Exhibit to bring together work of 14 Artists of Year

James L. Davis learned he had Parkinson's disease from a slight quivering of his thumb, which started in 2002. But the pen-and-ink artist can still work, buying precious hours with doses of Sinemet and other medications.

At 71, the disease has taught him a vital lesson: Never waste a moment.

"I'm trying to take advantage of time. When I feel like drawing, I draw," Davis said. "I am more focused on myself now, my last few statements in art I'm going to make."

These days, when Davis sits down at the drawing board, something happens that even his neurologist can't explain.

"It's strange," he said. "When I first sit down to draw, I'm shaking. But if I start drawing on scrap paper, the tremors go away."

In addition, Davis suffered a stroke in 1998, shortly before he was diagnosed with Parkinson's.

"Physically, it's difficult to draw what I'm thinking," he said.

Davis is one of 14 Snohomish County Artists of the Year whose works will be featured in "Baker's Dozen + 1," a show opening Thursday and running through Dec. 29 at the Monte Cristo Hotel, 1507 Wall St., in Everett.

Each year since 1992, the Arts Council of Snohomish County has honored an artist known for volunteerism in arts education and awareness. Davis was the 1994 honoree.

The "Baker's Dozen + 1" show and sale is a wide-ranging look of the artists' current oils, drawings, basketry, watercolors, fiber art, calligraphy, mezzotints and mixed media.

All of the artists, including nonagenarian Genevieve Tuck and octogenarian Bernie Webber, are still creating art, and nearly all of them are expected to be on hand for a free opening-day reception from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday.

The Artist of the Year honor came to Davis at a time when he was getting more serious about the work he longed to do, "instead of the work I thought might sell."

"After the award, considering people appreciated what I do, I stood back and thought, it's time for me to do what I want to do," he said.

Davis realized there were more-heartfelt issues to explore.

In his classes, he'd often ask students, "What is an artist?"

"The kids would say, 'It's a person that draws.' But I would say it's a philosophy."

In the 1970s and 1980s, Davis was a painter, "but I so enjoyed the old manuscripts and the woodcuts of Dante's 'Divine Comedy.' I loved that style so much, I sort of patterned my work after that, the fineness of pen and ink that can't be shown in paintings."

Davis has also been the author-illustrator of several books, including "The Calling Woods" and a trilogy called "Pilgrims of Blind Island." Now collectibles, these limited-edition books were filled with his drawings, poetry and prose, often picking out the minutiae of life.

"The Calling Woods" tells the story of loss though a rabbit that is released from a cage and runs free for a glorious year.

"It symbolized how delicate our lives are, how one thing can change the direction we're going," Davis said.

"Pilgrims of Blind Island" is an adventure trilogy about mice living on a little-known island in the San Juans. Davis often sailed to Blind Island with his family, camping on their boat or on the 2-acre island near Shaw Island.

"I wondered where these mice came from," he said. "It was just overrun with little mice. During the night, you could hardly sleep."

In the 1985 trilogy, a band of mice on a schooner jump overboard at Blind Island. The story was entirely in rhyme and had more than 40 illustrations.

Living in the woods deep near Monroe, Davis draws the birds and animals that live in the bushes and trees.

"I enjoy the peacefulness of birds," he said. "They don't worry about terrorism. They just flit around looking for their next meal."

Now retired from the Snohomish School District, Davis' days are filled with art and nature, and two days a week, he takes care of one of his youngest grandchildren (he has eight). A 100-yard walk is a long one these days, but he can't deny his grandson D.J. "the listening walk."

"He brings his bird book, and we walk through the woods. He says, 'Grandpa, let's take a listening walk.' He knows all of his birds — if a pileated woodpecker is off in the woods, he knows what it is."

Davis laughed when he recalled himself at that age, growing up in Kansas City, Mo. From the time he picked up a pencil, he drew — even on the white plasterboard in his parents' farmhouse.

"My brother came into the room and said, 'Boy, wait 'til Mom and Dad see this,' " he said.

But they didn't mind — lucky for this Artist of the Year.

Diane Wright: 425-745-7815 or dwright@seattletimes.com