Renaissance man, or woman, is a handy title to toss around about someone who is good at several things.
Then there are those who are really good at several things.
Wes Wehr, 74 - artist, writer, paleobotanist and composer who grew up in Magnolia and graduated from Queen Anne High School - has received the Paleontological Society's Harrell L. Strimple Award. It means a lot in the paleobotany universe.
More than 200 people gathered at The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture on the University of Washington campus to honor Wehr, but it was clear many of those gathered were not connected to the world of "rock hounding," as artist Mark Tobey once described one of Wehr's pursuits.
Also in attendance were artists, writers, musicians and scholars - Seattle's productive, old Bohemia - and all friends of Wes.
Among other attributes, Wehr is one of the last of the living artists from the so-called Northwest School.
Wehr's small, unassertive paintings may be treasured for as long as his prized fossils will be. His work hangs in museums around the region and the world.
He is "the poet of the moody skies of the Pacific Northwest," Colin Graham, a British Columbia art expert once said. "The fact that he is a trained musician and composer helps to explain why his landscapes and skyscapes are suffused with a quiet kind of music."
Wehr's book "The Eighth Lively Art: Conversations with Painters, Poets, Musicians and the Wicked Witch of the West" is an invaluable record of the post-War Seattle arts scene.
With a rare gift for friendship, Wehr knew everybody: Tobey, Graves, Callahan, Anderson, etc. In the old days, he carried a notebook and wrote everything down.
His next book, "The Accidental Collector: Art, Fossils and Friendships," will come out in April. I've read the manuscript. It's good. And rather frank.
Wehr has been unpaid Affiliate Curator of Paleobontany at the Burke since 1972.
He and an associate are responsible for uncovering the great fossil field in Republic in Okanogan County, which led to the Stonerose Interpretive Center there.
Over the years, Wehr has emerged as an important, respected scholar in the field, authoring or co-authoring some 30 scientific papers published in professional journals.
The gathering celebrated a Northwest original. Someday art critics and paleobotanists will have to compete to see which of Wes Wehr's passions will gain the upper hand in establishing his legacy.
