Known as a folk artist, James Washington was encouraged early in his career by Northwest School painters Mark Tobey and Morris Graves. His work reflects both his rural Mississippi childhood and his adult thoughts of mystical, pantheistic symbolism.

As a sculptor, his public commissions included busts of Jomo Kenyatta and Martin Luther King, Jr. Some of his pastel works explore the lives of African-American rodeo performers such as Bill Pickett, a legendary steer wrestler. An exhibition of Washington's work was held in the summer, 1998 at Foster/White Gallery in Seattle....