Category Archives: Traditional Oil Paintings

My Teddy Three

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My Teddy and Me Three 16×16 Oil Painting by Winifred Whitfield

She’s very smart, creative and hopeful for an accomplished and exciting future, but will she be allowed to have one? It’s unfortunate that this innocent child must bear witness to yet another violent act of racism in this country – the slaughter of 10 Black people in Buffalo NY shopping in a grocery store. This act, he said, was encouraged by concept of “the replacement theory”, rhetoric espoused by many Republican leaders and particularly embraced by and fed to the public by media mogul Rupert Murdock’s puppet Tucker Carlson on Fox News. It’s so sad! What is this theory? It offers that Jews and other people of color, “who are more obedient” are seeking to replace white people, the rightful owners of this country, to become the majority population and dominant voting block. The “replacement theory” offers that the “seeking” population needs to be silenced, subjugated and eliminated. According the killer, and his manifesto, it is this concept he was supporting by murdering the 10 Black people. He said he did not want Black people to feel safe anywhere.

I hope this beautiful little girl can have a long and prosperous future.

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Lady on a Bench in Brooklyn

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Masked Woman on Red Bench – Oil Painting 9×12 – by Winifred

I created the photo reference for this painting some years ago when in New York. It was photographed from my 3rd story studio apartment window, across the street from Prospect Park, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted – who also designed Central Park. I was bi-coastal at the time – I lived in Poulsbo, WA as well. On this day, this lady sat on the dark green bench, partly shaded by a big tree. I was intrigued. There she sat, with her hands folded in her lap – at a bus stop, with her luggage next to her. She sat and she waited.

I decided to make this image more current. I now portray her waiting for a bus, during the time of still high number of infections and number of deaths from Corvid 19. She also has a flyer in her hand for a protest in New York. You can see a date on the edge of the bench 5.25.20. This date intersects Covid 19 and the time of massive protest against police brutality in 50 states and many countries in the world. The painting included elements of a great little story, which I almost made up to accompany the painting – but I decided not to. So many questions: Where is she going with her luggage? Is she going or returning? How/what is she feeling? Will she attend the protest? We can create our own answers, our minds enjoy filling these blanks.

I hope you’ve had a good week and weekend. It’s wonderful that finally, we’re building a multi cultural and multi racial coalition to bring the phrase “life and liberty for all” to fruition. It’s a change which must include, structural and economy change. I hope you will participate in expanded consciousness, in words and in deed. I wish you well. Winifred

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Portrait of Despair

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Portrait of a Woman in Despair – 12×16 Oil Painting by Winifred Whitfield

I painted this portrait a couple of years ago to reflect how I often feel in this political environment of the Trump Presidency which emboldens racism and sexism. In my opinion, this country is moving backwards. There is a lack of dignity in the office of the president, lack of humanity, lack of respect for people of color and lack of respect for other people who lack means and hope which includes many of his white followers – I find this appalling. I fluctuate between despair and rage! I wanted to create a portrait which reflected this. The next post will be a portrait of a young girl which I’m currently painting and flowers!!

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Roses Again

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Magenta Rose. 9×9 Oil Painting by Winifred

I’m always – well, not always, but from time to time, I go into intense rose practice sessions. Roses are complex and as with any flower, there are many ways to paint them. Above is a more traditional look.

Strawberries and Roses 11×14 Oil on Linen Panel by Winifred

These are abstracted roses. It started with a small aqua vase in a table next to me filed with white artificial roses with a pink trim. I immediately stepped outside of the box in my approach to painting them. My hands didn’t want to be traditional that day though I was completely open to it. Rarely do I know what direction I’m going to take when I start a painting. For me, it’s a good thing and I just enjoy the journey of unexplored roads. If I get completely lost – I toss it, but most often it leads me to a very interesting place I may never have chosen to go. Such was the case here. It does remind me a little of Cezanne’s color palette of golds. greens and blues and the use of black outlines.

