Painting the Heart of The Entrance: Local Icon on Canvas

A nostalgic Central Coast location has been immortalised in oil paint by KAB Gallery artist Sally West. Her latest studio work, The Entrance, The Baths, is a 40x50cm oil on canvas painted in her signature impasto style. Loaded with texture and a buttery aesthetic, this contemporary representation is unique.

For many, The Entrance Ocean Baths (now officially The Grant McBride Baths) are more than just a swimming spot — they’re the backdrop to childhood summers, holiday memories, early-morning laps, and lazy weekend afternoons. Central Coast locals and visiting tourists alike have long been drawn to the this saltwater nook carved into our local coastline. It’s always a fun place to visit in the warmer seasons. The sparkly ocean water and uninterrupted views looking out to the blue horizon make it an inviting swimming pool for all.

Located on Ocean Parade, the baths are accessed via a little pathway. When you get there, you are met with a 50-metre pool, a 22-metre lap pool, and a safe wading pool for the kids. They are tidal pools, which means they ebb and flow with the sea itself — a rhythm familiar to regular visitors and cherished by those who grew up nearby.

Whether you first visited on a school holiday trip or have lived around the corner your whole life, chances are you have a memory tied to this very spot.

Sally West’s interpretation includes all the details and lots of people enjoying a swim. Created in her studio using thick oil paint on canvas, her work shows the essence of The Entrance Baths without leaning on realism. Instead, she uses her own painterly approach with abstract daubs of paint bringing the scene to life. Her application is thick and heavy making the finish unexpected and fresh. It is abstract in many ways but the scene, figures and details are recognisable and clear. The colours are perfect, inviting the viewer to feel the warm sun on wet skin, the crunch of sand and salt underfoot, and the breeze that always seems to sweep across the top of the water. With her signature impasto texture, West builds the baths not just as a location but as an experience.

The painting’s soft coastal tones and creamy palette knife strokes give the work a nice feel. It’s certainly a painting to enjoy within a variety of interior styles. It’s light, contemporary and easy to live with to say the least. Look closely because there are a palette full of colours that can lift a space in a subtle way. 

The painting is titled “The Entrance, The Baths” but it is important to acknowledge the location itself was renamed in 2018 to honour the late Grant McBride, a local MP who fought passionately to preserve the site. With the work of Grant McBride, the baths were officially protected on the NSW Heritage List after a campaign that rallied over 9,000 community signatures. It remains open year-round (except during low-tide cleaning and post-storm maintenance), symbolising both resilience and relaxation — two things The Entrance does particularly well.

Whether you’re a long-time Central Coast local or a holiday visitor who’s left a piece of their heart here, this painting is a beautiful way to hold onto a place that means so much to so many.

The Entrance Baths by Sally West is available now at KAB Gallery for $1350. Framing options are also available on request — just ask us how to make it perfect for your space.

The Entrance, The Baths 27.6.25

About the author

Kerry-Anne Blanket

Director & Curator - KAB Gallery

KAB Gallery’s Kerry-Anne Blanket holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts and two Masters degrees (Hons) from the University of Sydney. With an extensive career in art education along with the management of museums and investment art galleries, Kerry-Anne can offer premier art consulting to her clients and source specially requested works. 

She has a keen eye for detail, comprehensive art market knowledge and a love of all things beautiful. Kerry-Anne works directly with artists and collectors alike to curate interesting and eclectic exhibitions.