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Restored James Abbott mural, Elma, Washington

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James Abbott mural on a tavern front, Elma, Washington. Several of Abbott's works have already vanished or been wrecked by the elements, but this is one of the very few that was freshened up with a restoration effort by other artists in recent years.

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James Abbott mural detail, Elma, Washington. One of the few instances I have found where he created a face that was not (A) Lifeless or (B) Demonic. Like I mentioned earlier, he was great on landscapes, but portraying people was not his strength.

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James Abbott mural, McCleary, Washington

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James Abbott mural in detail on cinderblock, which combined with the long exposure to weather has given the work sort of an unintentional impressionistic style. McCleary, Washington

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Detail of James Abbott mural, Elma, Washington

The "resting face" of the woman here reflects a modern condition

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James Abbott mural, downtown Elma, Washington

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James Abbott mural detail. Faces were not his strong point and the technique of painting black, empty eyes gives the works a bit of a dark edge.

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James Abbott mural, Elma Police Station, Elma, Washington

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James Abbott mural half-hidden in a hardware/lumber yard

Elma, Washington

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Detail of James Abbott mural on waferboard

An unusual texture and amazingly well-preserved after being two decades outside

Elma, Washington

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James Abbott mural, Elma, Washington

An unusual one, painted on waferboard

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Watching this huge James Abbott mural being covered by a new paint job in Elma, Washington makes me think of sandcastles being gobbled by the tides on the coast. Outdoor murals can be such a fleeting art form.

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Now and then I have been documenting the work of muralist James Abbott, who was active in eastern Grays Harbor County mostly in the 1990s. Many of his works were historical in nature, frequently highlighting the culture of the early timber workers.

One of his largest works in Elma, Washington is vanishing forever as the building is repainted. Such is the brief life of outdoor painted art.

Morty Comix # 2609

Morty Comix # 2609 was slipped into a copy of my favorite Vonnegut novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, at the public library in Butler, Pennsylvania. On the way to this book, Tom Rehm showed me the beautiful mural in the children's section created by his brother, Michael Rehm.

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Portland, Oregon

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Portland, Oregon

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James Abbott mural detail

McCleary, Washington

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James Abbott mural detail

McCleary, Washington

There is something deliciously and I'm sure unintentionally disturbing about the way he painted facial expressions in nearly all of the works he created around Grays Harbor County, although his landscape work was really good. It just adds to the surreal feeling many visitors have when visiting this zone of Washington State, Bezango WA 985.

Morty Comix # 2590

Morty Comix # 2590 was slipped into a copy of our free local weekly and returned to a newspaper stand under a James Abbott mural in a restaurant in Elma, Washington