Sequim artist Mike McCollum calls himself a lifelong observer, describing the spark for beginning an art piece in this way: “You’re bombarded; your senses are bombarded by everything, whether it’s music, whether it’s things you see in an accident on a road … anything that goes by your senses.
In McCollum’s case, he said, he has a tough time forgetting those things, but it can lead to a piece of art.
“[Those things] stick in my mind and if they stick in my mind long enough, then I’m going to try and make a comment on them,” he said.
“The comment gets me started on the piece. And then the piece starts talking, and it may have nothing to do with the original inspiration. It becomes addictive in a way to see if I can resolve that.”
Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen / Mixed media artist Mike McCollum will have a reception for his show at Dandelion Botanical Company of Aug. 4 from 4-6 p.m.
Dandelion Botanical Company owner M. Kachi Cassinelli said she is excited to host the artwork of McCollum through Aug. 31, with a reception on Aug. 4 from 4-6 p.m. at her apothecary at 4681 Sequim-Dungeness Way.
“This is really special,” she said, pointing out that his multimedia pieces, primarily made from wood, resin and charcoal and pastel drawings are “museum quality” artwork.
Both wall hangings and “sculptural containers,” as McCollum referred to them, will be featured.
“I love how vibrant they are,” said Cassinelli, noting that not only is the artwork beautiful, but it has a deep emotional component. The resin above drawings or wood indicates that depth.
Originally from Hoquiam, McCollum has been a practicing artist for almost his entire adult life, ever since taking a required art class when enrolled in general education at Humboldt State University, Calif. in 1964, “looking for something to do” after getting out of the army.
Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen / Mixed media artist Mike McCollum will have a reception for his show at Dandelion Botanical Company of Aug. 4 from 4-6 p.m.
There, he discovered he was good at art.
“I was encouraged by a couple of the professors there,” McCollum said. “So then in my sophomore year I changed to to art and from that point it’s pretty much what I’ve done. Either making art or teaching art or administering art.”
According to his biography, “many of Mike’s artistic sensibilities were developed while in the San Francisco Bay Area in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s, receiving an MA and MFA from UC Berkeley and apprenticing with influential ceramicist/sculptor Peter Voulkos.”
McCollum says that Voulkos is one of his favorite artists, as well as the photographer Diane Arbus and painter Alice Neel.
McCollum met his wife of 35 years, Pat, at the University of Las Vegas, where she ran the gallery and he was a professor.
A former photojournalist, Pat is the one who documents his work, some of which can be viewed at mccollum-art.blogspot.com.
Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen / Mixed media artist Mike McCollum will have a reception for his show at Dandelion Botanical Company of Aug. 4 from 4-6 p.m.
“My work is going to ask you questions,” McCollum warned, “not give you any answers.”
After retiring from UNLV, McCollum was Dean at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle until 2001.
Pat and McCollum say they have lost track of how many exhibitions he’s been in since 1995, which was when he retired from the UNLV. From 1970 until 1995, there were 102.
McCollum said he is glad to share his art at Dandelion.
“It’s a terrific venue,” he said, describing the atmosphere with all the books, the living plants and the herbal products. “I’m thrilled. It’s not often that people can go to a gallery and imagine what the art would look like in their house.”
McCollum advises artists, or tentative artists out there: “Don’t believe you can’t do it. Keep an open mind, be aware of what’s going on around you. You can never tell when you can use that information in a work of art.”
Photo by Pat McCollum / A self portrait by Mike McCollum.
He added, “Don’t doubt yourself. Even as weird as it might be, carry through with it.”
Musical enhancement
Refreshments will be offered at the Aug. 4 reception, enhanced by the music of Ray Kaminsky, an award-winning acoustic guitarist who retired to Sequim from Virginia after more than 40 years in the music industry.
Kaminsky said he will be playing “an eclectic mixture” of folk, blues, pop and gospel.
“Should be something there for everyone,” Kaminsky said.
Kaminsky has spent 40-plus years in the music business, both performing and promoting folk, blues, gospel and popular tunes from the 1950s, ‘60 and ’70s.
An accomplished guitarist in the finger styles of Piedmont and Delta blues, his “Ghosts of the Blues “album won the WAMMIE award and his albums received regular airplay on National Public Radio in the greater Washington, D.C. metro area for decades.
He has four albums and also appears on several compilation albums, including the nationally distributed Oasis Blues sampler.
Artist reception — Mike McCollum
When: 4-6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4
Where: Dandelion Botanical Co.
Also featuring: Guitarist Ray Kaminsky
Exhibit dates: Through Aug. 31
Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen / Mixed media artist Mike McCollum will have a reception for his show at Dandelion Botanical Company of Aug. 4 from 4-6 p.m.
Photo by Pat McCollum / Mixed media artist Mike McCollum will have a reception for his show at Dandelion Botanical Company of Aug. 4 from 4-6 p.m.
Photo by Pat McCollum / “Visitor,” by mixed media artist Mike McCollum, is one of the pieces exhibited and for sale at Dandelion Botanical Company, 4681 Sequim-Dungeness Way, until the end of August.
Photo by Pat McCollum / “Old Man,” by mixed media artist Mike McCollum, is one of the pieces exhibited and for sale at Dandelion Botanical Company, 4681 Sequim-Dungeness Way, until the end of August.
Photo by Pat McCollum / “Weather Change,” by mixed media artist Mike McCollum, is one of the pieces exhibited and for sale at Dandelion Botanical Company, 4681 Sequim-Dungeness Way, until the end of August.
