ARTIST STATEMENT
EXHIBITION HISTORY
GALLERIES
MY FAVORITES


Artist Statement -



Ed Pennebaker
Red Fern Glass

Statement:

At a time when many designers/artists leave the crafting of their designs to apprentices, fellow craftsmen, or even a factory style setting, it is rare for the designer to continue as the maker. For me working directly with the glass is a time of zen, a period when I can concentrate on one thing only, the glass, a time to leave the rest of the world behind.

I see my work belonging to a contemporary line of the "decorative arts" that developed from the arts and crafts movement where craftsmanship is of the utmost importance. Striving for the "perfect object" is the goal of the craftsman/designer and working directly with the materials at hand provides the greatest satisfaction for me.

The most important aspects of glassmaking are light, color and form. I want my work to take advantage of the luminous quality of light. Light coming through the glass reveals texture and pattern and casts colors and shadows so the glass work interacts with its environment and becomes a pure visual feast. The jewel like colors of glass, the individual forms of the pieces and the light from within work as a group and function as a chorus like a choir of voices. The fluidity of glass is expressed in the curvalinear forms. And the voluptuousness of glass is expressed in the globular melon shapes that are ready to burst with ripeness.

Artist Exhibitions



-White House Crafts Collection 25th Anniversary Exhibition, Clinton Presidential Library, Little Rock, AR, Sept. 17, 2018 - March 31, 2019

-Fenix Summer Show, Walker - Stone House, Fayetteville, AR, July 6 - August 5, 2017

-Lane Foster Fine Art, pop up show, Rogers, AR, July 28, 2017

-North of South, group exhibition at Drawl Gallery, Little Rock, AR, Feb. 18-March 31

-Fountain Fest, Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR, October 15, 2016 - January 15, 2017 temporary installation of sculpture “Ozark Topography” in fountain in front of Arts Center

-Formations, William F. Laman Library, Little Rock, AR, September 12 - November 4, 2016

-Masterpiece E-xhibit Sale, American Craft Week, Featuring one exceptional craft artist from each of the fifty states, Oct. 2-11, 2015 for an online show and sale.

-Seven State Biennial, University of Science and Arts, The Nesbitt Gallery, Chickasha, OK, Sept. 26 - Nov. 4, 2015, Charles B. Goddard Center, Ardmore, OK, Nov, 9 - 25, 2015, Museum of the Red River, Idabel, OK, Dec. 8, 2015 - Jan. 31, 2016.

-67th Annual RAM Invitational, Man vs. Machine The Art of Expression in the Wired World, Fort Smith Regional Art Museum, Fort Smith, AR, July 30 - Nov. 1, 2015.

-American Craft Week Masterpiece E-xhibit Sale, AmericanCraftWeek.com, an online exhibit of one artist chosen from each state, Oct. 2-11, 2015.

-2015 Rosenzweig Biennial Juried Exhibition, Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas, Pine Bluff, AR, Sept. 17 - Nov. 21, 2015.

-Ozark Artistry Traditional and Contemporary Craftsmanship, Fayetteville Underground, Fayetteville, AR, Sept. 3 - 27, 2015.

-Eluvium and Formation Abstracted Landscapes, recent work by Ed Pennebaker and LaDawna Whiteside, Argenta Gallery, April 16-May 9, 2015, North Little Rock, Arkansas

-Sculpture at the River Market, Little Rock, Arkansas, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

-Artists of Northwest Arkansas 20th Annual Regional Exhibition, Art Center of the Ozarks, August 6-29, 2014, Springdale, Arkansas

-Thea Arts Festival - North Little Rock, AR, April, 28, 2012, Best of Show

-54th Annual Delta Exhibition - Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR, Jan.27-March 28, 2012

-Finer Things A Juried Contemporary Craft Exhibit, sUgAR gallery, Bentonville, AR, Nov. 4 - Dec. 10, 2011

-Glory of Glass, Karg Art Glass, Kechi, KS, Nov. 11-Dec. 31, 2011

-Seven State Biennial - University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma Art Gallery, Chickasa, OK, Oct. 1- Nov. 7 and Charles B. Goddard Center, Ardmore, OK, Nov. 15-Dec. 17, 2011, Honorable Mention and Purchase Award

