Penny Otwell Exhibition, September 25 – November 5, 2022
HIGH SPIRIT:
PAINTINGS BY PENNY OTWELL
The Ansel Adams Gallery | Yosemite National Park, CA
Artwork, Brotherly Love by Penny Otwell
WILDERNESS SOLITUDE
Original Oil Painting, signed by the artist.
Oil on Canvas.
24″ x 20″
There is immensity to Yosemite that relates to both time and place – it pervades us here. But there is also a romantic courtship that seems so genuine that, in spite of our diminutive status within these walls, we do not wish to leave their company. This dichotomy tugs and pulls at you, generating an internal rhythm as undulating as the folds of granite about you, as reliable as the coming of spring, and as consistent as the rolling current of the Merced River at your feet; it makes one feel alive, and spirited.
Where too many words could never say enough, visual artists have navigated this rhythm through light and paint, framing a fraction of the park which accentuates and tames the vitality of our experiences that are all at once unique and shared. And perhaps no artist has spent more time and energy within this mode in recent memory than Penny Otwell.
Penny has said of her time as an artist in Yosemite that “being a painter is like being a scientist: the facts are in front of you, the arrangements are endless, conditions, premises, and conclusions all determine each painting. Asking “what if?” is my way of experimentation in making art. Motivated by the rhythm and design observed in granite forms and geological changes, my painting style is uniquely my own.”
‘High Spirit’ featuring new enPlein air and studio work by Penny will open in Yosemite at The Ansel Adams Gallery on September 24th, and run through November 5th.
IN FLIGHT, YOSEMITE CREEK
Original Oil Painting, signed by the artist.
Oil on Canvas.
24″ x 20″
DESCENT TO THE VALLEY FLOOR
Original Oil Painting, signed by the artist.
Oil on Canvas.
30″ x 24″.
Artist’s Statement
I have a deep connection with Yosemite National Park that has stretched over 60 years. When I was 18, I jumped on a Greyhound bus that brought me from Los Angeles to my first job in the park, working at The Ahwahnee hotel. In those first years, I spent days off backpacking in the high Sierra with new friends, which ignited my love for the natural world. Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada have been my home ever since.
Collectors have described my work as “expressionistic, colorful, and even whimsical,” but I choose not to identify with a single painting style. I primarily work “en plein air” – outside in the place I am painting – which inspires me to paint from my heart using a “fresh ala prima” (wet-into-wet) interpretation that is uniquely my own. As I feel the light, colors, and breezes of a place and hear moving water, birds singing, and wind through trees as I paint, my work becomes very spontaneous and connected to place.
As I arrive at my selected location for the day, I set up, squeeze out my oil paints, and spend a few moments appreciating where I am to help define my focus and intent. With a goal to make a good composition with appealing color harmony, I design each piece with a simple idea. By carefully studying Yosemite’s granite forms, my drawings are faithful, but my own intuition is the strongest component of my working style.
Starting with an abstract block-in underpainting, I nail down moving light, then slow down to complete the design. My sturdy easel allows me to work with large canvases (up to 36” x 48”) as well as smaller panels. I use large brushes and palette knives for thick texture to start and progressively use smaller and smaller brushes and knives to complete each slightly abstract painting. Most of each painting is completed in the field, but I usually give each piece a good, hard look back in my painting studio in Mariposa.
Being a plein air painter comes naturally to me and I love sharing this very special place with others through my work. I am so grateful to have the best job in the Park!
Mariposa, 2022
