Upon entrance into “All Things Being Equal” — Ken Van der Does’ August exhibit at the Collective Visions Gallery in Bremerton — one is greeted by a big, bright yellow-backgrounded self portrait of the artist.

Beyond that greeting, there are semi-abstractly familiar Northwest/peninsula scenes — boats, boat houses, a street artist doing his thing on a sunny day downtown, a captain’s wheel.

The entirety of the show almost makes the self-portrait piece look out of place, but the steel-blue-eyed, gray-haired figure of the wise old artist is quite relevant upon reading its title — “Where I Am Now.”

This collection of oils is where Van der Does is now. And it will only be up through the end of August.

Though it’s not immediately represented in the show, following a decade-plus of working in the marketing industry, Van der Does said he is finally on the verge of becoming a full-time artist for the first time in his life. He expects this sometime within the next few years.

Years ago in the early ‘90s, Van der Does was one of the founders that helped build the Collective Visions Gallery, and 13 years later, he’s still heavily involved.

Back before there was Collective Visions, Van der Does was meeting with a group of clients for his marketing business when he discovered that good portion of them were artists. He began a conversation with potter Susan Peterson that eventually segued into the need for a gallery in downtown Bremerton.

Both agreed that it would be a great idea, he said, and they rounded up a group of 10-to-15 other “stake holders” for the first official CVG meeting in Van der Does’ office.

“So I said, ‘It sounds like we all want to do it, why doesn’t everybody send me a check for 200 bucks or so and I’ll get the ball rolling,’” he recalled.

Exhibiting eagerness for another place for artists in downtown Bremerton, the checks started coming in. Soon after, Collective Visions opened its doors in 1994, and the rest is history.

“When we first started, nobody really knew who we were,” Van der Does said. “In terms of acceptance in the community, we have gained great grounds … The gallery will certainly conitinue to become a major art venue for not only Kitsap County but also for the State”

Collective Visions is preparing to make its mark in Washington state as its in the organizational stages of a statewide juried art show slated for February 2008.

On the current end of the spectrum, Van der Does’ current show, “All Things Being Equal,” makes its mark locally.

“These are images that if you live here, you have maybe seen,” he said. “I can take that image and magnify it and exaggerate it and add the soul of that image … it’s familiar but its within the unfamiliar.”

Van der Does’ work borders realism and abstraction along a colorful balance. His paintings are cloaked with so much oil and color that they shimmer under the gallery light.

One of the largest pieces in the show — a 54-inch-by-47-inch near completely pink-washed scene of boats on the water titled “To the Moon and Back” — is also one of the most interesting because of it’s abnormality. While Van der Does regularly works a bit on the abstract side, he tends to counter with a dose of realism. But not too much.

There’s enough “gray area” there to give the imaginative viewers their legs while likely prompting the realist types to pull out their hair.

Collective Visions founder Ken Van der Does’ exhibit “All Things Being Equal” will be up through the month of August at the Gallery — 331 Pacific Ave. in Bremerton. Gallery hours are: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Info: www.collectivevisions.com or call (360) 377-8327.