-Concatenations, Connections - E Street Gallery, Fayetteville, AR, August, 2011

-Group Show - Leopold Gallery, Kansas City, MO, June 2011

-MOAK 4-State Regional Exhibition 2010 - , Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, MO Nov.-Jan. 2011

-Fifth Annual Arkansas Sculpture Invitational Show Sale - Morrilton, AR, June 2010

-Featured Artist - E Street Gallery, Fayetteville Underground, Fayetteville, AR, May 2010

-Architectural Digest Home Design Show - NY, NY, March 2010 represented by Patrajdas Contemporary

52nd Annual Delta Exhibition - Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR, Jan. 29-March 14, 2010.

Exploring the Works of Arkansas Sculptors - Arkansas Studies Institute, Little Rock, AR, Oct. 9-Dec.11, 2009

Engaging Minds-Creative Hands - Fresh Air Gallery, Clinton, AR, Nov. 20, 2009-March 15, 2010

Color And Light - Eastern Shore Art Center, Fairhope, AL, March-April 2009

Springfield Hot Glass - First Friday Gallery Walk, Springfield, MO, October 3, 2008

Reconstructing Art Walk - Crystal Bridges at the Massey, Bentonville, AR, May 15-July 27, 2008

Double Feature - Hot Glass by Pennebaker and Karg, Zarks, Eureka Springs, AR, May 17, 2008

Fire and Form The Magic of Glass - June-October 2007, Corning, New York, The Glass Menagerie

Seeing Things In A Different Light - Oct. 22-Dec. 31, 2004, River Market Artspace, Little Rock, Arkansas

Fire Ice - Karg Art Glass, Kechi, Kansas, October 2006-January 2007

SOFA Chicago - October 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Chicago, Illinois, represented by Function+Art Gallery

Glass Invitational 04 - February 2004, Chicago, Illinois, Function + Art Gallery

The Eclectic Electric - Function + Art Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, Sep. 5- Oct. 4, 2003

White House Collection of American Crafts - Jul. 17-Aug. 24, 2003
The Mary and Leight Block Museum of Art - Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois and other venues

Guild.com Sourcebook The Artful Home, Furniture,Sculpture, and Objects

A Glass Act 2003 - Function+Art Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, March 2003

Philadelphia Furniture Furnishings Show - April 2002, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, awarded Excellence in Lighting Award

2002 Invitational - Statehouse Convention Center, Little Rock, Arkansas, awarded Best of Show for Cluster 51, The Inherent Energy of the Earth and Sky

2001 Hsinchu International Glass Art Festival Symposium - Hsinchu Municipal Glass Art Museum, Hsinchu, Taiwan

Chandelier Show - Arte Bella Fine Art Gallery, Fayetteville, Arkansas

A Glass Act 2001 - Prism Contemporary Glass, New Pontiac, Michigan

Hot CoolMid America Arts Alliance - a traveling exhibit of contemporary glass through 2001

A Glass Act 2000 - FunctionArtPrism Contemporary Glass, Pontiac, MI in conjunction with Michigan Glass Month

The Arkansas Exhibition - Statehouse Convention Center, Little Rock, Arkansas, July 1999-February 2000

White House Crafts Collection - 1993 traveling exhibit at various museums
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Artist Publications



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Artist Collections



Clinton Presidential Library, Little Rock, AR
Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR
Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce, Fayetteville, AR
Bentonville Trail System, Bentonville, AR
Grain Processing Corporation, Muscatine, Iowa
Cairo Restaurant and Lounge, Manhattan, New York
Stout Executive Search
University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma
Laman Library, North Little Rock, AR
St. Lukes Hospital, Kansas City, MO
University of Arkansas Medical Sciences, Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Little Rock, AR
Florida Southern College, Lakeland, Florida
Kansas State University, School of Leadership Studies, Manhattan, Kansas
Market Place Restaurant, Asheville, North Carolina
BKD, Springfield, Missouri
Eastern Shore Arts Center, Fairhope, Alabama
Doane College, Crete, Nebraska
University of Arkansas Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas
Statehouse Convention Center, Little Rock, Arkansas
Al Sanbok Restaurants, Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia
Radisson Aruba Resort Casino, Aruba...

Artist Favorites