Fine Art | Whitney Page — Original Pastels on Paper

I The artist

Artist statement

Whitney Page

I paint in soft pastel because there is nothing between the pigment and the paper—no medium, no varnish, just colour laid down and left. Pastels are plastic-free, which matters to me; and I love the quick, definitive stroke of pigment on paper, the way a single mark holds. Most of what I make starts on Orcas Island: a shoreline, a stand of second-growth fir, a Sunday afternoon indoors with the light doing something worth keeping.

I am after an enduring sense of place rather than a likeness of one. A piece is finished when it holds the feeling of standing there—usually well before it holds every detail—and I would rather stop early than talk a painting to death.

For framing, I use upcycled frames that I hand-gild myself. In candlelight or low lamplight they flicker and seem to deepen the piece. I finish my work on paper with a traditional beeswax and casein fixative, which allows me to frame them without glass—the pigment stays true, the surface stays tactile, and the whole thing can live in the world without being sealed away.

The same eye that chooses paint and plaster for a room chooses a colour for a pastel. I take a limited number of commissions each year and sell originals straight from the studio—write in if something here catches you.

Continued: the gallery

II The gallery

Photographed flat and left unretouched. Click any work to see it close—details of the surface, measurements, framing and price—and to inquire about taking it home.

Pastel of a shoreline under weather: blue sky, a dark bank of cloud, pale water breaking over wet sand

Weather Coming Over the Shoreline Plate I · Soft pastel on paper · View & purchase

Pastel of a small cabin with a tin roof standing among tall firs, sunlight breaking through the trunks

Cabin in the Second Growth Plate II · Soft pastel on paper · SOLD

Pastel of a dark-haired woman asleep with a baby in her arms against a red cushion

Sunday Afternoon Plate III · Soft pastel on paper · View & purchase

Pastel landscape of a still pond below a dark treeline, a sunlit orange field beyond it and a foreground meadow flecked with white flowers

The Pond at the Bottom of the Field Plate IV · Soft pastel on paper · View & purchase

Pastel of two small figures among dark firs and a sunlit trunk, worked in deep greens and madrona red

Two Figures, Late in the Day Plate V · Soft pastel on paper · View & purchase

Pastel of Madrona Point: madrona and fir in the foreground going to silhouette, a distant headland, and a sky banded lavender, cream and blue

Madrona Point Plate VI · Soft pastel on paper · SOLD

Pastel of an apricot and salmon cloudbank torn across blue sky, reflected in still water below a dark treeline

Cloudbank Over the Water Plate VII · Soft pastel on paper · SOLD

Framed pastel of a sunset glowing low behind a dark island, repeated as a narrow bright seam on the water below

The Last of the Light Plate VIII · Soft pastel on paper · SOLD

Framed pastel of open water seen close, worked in teal, deep blue and green with the sun breaking white across the surface

Light on Open Water Plate IX · Soft pastel on paper · SOLD

Close-up of the surf: white scraped over grey and sand-brown in short broken strokes — Detail The surf, white scraped over grey and sand-brown in short broken strokes.

Close-up of the cloud bank: ultramarine and slate worked wet against dry white — Detail The cloud bank, ultramarine and slate worked against dry white.

Plate I

Weather Coming Over the Shoreline

The shoreline with the weather coming over it. Blue held hard at the top, then the whole middle given over to what the water was doing.

Worked on blue paper, so the sky is partly the sheet itself showing through — which is the only way that particular blue stays honest.

Medium: Soft pastel on paper
Measurements: On request
Framing: Framed or unframed, your choice
Price: On request

Inquire to Purchase

Original, one of one · sold from the studio

Close-up of the cabin: the tin roof in pinks and rust over an ochre wall — Detail The tin roof in pinks and rust over an ochre wall.

Close-up of the foreground undergrowth: broken greens, madrona red and pale yellow laid over one another — Detail Undergrowth: broken greens, madrona red and pale yellow, one over the other.

