Discover The Sweet Spots

Courtesy of Arts Council of Santa Cruz County and Lenz Arts

The “sweet spots” of Santa Cruz and surrounding San Luis Obispo and Marin counties are revealed in the large, institutional-sized oil painting of Ed Penniman. Many of the paintings are romanticized memories of these special spots formed during an idyllic boyhood in his native Santa Cruz.

As reference for this work, which has taken a year-and-a-half, Ed uses original, small on-site outdoor paintings in watercolor and oil, historical family photos, paintings by artists of locations from the mid-1930s and contemporary personal photos.

Artistically, he takes scenes we all agree are special and purifies and dramatizes them with a tranquil use of color and light. The scenes are simplified by removing manmade elements and visual distractions, and compositions are creatively enhanced to suit Ed’s design sense.

Balancing outdoor and studio painting, Ed selects outdoor work to refine in the studio with landscapes, figures and portraits as his favorite subjects.

“The inspiration for my art comes from an appreciation of the beauty of our natural world,” he says. “By showing these works, I want to foster a stewardship of our area’s beautiful sweet spots.”

About the Artist

His grandmother Leonora N. Penniman, a regional artist popular in the 1930s, mentored Santa Cruz native Ed Penniman at a young age. He works in all media, both outdoors and in the studio, but he particularly enjoys oils and watercolors.

Ed graduated from Chouinard Art School of California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. He was hired before graduating at Carson-Roberts Advertising (Ogilvy & Mather) and was assistant art director on Revlon and Max Factor and later art director for Baskin Bobbins, Singer, Mattel and Cole of California. He has won many design awards for corporate identity, packaging, collateral materials and trade advertising. Communication Arts Magazine did a feature article on him showing examples of his design work, and examples of his design work have been published in the U.S., Europe and Japan.

A prized award “50 Books/50 Covers” is from the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), for Planet Steward: Journal of a Wildlife Sanctuary, one of the 50 best books designed of the year.

Inspired by great landscape artists, Ed has followed the painting trail of Winslow Homer throughout the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas and also followed Gaugin’s path to Tahiti, Moorea and Rarotonga. His artistic journey has found him painting in the West Indies, Holland, Italy, France, Spain, Canary Islands, Hawaiian Islands, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Mexico, Baja California, the Southwest and Midwest of the United States, Canada and of course the California coast.

For 23 years, Ed participated in the Arts Council of Santa Cruz County’s Open Studios event and has a list of exhibitions and collectors. He is past president of the Santa Cruz Art League and served as curator for the annual Statewide Landscape Exhibition, started by his grandmother Leonora N. Penniman in 1926 along with Margaret Rogers and Cor de Gavere, artists known nationally as the “Santa Cruz Three.” From 2007 through 2013, Ed worked to redirect the show to a more contemporary and relevant focus on landscape painting, a vision now realized.

As jurors Ed selected Jean Stern, curator of the Irvine Museu; curator/author Scott Shields from the Crocker Museum in Sacramento; Richard Mayhew, member artist of the National Academy; Nancy Boas former assistant curator of American Painting for the San Francisco Fine Arts Museums (De Young and Palace of Legion of Honor); Kevin Macpherson, painter and teacher; Michael Zakian, curator of The Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art; David A. Leffel renowned painter and teacher, and René deGuzman senior curator of Art at Oakland Museum of California.

This series of very distinguished personalities selected by Ed makes the landscape show very popular and draws some of the most talented painters and art collectors to Santa Cruz.

In addition to his work as a fine artist, Ed is recognized as an accomplished graphic artist. Larry Bargetto, of Bargetto Winery in Soquel, hired Ed in the 1970s and was among the first locally, along with Norman Lezin of Salz Leathers and Bud McCrary of Big Creek Lumber, to understand how branding and marketing design services bring value to product offerings. Ed still works with the nationally recognized winery.

Current Projects

Ed is currently finalizing a self-help/memoir about his past experiences with Guillaine-Barré Syndrome (GBS) as a quadriplegic and wants to share what he learned on his long journey back to balance from loss, trauma and physical disability.

“I am one of the lucky ones, I was able to prevail over my challenge,” he says.

When Ed was 42, his life took an abrupt turn into uncharted, painful-to-navigate physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual territories. He was in perfect health one day – and totally paralyzed the next. Such is the effect of GBS. There is no cure, though 80 percent of victims do get better. Nevertheless since the length of the illness is unpredictable and varies with each case, patients face an uncertain future at best, not knowing when – or if – they will ever lead a normal life again.

“My book is for those who have been given a huge challenge, recognize it as an opportunity for personal growth and are struggling to move forward with courage,” he says. “I want to share my discoveries from my journey from loss, trauma and disability to meaning and joy.”

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Exhibit at the Santa Cruz County Government Center 701 Ocean St. from May 29 through August 7. Artist’s reception June 5 from 5-8 p.m.