Gallery




Penny started filling sketchbooks with drawings as a newly arrived young working woman in Yosemite in 1964. Eventually she started painting in oils to portray the wonder she felt about the entire Sierra Nevada.
“From the first day I saw Yosemite in 1964, my life became full of art and natural history. From studying geology and botany to the many drawings I made, I wanted to know everything about this place. I am a self-taught painter and naturalist. My Mother, a painter who attended The Vancouver School of Art Deco in Vancouver, Canada, guided my interest in painting from a young age.”
Penny Otwell
REPRESENTED ARTIST
SHOP THE ARTIST

More About Penny Otwell
Education
Penny studied science, painting, and printmaking through seminars and workshops with the best: Dr. Carl Sharsmith, Bob Fry, and painter Ken Auster from Laguna Beach.
Selected Exhibitions
2025
- Group Show, teaching, MARIPOSA PAINT OUT June -8
2024
- Juried show -- SIERRA ART TRAILS – October, 2 weekends
- Painting demonstrations
2023
- In the time of Covid-19, I painted in Yosemite.
2022
- Solo Show HIGH SPIRIT-Paintings by Penny Otwell, September 19-October 30: THE ANSEL ADAMS GALLERY
2021
- Yosemite was closed for some months. I was able to enter and paint.
2020
- Solo Show – January -- Wild Truth, Paintings by Penny Otwell
- A SENSE OF PLACE GALLERY, Fresno
- Solo Show Glacial Conclusions
- THE ANSEL ADAMS GALLERY - October 11 – November 21
2019
- Juried Show - International Parks Group Show – EISELE GALLERY, Cincinnati, Ohio, April-May 2019
- Two Artists Show -- TREETOP GALLERY, Mariposa, California, January 24 – March 15
- Juried Show -- SIERRA ART TRAILS – painting demonstrations
2018
- Two Artists Show – Natural Wonders – CARNEGIE ARTS CENTER – Turlock, California-January 31-April 22
- Juried Show -- SIERRA ART TRAILS – painting demonstrations
- Solo Show THE ANSEL ADAMS GALLERY, Seeing is Believing, May 20 – July 7
- Juried Group Show YOSEMITE RENAISSANCE
2017
- Solo Show THE ANSEL ADAMS GALLERY
- Juried Group Show CALIFORNIA PLEIN AIR, California Art Club
- Juried Show -- SIERRA ART TRAILS
2016
- Solo Show Contemporary Landscapes by Penny Otwell
- July 29-September 21: THE KING’S ART CENTER, Hanford, California
- Solo Show – THE ANSEL ADAMS GALLERY, Mountain Rhythm – The Paintings of Penny Otwell
- Group Show YOSEMITE RENAISSANCE
2015
- Solo Show THE ANSEL ADAMS GALLERY
- Juried Show YOSEMITE RENAISSANCE - cash award
- Group Show -- WILDING MUSEUM OF ART & NATURE
- Solvang, California June 17 – October 3 - award
2014
- 3 group Shows A SENSE OF PLACE GALLERY, Fresno, Calif.
- Juried show SIERRA ART TRAILS -- painting demo
2013
- Juried Show -- SIERRA ART TRAILS – painting demonstrations
- Two group shows -- CARNEGIE ART CENTER, Turlock, CA
- Solo Show -- Along Those Lines – September 1 – October 15 THE ANSEL ADAMS GALLERY
- Juried Group Show – YOSEMITE RENAISSANCE
2012
- Solo Show Stone & Brush – The Paintings of Penny Otwell, THE ANSEL ADAMS GALLERY
2011
- Group Show Local Color, September 1-October 15, THE ANSEL ADAMS GALLERY
2010
- Group Show THE ANSEL ADAMS GALLERY
Show Judging:
- 2018 CARNEGIE ARTS CENTER -- Valley Showcase July 11-Aug.31
2020YOSEMITE RENAISSANCE -- prize judge
Selected Collections And Publications
- 1981: A Winter’s Day in Yosemite with Dr. Carl Sharsmith, Drawings and Illustrations by Penny Otwell. Author: Ardeth Huntington Yosemite Natural History Assn.
- 2014: Art of the National Parks, Historic Connections, Contemporary Interpretations, FRESCO Publications, by Jean Stern, Susan Hallsten, McGarry, Terry Lawson Dunn. Penny Otwell -- color photographs and article.
Teaching
2014
- Watercolor en plein air painting workshop, BALANCED ROCK FOUNDATION
2015
- Oil en plein air painting workshop May 7-9 – MARIPOSA COUNTY ARTS COUNCIL
- Watercolor en plein air painting workshop July, Tuolumne Meadows, BALANCED ROCK FOUNDATION
2017
- Beginning Oil Painting MONO LAKE COMMITTEE, Lee Vining
2018
- MONO LAKE COMMITTEE, Beginning Oil Painting
2019
- MONO LAKE COMMITTEE August 11-13, Beginning Oil Painting
2021
- MONO LAKE COMMITTEE July, Beginning Oil Painting
2025
- SIERRA ARTISTS – Mariposa Paint Out June 6-8, Beginning Oil Painting workshop.
Associated Contributions And Experience
2013
- Slide-lecture program -- Painting the High Mountains, July 21, PARSON’S LODGE, TUOLUMNE MEADOWS, National Park Service Programs.
2024
- Slide-lecture program for FOOTHILL ARTS & LECTURES, Mariposa County Board of Supervisors Room - February. 100 attendees.
Artist in Residence:
2007
- MANZANAR – NPS January & February, Lectures and daily demonstrations for the public. 25 Acrylic painting series with Origami paper.
2013 -- April 10- March 7
- Invited to OBED NATIONAL RECREATION AREA, and BIG SOUTH FORK NATIONAL RIVER, Tennessee. Daily lectures and demonstrations and plein air work
Corporate Work:
1998
- DELAWARE NORTH, INC: Purchased four large abstract watercolors for Yosemite Lodge and menu covers for THE MOUNTAIN ROOM RESTAURANT.
2003
- PATAGONIA: Created art for two tee shirts for their “artist series.”
2000
- THE ANSEL ADAMS GALLERY: Art for a Gallery tee shirt
2014
- SUBARU, AMERICA, INC: Subaru car wrap, eight large art image prints, postcards. For their booth at the Philadelphia Flower Show in March focusing on Yosemite.
- YOSEMITE CLIMBING MUSEUM: Art featured on their tee shirt for FACELIFT Program
Connect
Facebook: www.facebook.com/penny.otwell
Instagram: @psoart