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James Abbott mural on the old Rhodes Grocery, McCleary, Washington

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Of the four portraits by James Abbott adorning the front of the old Rhodes Grocery, this one of George Osgood (1868-1955) is the best.

Osgood was an early business partner of Henry McCleary.

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James Abbott's mural portrait of a very young Nick Rillakis (1893-1970), McCleary, Washington. By the time I met Nick in 1964 he was a large, stout man with no hair at all. Nick was one of the last of what was once a large Greek population in town.

A bombastic and flamboyant fellow, he ran a store in town called Rhodes Grocery, the first concrete structure in McCleary. I recall he had a huge cheese wheel as a centerpiece. Today his store serves as cram-yer-crap place and is covered with Abbott artwork.

The waferboard "canvas" gives this and the other portraits a nice texture.

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Four portraits by James Abbott at the entrance of the old Rhodes Grocery, long ago converted to a cram-yer-crap storage business. So far as I know, this little alcove is unique in the Abbott art experience in that he has an area where human faces are the main focus. This was not his strong point and the combined effect is actually sort of like eating stale bread.

I bet if we took a poll here in McCleary, Washington (pop. about 1600) on who these four portraits are supposed to represent the results would be enormously embarrassing to the town. So, at the risk of sounding like a know-it-all, stick with this blog and in the words of Sherlock Holmes, "observe and learn." I even personally met one of the subjects portrayed here.

Also, this is a spot where certain inebriated people like to hover for awhile. How one can do that while all those eyes at your back, I don't know, but they do.

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James Abbott mural, old Rhodes Grocery, McCleary, Washington

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James Abbott mural, old Rhodes Grocery, McCleary, Washington

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James Abbott mural, old Rhodes Grocery, McCleary, Washington

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I figured out that in east Grays Harbor County only about a third or fourth of the murals originally painted by James Abbott still remain from his whirlwind visual blitz in this neck of the woods throughout the 1990s.

One of the largest surviving works of Mr. Abbott can be found on the east wall of the old Rhodes Grocery in McCleary, Washington. I spent some time using my cheap phone photo skills to capture this work and the other graphics he left on this building.

In this particular case, James Abbott went crazy. He painted on all four sides of the structure, sometimes in places where the public couldn't really see very well. So far as I can ascertain, this place is his last surviving graphic presence in McCleary. So I recorded what is left of it before it gets erased.

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It is rather difficult to see from the ground, but in this James Abbott mural on the back of the old Rhodes Grocery, he portrayed one of the many "soiled doves" that held a prominent place in the history of this Wild West company town.

McCleary, Washington

James Abbott, McCleary Muralist

There used to be a very interesting artist around this area named James Abbott who delighted in creating historical murals throughout eastern Grays Harbor County in the 1990s. Much of his work remains to this day, although the ravages of time are already starting to show on his handiwork. Such is the condition of outdoor painting.

Two of his most public works in our town can be seen alongside our main grocery store staffed by great people, Gordon's, and on the old Rhode's Grocery building, now a personal storage business.

Art is subjective, and some have called his work "downright spooky" or "creepy," while others have described his art as "fascinating" and "splendid."

Personally, I enjoyed watching him in the act of creating his work more than viewing the result of his labors. He wore a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses and sported a stereotypical artist's goatee, while making his act of painting a public performance. It brought to mind Bob Clampett's Beany and Cecil character, Go Man Van Gogh. He seemed to totally enjoy the attention as he painted the side of Gordon's.

I think I read Mr. Abbott's obituary within the last few years. More sooner than later these building owners across eastern Grays Harbor County (McCleary, Elma, Montesano) will have to decide whether to paint over his work or try to restore it.

Exactly what the TBTG acronym meant after his signature, I can't say for sure, except that I recall it was Christian in nature. Probably "Thanks Be To God."

Several of his images have already appeared in my phone photo series and I'll collect them here. Also some new images. In addition, I'm including three news articles about him from 1991-1998.

James Abbott, McCleary Muralist

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McCleary, Washington

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This was Rhodes Grocery in McCleary, Washington when I was a kid. A big, bald Greek fellow named Nick ran the place and would talk your ear off. I remember he had one of those huge cheese wheels. I believe this was McCleary's very first concrete building when it was constructed in the 1920s.