Berlings and Penniman Gunars Berlings' pastels were artfully displayed beneath the grand oaks and verdant shrubs of the Penniman home.   The stage was set for a jazz performance on Sunday night. The house is pristinely landscaped and maintained, and is one of many impressive older homes on Ocean View Avenue, in central Santa Cruz.  Ed Penniman's childhood home provided a splendid setting for the display of the works of these two plein air painters.

Ed's grandmother, Leanora Penniman, was an established watercolorist and the founder of the Santa Cruz Art League. Ed has had an extensive career as a commercial artist and art director, but watercolor is his passion.        Both men paint landscapes, but the works are noticeably different.  Gunars' pastels are drawn with loose active marks. His images are vibrant and impressionistic, sacrificing detail for composition, light, and the joy of the mark itself.  Ed's watercolor paintings are more realistic, and use a more traditional, representational brushstroke. Nonetheless they have an expressive quality, rather than seeking to exactly represent a scene.  Gunars Berlings              Ed Penniman