Red Rose Leaves Buds, 9×12 Oil Painting by Winifred

This was a fast rose painting rather than one I labor over for hours – or days. I need to do more if this kind of painting. It gets one out of thinking so much. It gets one out of so much detail. Well, I’m interested to see what will happen next. I have absolutely no idea!!

I made so many typos last post, it was truly embarrassing. I hope never to do that again.

Thank you for looking. Winifred

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Roses are Red

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Roses and Daisies 9×12 Impasto Oil Painting on Panel by Winifred

I wanted you to see I can paint other than sunflowers. I picked these flowers from my garden. The rose is a carpet rose, in case you know them. They’re not fussy! They will grow in almost any soil and with minimum care. They only want sun. Given that, they flourish. There are several hundred blooms during late June and July and a new flourish of these flowers in late August and September. Combining a few stems of the roses with fresh daisies made a lovely casual bouquet. I very often paint from photographs. This time I had both the fresh bouquet and a photograph to draw upon.

A Single Red Rose 8×10 oil painting on linen covered panel by Winifred

It’s been an enjoyable couple of weeks painting roses, which started with this one. The texture of the linen and the impressionist brushstrokes combine beautifully, I think, with the smoother impasto of the single red rose. I will switch to pink roses next time. The new painting has been designed – and awaits my attention. It will be a larger painting – probably 16×20. Today, I cleaned and reorganized my studio and I’m ready to go. I hope you enjoy the roses. Winifred

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Sunflowers, Sunshine and Blood Oranges

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Sunflowers and Blood Oranges 20 x 24 Oil Painting by Winifred

In my last post I shared the initial paint sketch, for the above painting I had in mind. It was part of a process which really makes a positive difference, though I rarely follow it. A large sketch – about 11×14 was created, followed by the small painting to test color and design (see previous post). The test painting was a long and skinny. I then did a vine charcoal sketch on my 20x 30 inch panel. This required altering the aspect ratio from the small test painting, but knew I could manage this. The idea was not to make the final painting identical to the small painting. I painted the full 20 x 30 painting, which I like, but have decided to crop it to 20×24. Both versions work but the cropped is just a little more impactful. This is my largest painting to date. I will be creating more. Hope you enjoy. Thank you, Winifred

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Bunch of Paintings

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It’s been a while – once again, so I’m going to catch you up. There are several more but you’ll see them later.

Weather in Murano 12×16 Oil Painting by Winifred
Turquoise Pitcher and Citrus – 9×12 Oil Painting by Winifred
Hydrangeas and Daisies 11×14 Oil Painting by Winifred Whitfield
Vintage Pitcher 12×16 Oil Painting by Winifred Whitfield
Bowl with Two Apples 9×12 Oil Painting by Winifred Whitfield

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Bounty

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Belated Happy Thanksgiving! 9×12  Oil Painting on Canvas Panel

I hope it was a good day for you, however you choose to spend it.

Still lifes are always a great “go to” for me, when I don’t know what else I might enjoy painting.   I decided to make this one a bit more complex and to paint this faceted coffee pot I recently acquired.  I have 3 pieces from this set and might paint them collectively in one still life someday.

I enjoy the color, light, texture and movement in this painting. I hope you do also. Warmly, Winifred

 

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Italian Laundry Painting

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Oil Painting – Laundry in Italy

Im not sure why we’re so fascinated with the many long cords laundry pinned to them we see in Italy. I love this visual also.  In fact, on any given street, if I saw hanging laundry, I photographed it.  It’s kind of like joyful colorful flags waving in the wind.  This is my first attempt to paint from such a photo.  The process was interesting.  

Laundry in Italy

Below you see the photo which inspired the painting.

The image below is in image of an earlier stage of the painting.  I like it quite a lot – perhaps even better than the finished painting with the laundry. I enjoy the strong shapes and  simple blocks of color. No Fuss. In the future, I just might create this as the painting.  At this point, I’m happy to have it as a digital file.

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