Claggett/Rey Gallery | 3/1-3/31 | Edwards, CO

Temecula Sunrise

Derek Penix finds a huge impact on his creative energy after long distance move

At the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, before most people were even aware what was coming down the road, painter Derek Penix and his family sold their Oklahoma home and were planning a move to Temecula, California. And then everything went haywire. Birds Eye View, oil, 20 x 20"

For Penix, however, even though the move itself was stressful, the change of scenery had a huge impact on his creative energy. “It was just so pretty. Temecula is a little inland, so it was all vineyards and horse properties and ranches,” he says. “That first wave of shutdowns wasn’t so bad because I had these new views around this new place. The timing ended up being perfect.”Seagulls, oil, 36 x 36"

Although his newest show—opening March 1 at Claggett/Rey Gallery in Edwards, Colorado—doesn’t have a theme or title, one that can be gleaned from the finished paintings and his state of mind over the past two years might be “Chaotic Serenity.” This motif can be seen in his new paintings Seagulls, Koi and Apples. In each work there is a flutter of motion, be it flapping wings, flicking tails or fluttering leaves, and yet there is a calmness to that movement within his works. Koi, oil, 48 x 48"

“I did like painting the variety for this show,” Penix says. “When I started adding to the mix I was playing around with different things, just trying to see what I could get away with. And I did do some California coasts, mostly because I was attracted to the shapes of the coastline.”

Penix mentioned shapes several times and finally admits his next works might be full-on abstracts. Mostly, he says, he’s ready to try new things. “I want to take my work out as far as I can just to see what happens. If you’re going to fail, then fail big,” he says, adding that he’s been recently interested in Richard Diebenkorn’s paintings that are abstract, yet vaguely representational. “I’m attracted to that idea of figuration, but really experimenting with it and looking for those accidents with the paint.”Apples, oil, 30 x 40"He continues: “Creativity is more accidental than preplanned. As an artist I want to embrace the accidents and go with the flow. When you limit yourself you fall into traps.” —