Sequim artist Mike McCollum exhibits his recent work at The Gallery at Dungeness Design, 520 N. Sequim Ave., from Jan. 6-Feb. 28. The exhibit, entitled “Real and Imagined: Wood and Resin Constructs,” features the artist’s abstract landscapes made of wood (sticks, branches, found wood objects) mostly collected from the property where he lives.

He invites viewers to experience landscape in an alternative way through the use of color and placement of found and manipulated objects. The layering of colors and objects in the work relates to the layers of earth, rock and water.

  A native of Hoquiam, McCollum developed his artistic sensibilities while in the San Francisco Bay area in the late 1960s and 1970s, earning an MFA from the University of California – Berkeley and apprenticing with influential painter/ceramicist/sculptor Peter Voulkos. In 1980, McCollum was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts individual fellowship grant.

McCollum’s academic career is long and commendable: 26 years at the University of Nevada – Las Vegas as a professor of art, five years as Dean of the Fine and Performing Arts School at UNLV and five years as academic dean at The Cornish College of Arts in Seattle.

McCollum has been creating and exhibiting his artwork since 1964.

Regarding his motivation to make art, he said, “It keeps me alive and engaged everyday.”

  He describes his job as an artist as making decisions on what to leave in and what to take out and he sees art as a process of reduction, getting rid of the chaff and striving for the essence of the idea.

A reception for the artist will be from 5-8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6, in celebration of the exhibit opening and First Friday Art Walk and on Feb. 3 for the month’s First Friday Art Walk.