Plate II

Cabin in the Second Growth

A cabin in the second-growth firs. The roof takes what light gets through, and everything else is green going back over it.

The greens are built in layers rather than mixed, so the dark under the trees still has colour moving inside it.

Medium: Soft pastel on paper
Measurements: On request
Framing: Framed or unframed, your choice
Price: On request

SOLD

Close-up of the sleeping baby's face, built in warm orange and umber — Detail The sleeping child, built in warm orange and umber.

Close-up of the woman's face and dark hair against white cloth — Detail Her face and dark hair against white cloth.

Plate III

Sunday Afternoon

Asleep on a Sunday afternoon against a red cushion—worked fast and then left alone, because nobody holds a pose that long.

A figure piece rather than a landscape, and the only one of its kind currently in the studio.

Medium: Soft pastel on paper
Measurements: On request
Framing: Framed or unframed, your choice
Price: On request

Inquire to Purchase

Original, one of one · sold from the studio

Close-up of the near meadow: white flecks struck once over deep green — Detail The near meadow, white flecks struck once over deep green.

Close-up of the far bank: orange field light lying flat above the blue of the water — Detail The far bank, field light lying flat above the blue of the water.

The framed pond pastel hung above a wooden sideboard in a plaster-grey room, beside a trailing houseplant — In a room Hung above a sideboard against plaster grey—the gilt frame is where the warmth in the room comes from.

Plate IV

The Pond at the Bottom of the Field

The pond at the bottom of a field, with the far bank still holding the last of the sun. The white in the near meadow went on once, at the end, and is the whole reason the piece stands up.

A wide horizontal work—it wants a long wall and a little distance to stand back into.

Medium: Soft pastel on paper
Measurements: On request
Framing: Framed or unframed, your choice
Price: On request

Inquire to Purchase

Original, one of one · sold from the studio

Close-up of the two figures, a straw hat and a red collar picked out of the dark — Detail A straw hat and a red collar picked out of the dark.

Close-up of the sunlit trunk cutting up through the dark firs — Detail The sunlit trunk cutting up through the firs.

Plate V

Two Figures, Late in the Day

Two figures in the woods late in the day—deep green and madrona red nearly all the way through, with the light doing its work in about six marks.

Dark overall, so it holds a room with low light better than most pieces here.

Medium: Soft pastel on paper
Measurements: On request
Framing: Framed or unframed, your choice
Price: On request

Inquire to Purchase

Original, one of one · sold from the studio

Plate VI

Madrona Point

Madrona Point, looking out past the last of the trees to open water. The land goes to silhouette almost immediately; what is left is a sky worked in bands, lavender through cream into blue, with the weather still deciding what it wants to do.

A named place on Orcas, and the piece people from the island tend to recognise before they read the label.

Medium: Soft pastel on paper
Measurements: On request
Framing: Framed or unframed, your choice
Price: On request

SOLD

Plate VII

Cloudbank Over the Water

A cloudbank over the water at the end of the day—apricot and salmon torn across the blue, laid down again almost exactly in the reflection below. The tree line got maybe four strokes; the sky got all the time there was.

The warmest piece in the studio at the moment, and the one that changes most under lamplight.

Medium: Soft pastel on paper
Measurements: On request
Framing: Framed or unframed, your choice
Price: On request

SOLD

The framed sunset pastel hung on a pale plaster wall above a black credenza with ceramic vases — In a room Hung alone on a pale wall—the one piece of colour in an otherwise quiet room.

Plate VIII

The Last of the Light

The same water at the very end of the light, the colour drawn down to a low band of red and gold behind the island and a single bright seam in the water beneath it.

Shown here framed, gilt and glazed, the way a piece like this usually leaves the studio.

Medium: Soft pastel on paper
Measurements: On request
Framing: Shown framed — gilt and glazed, ready to hang
Price: On request

SOLD

The framed water pastel hung in a dark blue panelled hall above an old painted cabinet with blue glass bottles — In a room Hung in a dark blue panelled hall—the piece carries the whole wall on its own.

