Fred Oldfield: Heart of the West
In Japan, they have what they call “Living National Treasures”: master swordsmiths, Kabuki actors, potters and other artists and craftsmen honored for preserving the cultural traditions of the Japanese people.
I wish we had that designation here: I and many others here in Washington state would jump to nominate Washington’s own living treasure, Fred Oldfield.
Construction worker, boxer, soldier, cowboy – Fred has seen a lot, and the paintings, drawings and other works by this celebrated and much-loved artist and son of Washington state reveal much: about land desolate and beautiful and about the hard-bitten people who herd on or scratch their living from it.
Fred’s work – along with wagons, a pioneer cabin, Native American baskets and other artifacts of the West – can be seen and enjoyed at The Fred Oldfield Western Heritage & Art Center, located at the Puyallup Fairgrounds in Puyallup, Wash.
Born in Alfalfa, Wash., in 1918, Fred is living Americana. He grew up riding and doing a variety of jobs, from ranching (cattle, hogs, turkeys) to placer mining for gold to prizefighting, He found himself stranded and broke in an Alaskan inn after being evacuated from a construction site in Sitka at the start of World War II; with nothing else to do, he started painting scenes of mountains, cabins and fishing boats on discarded linoleum tiles, which his landlady sold for $10 apiece. (“Somebody said she was my first agent,” he quipped.) While in the Army, he painted the backs of bomber crews’ flight jackets, remarking that “the leather was good and it took the paint well.”
After the war, Fred attended art classes on the G.I. Bill, painted murals in Seattle and began selling his work at sidewalk shows. “That kind of took off: People started buying my paintings,” he recalled. “Of course, I was born and raised on the Yakima Indian reservation, I’d rode all my life and worked on cattle ranches and stuff, so I started doing Western art.”
Fred depicts, not only stark and majestic landscapes familiar to many in the Northwest, but human images – Indians, cowhands, prospectors – whom he has known over his nearly nine decades. He pointed out one painting of three men on a trail drive warming themselves by a campfire; painted from memory, they are real people, one of whom has passed away. When the deceased man’s daughter visited The Fred Oldfield Western Heritage & Art Center, “I said, ‘You want to pick which one of those guys was your dad?’ ” Fred recounted. “And she said, ‘That’s him,’ ” correctly identifying her father.
Fred is an artist in the tradition of Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell. We who may never gaze across the rocky reaches of Washington’s backcountry while on horseback can feel the majesty, distance and stark beauty of Fred’s landscapes, the camaraderie of his campfires and the loneliness his mountain cabins.
Nor is he stingy with his talents: In fact, Fred is deeply involved in teaching children and adults to paint via the art program at The Fred Oldfield Western Heritage & Art Center, where more than 10 percent of the kids are on scholarships. At “mural camps,” teams for four children learn to exchange ideas and respect each other as they plan and execute large-scale paintings together.
“Some of our kids are shy and backward, and if we can instill confidence in them, it’s a big plus,” Fred told me. “They get in there and paint and show some ingenuity, and it makes them feel good about themselves.”
John and Mary Catherine Manley, patrons of the The Fred Oldfield Western Heritage & Art Center, said of Fred: “He has a unique sense of color, a deft hand with a palette knife, and he eloquently tells a story of the West in his paintings.”
In short, Fred Oldfield has lived the cowboy life and renders it with heart. Small wonder that Washington governor Christine Gregoire declared March 18, 2008 – Fred’s 90th birthday – Fred Oldfield Day in the state (the Washington State Senate had honored him a month earlier).
The Fred Oldfield Western Heritage & Art Center is a must-see collection of art and artifacts, especially if you’re anywhere near Puyallup. For information and to see more of Fred’s art, visit FredOldfieldCenter.org.
At The Fred Oldfield Western Heritage & Art Center Fiddle and Pickin’ Contest
Fri. and Sat., Nov. 13 and 14, 2009
This year The Fred Oldfield Western Heritage & Art Center will again proudly host the Fiddle and Pickin’ Contest!
The two-day event will consist of the contest, workshops and – new this year – the raffling off of a pair of Alaskan Airlines coach tickets to anywhere they have a route.
Visit our events page for more details.
All images courtesy of The Fred Oldfield Western & Art Heritage Center, FredOldfieldCenter.org.
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Fred and I were friends and we met many years ago at the Tacoma Mall Art Show. Later he was my guest on my Northwest Artist Talk Show. On Occasion we would drive up to the rainier area,
(Elbe) and stand by the road and paint together. It was great being with Fred and having fun. It has been many years since that time. I finally gave up painting and really should have listen to Fred when he told me not to stop. To Paint for a livlehood takes so much love and dedication and a patience that could endure. Only Fred was so dedicated and such a great person. I have been truly honored to call him friend. I really miss the good old days because that was really them.
Clifton (GrayEagle) Newlen
Cherokee
Fred Oldfield is not only an amazing artist, he is the kind of man every woman would like to collect!
Fred Oldfield is truly a “living treasure”. He is a fine artist, real cowboy and a true gentleman. Lucky are those who know him.
Fred Oldfield is not only a “living treasure” he is a “living legend” as well. Great
article on a real Cowboy Artist!
Thank you for the wonderful acknowledgment of the “living treasure” Fred truly is. David Ottey, Board Chair FOWHAC