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James Abbott mural, old Rhodes Grocery, McCleary, Washington

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Crumbling detail of James Abbott mural, McCleary, Washington

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James Abbott mural, old Rhodes Grocery, McCleary, Washington

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James Abbott mural detail, 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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A mural in the Beehive Retirement Center by Patti Lee

McCleary, Washington

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Detail of James Abbott mural in Elma, Washington showing the wear of the elements on the paint, plus the cute baby seal that somehow found its way into a logging camp picture.

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Chehalis, Washington

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Mural in Oakville, Washington

Breaking News! Abbott Mural in McCleary is Gone! Demon Child Defeated!

Just today I see the huge James Abbott mural in McCleary at Gordon's Grocery is no more! The Demon Child has been obliterated!

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James Abbott mural deterioration detail

McCleary, Washington

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Oddly, the least weather-damaged panel in this James Abbott mural in McCleary is the one that includes the DEMON CHILD surrounded by adults who look resigned to an eternity of terror with the little guy.

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More environmental damage to an aging James Abbott mural. Unfortunately, this particular image faces west, the direction from where the Pacific Ocean weather hits us hardest here in McCleary.

I am sure the cost of restoring an Abbott mural would be prohibitive. Since the murals of James Abbott are all over eastern Grays Harbor County, many business owners around here are going to be forced into making a hard choice about these pieces. A few of them already have, pro and con.

Superb landscape work on this mural panel. Typically, Abbott's backgrounds display more artistry than his foregrounds. But the more I document the existing work of Mr. Abbott the more I am impressed by his prolific and creative drive.

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James Abbott mural in rough shape

McCleary, Washington

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Decaying James Abbott mural

McCleary, Washington

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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

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The Demon Child speaks!

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Close detail of the Demon Child in McCleary. That enigmatic grin cannot hide the malice deep within those eyes, those endless pools of black, those portals into Hell.

James Abbott, what did you unleash into the world?

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Of all the faces on all the work by James Abbott, none have so much power as the Demon Child on the mural on Gordon's Grocery in McCleary, Washington. This painting is actually sentient, and has the ability to sway us mere mortals to do his evil bidding.

Here he is instructing me to go in the store, buy some Pringles Potato Chips, go home and eat the whole package in one sitting while watching reruns of Petticoat Junction. Fortunately, his spell was broken but only after I exerted a tremendous amount of willpower.

What I want to know is how Mr. Abbott, who seemed like a nice enough fellow, could create such a little monster.