Plate IX

Light on Open Water

No horizon, no shore, no sky—just the water itself, close enough that the surface becomes the whole subject. Teal over deep blue over green, and the sun breaking white across the top of it.

The nearest thing to abstraction in the studio, and the piece that reads differently from across a room than it does from two feet away.

Medium: Soft pastel on paper
Measurements: On request
Framing: Shown framed — dark float frame, ready to hang
Price: On request

SOLD

III How a piece comes home

Everything here is an original on paper. There are no prints and no editions, which does mean that when a piece goes, it goes. Tell me which work you are drawn to and I will come back with photographs, exact measurements and the price.

No. I

Ask about a work

Choose a piece below and I will send photographs, its dimensions, its price, and an honest note about the colour—since no photograph gets a pastel exactly right. What is on the table changes through the year, so I am glad to send the current list too.

The usual first step

No. II

Choose framed or unframed

Pastel must sit under glass with a spacer so the surface never touches it. I can deliver a piece framed and ready to hang, or send it unframed and matted for your own framer—with instructions for them, so it is done right.

Framing quoted separately

No. III

Or commission one

A place that matters to you, a wall that needs a particular scale, a season on this island you want to keep. I take a small number of commissions each year, starting with a conversation about size, subject and light.

Limited each year

Trays of soft pastel sticks on a studio worktable beside an unfinished pastel of a shoreline on blue paper — In the studio The worktable mid-morning: four trays sorted by family, and a shoreline about two hours short of finished.

Inquire about a work · Whitney Page

Which piece

Name

Framed or unframed

Anything else

Measurements and the price come back with photographs, usually the same day. Nothing is held until we have both said so.

IV Questions from the studio

How much does a piece cost?

It depends on size, and I quote each work individually rather than posting a price list that goes out of date. Small studies are genuinely approachable; larger works for a main wall cost what a larger work costs. Ask about a specific piece and you will get a specific number, with no pressure attached to it.

Can I see the work in person?

Please do, if you can get to Orcas. Photographs of pastel are always a compromise—the surface has a slight velvet to it that a screen flattens completely. Studio visits are by arrangement, and I am happy to bring a piece to you if you are on the island.

Does it come framed?

Your choice. Framed, it arrives ready to hang, glazed with a spacer or a mat so nothing rests against the pastel surface. Unframed, it ships matted and protected with notes for your framer. Framing is quoted separately because the right frame depends entirely on the room it is going into.

How do I look after a pastel?

Keep it glazed, hang it out of direct sunlight, and don’t let anything touch the surface—that is essentially the whole list. Pastel is one of the most stable media there is; there is no oil to yellow and no varnish to cloud. Properly framed and sensibly hung, it will outlast most of the furniture in the room.

Can you ship off-island?

Yes—works travel flat, rigid, insured and packed so the surface is never in contact with anything. Shipping is quoted at cost. Local buyers are welcome to collect on Orcas, which is cheaper for you and easier on my nerves.

Will you paint something specific for me?

Sometimes. I take a limited number of commissions a year so that each one gets proper attention. We start with a conversation about subject, size and where it will hang, then a deposit, then time—the work is finished when it is finished. If it isn’t a good fit I will say so early rather than take the job anyway.

I am specifying a whole house. Can art be part of that?

Often it should be. Art is the last material decision in a room and it is usually made in a hurry. If we are already working together on interiors I will happily fold it into the palette—whether that ends up being my work, or an introduction to another maker who is the better answer for your wall.

Close-up of soft pastel sticks in a studio work box, showing a wide range of vibrant colours including pinks, blues, greens, and earth tones

On colour

Capturing an enduring sense of place in a time when the earth needs not just our adoration but also our devotion.

Whitney Page

Inquiries

Tell me what you’re drawn to.

A subject, a size, a wall that has been empty for two years, or a commission you have been thinking about. Send it over and I’ll reply with photographs of what is in the studio right now, dimensions and prices included.

Ask About a Work