M.M. Roe remembered

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, July 1, 2026

Twenty years is a long time. But is it really?

This is what Jim Plampin found himself contemplating after 35 years with the Quinault Indian Nation where he retired as forest manager. Now, as he prepares to sell his Humptulips home, it is time to celebrate the life and talent of his late wife, the artist M.M. Roe.

Mary Margaret “Maggie” Roe died in 2006 at age 59 after enduring poor health for years.

Her original work was available at the former Gallery Marjuli in Ocean Shores. Memorabilia such as note cards, refrigerator magnets, bookmarks and prints from her original watercolors and paintings were sold in gift shops up and down the Oregon and Washington coast. Throughout the Northwest, actually. Later, she began making jewelry, which you could find at the Gallery Marjuli, Ocean Crest Resort, Etsy and eBay. Her Native American-inspired art has endured and is practically ubiquitous.

After she died, Jim brought all of her work back home to Humptulips. Her artwork, supplies and inventory have remained virtually undisturbed since her death. Meantime, Jim went about doing what he needed to do — he got up and did the work of living.

A couple of years after Maggie’s death, Jim met his current wife, Linda. They have enjoyed dividing their time between Humptulips and her home in the Olympia area. Now that they’re fully retired, though, they’ve purchased a new home and “it’s time to downsize,” he says.

Maggie and Jim met in 1987. Both had moved to the Quinault area for jobs with the Forest Service.

In 1990, they purchased 10 acres in Humptulips that included an A-frame, a barn, and a pond. Their house was essentially her studio. Her commercial success as an artist was growing, but she was happiest painting and crafting at home in the rainforest in the company of their three horses, three dogs, cats, and chickens.

She chose M.M. Roe as her signature because it was gender neutral. She didn’t want people to have preconceived ideas about her work based on her name. But also because it allowed her to compartmentalize her different selfs.

“She was a hippy,” Jim adds fondly. “Nature is where she found inspiration and she loved animals.”

M.M. Roe was a rare combination of outsize talent and entrepreneurship. Twice she sent Jim to Alaska to buy fossilized walrus ivory from the Yupiks on St. Lawrence Island for her scrimshaw jewelry, both because it was coveted as the highest quality and because it was more cost efficient and respectful to buy directly from the Indigenous people.

The stationery depicting her work became so much in demand by Northwest museums and gift shops that she and Jim hired a company to process orders under their High Spirits Publishing label.

“It was a relief, because then she could focus on what she loved best,” Jim says.

Watercolor was her favorite medium, but she also was a carver, and she loved to decoupage pottery. In later years, she focused on jewelry. She had so many interests that when Jim took it all in, he just didn’t know how to get started.

“And I was working,” Jim adds.

He was a forester with the Quinault Indian Nation in the days when the Quinaults were charting new territory on self-governance and the management of their tribal lands.

So the years went by.

Now, the right time has arrived. He’s endeavoring to downsize in ways that honor Maggie and give back to the community. For example, he recently donated dozens of cases of note cards that feature her watercolors of Washington and Oregon lighthouses to the Westport South Beach Historical Society, the non-profit that operates the Westport Maritime Museum and the Grays Harbor Light. It’s a perfect fit in more ways than one: Jim’s stepdad was a Coastie.

The lighthouse cards will soon be available for sale with all proceeds directly supporting the maritime museum and the lighthouse.

John Shaw, executive director of the Historical Society, called the donation of the lighthouse card sets not just a gift to the Westport South Beach Historical Society, “but also a gift to the community of lighthouse lovers who engage and celebrate our Washington and Oregon lighthouses and their stories.”

Downsizing and preparing to sell the Humptulips property also means that for the first time in 20 years, M.M. Roe originals are available locally. On July 4, The Gallery of Ocean Shores at 849 Point Brown Ave. N.W., which is operated by the North Beach Artists’ Guild, will open a showing of M.M. Roe’s work featuring pieces from Jim’s private collection dating back to the 1980s. Jim has also placed some of her work with Whisperwood Custom Framing at 633 E. Pioneer Ave. in Montesano.

Ocean Shores artist Roy Lowry of the North Beach Artists’ Guild is helping to curate the show. He was not familiar with M.M. Roe’s work until he was invited to the Humptulips studio to prepare for the show.

He was blown away.

“To see her work all in one place, is something I can’t describe,” he says. “The attention to detail, the composition. … It was amazing. I got choked up.”

In Lowry’s opinion, M.M. Roe has flown under the radar all these years because her work was pulled from the market before she had an online presence.

“If she was creating today,” he said, “I think she would be famous.”

D.A. Shaw is a former journalist on Grays Harbor whose career included being a reporter and the assistant city editor at The Daily World and later, editor and general manager of The Vidette.

Visit the Gallery

The Gallery of Ocean Shores will open a showing of M.M. Roe’s artwork from 2 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, July 4. It will include works from her husband’s private collection dating to the 1980s.

Address: 849 Point Brown Ave. N.W.

Daily Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Admission: Free

Phone: (360) 289-0734

Just a Note

A collection of note cards featuring watercolors of 16 Washington and Oregon lighthouses painted by the late M.M. Roe of Humptulips has been donated to the Westport South Beach Historical Society by her husband, Jim Plampin.

“This is both a significant gift and an opportunity to showcase the work of a Grays Harbor artist,” Executive Director John Shaw said. “We are very grateful to Jim for his interest and support.”

The Washington lighthouses in the collection include Mukilteo, Lime Kiln, North Head, Cape Disappointment, New Dungeness, Grays Harbor, Admiralty Head and Alki Point. The Oregon lighthouses include Umpqua River, Cape Blanco, Tillamook Rock, Cape Meares, Coquille River, Heceta Head, Yaquina Bay and Yaquina Head.