An Homage To The 'Mystic Painters of the Northwest'...

...and in particular to my mentor and friend Charles Stokes who passed away last year.  A part of his obituary described him well as being like a 'spontaneous combustion'.  That he 'painted, drew, made music, invented his own musical insturments, wrote poetry, and made sculpture out of whatever material was at hand.  Early in the '60's and '70's he painted swift, calligraphic imagery that put him at the forefront of the younger Northwest "mystics".  You could connect his work style to that of Leo Kenny, Mark Tobey and Morris Graves. He also taught art at Cornish Art Institute for well over a decade and had a hugh influence on his students.   His son Saul said that in later years his paintings became increasingly time-consuming and intricate..."The paintings became these incrediable worlds of millions of lines, with everything intertwined...They're jewels".  I can only add (for now) that they reflected the brilliant illuminated complex genius that was Charles.

    A retrospective of his work is being planned for the Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner.  Date yet to be announced.  For a full transcript of Charle's obit you can try:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/thearts/2004364229_stokes22.html

    I will be writing more about Charles in future entries as well as the other 'Mystic Painters of the Northwest'.