, Creative Director Kathleen Elsey Design, a design and communications agency, San Francisco, CA
1985-1999 Association of International Graphic Artists, New York
1982 UC Santa Cruz Extension Lecture Series "The Artist’s Role in Technology", Cupertino, California
1979-1982 Women in Design, San Francisco, CA, Board of Directors, Workshop Leader- "Marketing & Communications for the Artist"
1974-1982 Art Director & Design Manager, Hewlett Packard, Cupertino, CA
1972 - 1974 Art Director Promotions, American Greetings, Cleveland, OH

Bibliography

2009 CASA Magazine, March, "Inside/Outside"
2008 The Independent, November Kathleen Elsey in "Terra Firma"
2008 Santa Barbara News Press, February 28
2007 Santa Barbara News Press, January
2007 Southwest Art, February
2006 Southwest Art, March
2006 American Art Collector, April, "Flowers in the Landscape"
2005 Southwest Art, May, June
2005 Plein Air Magazine, September
2004 Monterey Herald, May, "Complement of Color"
2004 SOUTHWEST ART May, June
2003 SOUTHWEST ART, July, "Best of the West" En Couleur
2003 Kirkland Courier, "Destination Kirkland, Washington"
2002 Eastside Seattle Journal, "Kathleen Elsey, California Impressionist Landscapes"
2002 Southwest Art Magazine, En Couleur
2002 Sonoma Index Tribune, "Elsey Presents Seminar, Exhibit"
2001 Mill Valley Herald, "Artist Moves North and Blooms-Elsey hits her stride"
2000 Marin Independent Journal, Matanzas Winery Celebrates Plein Air Painting
2000 San Francisco Chronicle, "Sonoma County Artist-Brush with Life" 5/2000
1999 Mill Valley Herald, "Artists Open Intimate Spaces"
1999 MarinScope, "Event of the Week, Kathleen Elsey's Spring Day, Spirit Rock"

Represented by:

Auld Alliance Gallery, Nashville, Tennessee
Kathryne Designs & Gallery, Santa Barbara,California
Nancy Dodds Gallery, Carmel, CA
Banana Gallery, Hawi, Hawaii


© 2009-2011 Kathleen Elsey. All rights reserved. All paintings are property of Kathleen Elsey
and may not be reproduced in any form without the written permission of Kathleen Elsey.
This site was created by Kevin Bonner