Boxer Trades Ring For A Bout In The World Of Art

As a boxer, Danny Mayes liked to land a hard right punch and follow with a left uppercut. Now known as a painter of Seattle street scenes, he leads with his good left hand.

This week he will come in out of the rain to hold an exhibition of his works.

About 35 of his paintings, almost all of them watercolors, will be on display at the Soup Kettle restaurant and gallery, 946 Third Ave., from Thursday through May 30. A reception there on the opening evening will unveil the show.

Mayes, 37, bubbles over with enthusiasm and optimism as he talks about his paintings. He is as irrepressible as they are impressionistic.

``I would like to paint a great poster of Seattle, something to represent the city in its true colors,'' he says. ``Not as a postcard-perfect city but, with the rain, to show the ethnic diversity of the people and the beautiful old buildings next to the new ones.''

Collectors of his paintings say he already has captured marvelous slices of the city, drawn from scenes at the Seattle Center, the Pike Place Market, the waterfront and elsewhere.

``The thing I like are the colors he uses,'' says Elaine Morgan, a receptionist who has three of his oils. ``They are bright, vivid colors, and I like color.''

Among those whom Mayes says has a painting by him is LeRoy Neiman, the internationally known artist best known for his sports illustrations. It's titled ``Kite Flyers.''

Mayes is a native of Tacoma, and he knows the Northwest's weather. One of his more memorable pieces shows people in the rain, umbrellas in hand, their reflections shining in a wet street.

He lives on the top floor of an old University District house, sometimes painting in his living room. He rises early each day to paint before going to the downtown YMCA to work out, says Juanita Rood, owner of the Soup Kettle.

With his solid build and bulging biceps, Mayes still has the imposing figure of a prizefighter, but now his eye is on a different prize, to be the best artist he can be. He was once the sparring partner of Pinklon Thomas, former heavyweight champion from the Northwest. Mayes' brother, Mitchell, followed a career in the ring.

``I'm glad I gave that up,'' Mayes says with a twinkle in his eye. ``Painting is safer than boxing, even if you don't make as much money.''

He continues in a rapid burst of words: ``I'm doing better than a lot of artists, but I do portraits of people to supplement the painting of street scenes. I'm making a living. That's a great step in itself.''

Mayes has been an artist since 1963. He won a scholarship to study at the Burnley School of Commercial Art (now the Art Institute of Seattle) and there came under the influence of Bill Cumming, an instructor who helped him to portray human figures.

He also studied at Seattle Central Community College, where Alden Metcalf, his art instructor and now head of the art department, remembers him as a young man with a lot of potential as an artist.

``He had a nice style. He could draw real well and had a natural ability to put down paint, to show form and color,'' Metcalf says.

Rood says she's proud that an exhibition of Mayes' works will be shown in her downtown restaurant and gallery. When Mayes was selling his paintings on the street he would toss off a piece in 10 or 15 minutes, and maybe get $15 or $20, she says.

Now that his place in the art world is more secure and he has the luxury of doing more ambitious works, his prices have risen accordingly.

``He has come a long way from just doing street scenes,'' Rood says. ``I think Danny is brilliant, and I think he will get better and better.''