Tri-City artist leaves a legacy in brush strokes, a trove of paintings now for sale

Roy Brooks Pettus was an engineer by trade.

But he also was an accomplished painter — one who captured the colors and landscapes around him, including many Tri-City sights, with skill and grace.

He showed his work locally and around the country, and he won numerous awards.

When he died in 2003, he left behind hundreds of original pieces.

On Aug. 4-6, a large collection of his work will be available for sale as part of a larger estate sale.

Terry Maurer, an appraiser and Tri-City Herald columnist, helped put it together.

“The reason I got involved, more than just helping out in the beginning, (was that) I got enamored with the work that he did,” Maurer told the Herald. “I think he was great.”

He was certainly prolific. Pettus, who was 85 when he died, painted what he saw.

Scenes from his travels, from time spent living in places like California, New Mexico and Illinois.

Scenes from the Tri-Cities.

Pettus, his wife, Elna, and their two youngest children — Carla Alme and Roy Pettus Jr. — moved here in the 1960s so Pettus could take a job with Washington Public Power Supply System, or WPPSS.

The couple’s eldest daughter, Olga Cadish, was finishing college and engaged, so she stayed behind in California.

Pettus and his wife eventually left the Tri-Cities, his work taking them east. They moved back to Kennewick in retirement.

The many Tri-City area scenes featured in Pettus’ portfolio include a storm in Finley and a nighttime view of the cable bridge, with the old Pasco-Kennewick green bridge still standing next to it.

It was painted in the mid-1990s, most likely from a picture Pettus had taken sometime earlier, Maurer said.

In an interview with the Herald in 2001, for a story about a show at the Allied Arts gallery, Pettus talked about his process.

“Sometimes I paint from memory, and sometimes I use photographs I took years ago,” he said. “I never really know what’s going to end up on the canvas until I start. That’s what I like best about watercolors. You can always change your mind even after you’ve started.”

Pettus was born in the city of Canadian, Texas, and earned a bachelor’s of fine arts degree from the University of New Mexico.

Cadish, who’s working with Maurer on the estate sale, always remembers her dad painting.

He worked largely in watercolor, although he also did some oil pieces. He also left some artistic touches on their homes.

“He did a desert scene on the side of our stucco garage. Rice Canyon, I think, was what the model was. When we moved, it stayed there,” Cadish said.

That was on their house in North Hollywood, Calif. In Sunland, Calif., he painted a dining room wall — a black tree set against a reddish, coral backdrop. “It was very striking,” Cadish said.

She has some of her dad’s work in her house in Texas, including a painting of Palouse Falls and a piece depicting the San Antonio river walk.

She knew he was talented and accomplished, but “I’m learning to appreciate it even more now,” she said.

“Some of the stuff I’ve seen this week, that we’ve gotten out (in preparation for the sale), has blown my mind. It’s been so beautiful,” Cadish said.

Elna Pettus died in 2013. She also was an artist, and the estate sale will feature some of her work, although she didn’t leave as large a portfolio as her husband.

Furniture and other items from the Pettus home on South Dayton Place in Kennewick also will be sold.

Cadish and Maurer looked through the artwork on a recent afternoon.

There were so many pieces. So lovely, so many colors. A legacy in brush strokes.

Cadish said it’s nice to think of the work going to people who’ll appreciate it. Of her dad’s work, her parents’ work, being cherished and admired.

“(Pettus) loved his family and he took care of us and he loved the area,” the daughter said.

He found beauty in it, leaving his own works of beauty in return.

The estate sale is 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 4-6 at the Pettus home, 2712 S. Dayton Place. Parking is limited.

This story was originally published August 3, 2016 at 7:14 PM with the headline "Tri-City artist leaves a legacy in brush strokes, a trove of paintings now for sale."