Kathleen Elsey | Santa Barbara Paintings | Beach Paintings

"The Salty Edge" was made in the summer of 2011. It was painted for my museum exhibition of the same title. The Maritime Museum in Santa Barbara featured ten of my beach-themed paintings in this two-woman exhibition. This canvas was first covered with three coats of gesso. After making several sketches in my sketchbook I had determined my composition and how to translate the beach scene into paint on canvas. I applied fiber paste with a palette knife to create various shapes on the canvas. After it dried, I applied soft gel matte with my hands then carved into it with the blunt end of a bone burnishing tool. It took a few more days to dry in the sun. Fortunately it was summer in Santa Barbara with hot dry heat.