REDLANDS, Calif. – Penny Smyth Fedorchak will be bringing her passion for nature and painting to the Redlands Community Hospital Foundation ‘Evening with the Artists’ fundraising event this April. This spring, her pieces will be taking a special trip back to the Inland Empire.

Fedorchak’s passion for painting began when her love for horses was captured in childhood sketches and watercolor paintings. Her passion to become an accomplished artist was recognized early on when Edward Sotello, her art teacher at Yucaipa Jr. High School, encouraged her to continue studying art at Redlands High School. On graduating from RHS, she was awarded art scholarships and worked as an apprentice with a Redlands architect while earning an Associate’s Degree in Architectural Drafting at San Bernardino Valley College.

Her art career was postponed while she and her husband, Joe, were successfully running El Jardin Mexican Restaurant, their formerly family-owned business in Fallbrook, and raising a family. During that time, she became a potter and a stained glass artist, later returning to her real love for painting in watercolor. She began serious study in San Diego and Fallbrook with regional and internationally known artists. As a member of Jeanne Shanahan’s Monday Plein Air Painters in Fallbrook, she found her niche. She loves the colors of the outdoors and strives to capture their beauty and strength, incorporating those elements in flowers, fruit, still life, and landscapes.

Yosemite, the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Big Pine, Bodie, and the Santa Rosa Plateau are among her favorite places to paint. Among her award-winning works are watercolor florals, landscapes featuring barns and ranches drawing inspiration from Redlands own Live Oak Canyon, and a series of vintage cars and trucks. Included in that series is a painting of her high school graduation present, a 1934 Plymouth she found parked and for sale on Brookside Avenue, but sold years later to a Redlands resident. Decades later, when she decided to search for the car in hopes of painting it and adding it to her series on old cars, that search revealed that it has remained in the family of the buyer, restored numerous times, featured in Hollywood movies, and is still in Redlands today. That painting will be featured in the Redlands Community Hospital Foundation show this year.

Although she is primarily self-taught, she continues to advance her art studies through workshops and is currently studying with Robert Willis of Dorland Arts Colony in Temecula. She is a juried member of Brandon Gallery in Fallbrook, where her work is on display, and she is a member of COAL Gallery in Carlsbad. Her art also hangs in several restaurants in Fallbrook.

“My happiest and most creative moments come as I splash paint on paper,” says Fedorchak. “I hope those who view my paintings will enjoy them as much as I enjoy creating them.”

The Redlands Community Hospital Foundation’s art program began in 1978 and today, the hospital exhibits a collection of more than 750 works of original art in the hallways, offices and waiting areas of RCH.

Fedorchak joins artists Darlene Katz, Anthony Radcliffe, Dennis Hare, Hanna Adler, and Ray Nordwall at the annual “Evening with the Artists” event. Fedorchak’s artwork will be available for purchase at the Stan and Ellen Weisser Education Pavilion on the RCH campus from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 19. Proceeds will benefit the Redlands Community Hospital Foundation’s art fund. Wine and hors d’oeuvres will be served during the evening’s elegant event. Tickets are $20.

For more information on the ‘Evening with the Artists of RCH’ event or to RSVP, please call (909) 335-5500.

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Redlands Community Hospital Foundation supports Redlands Community Hospital,

which is an independent not-for-profit, stand-alone hospital.