I WILL BE THE FEATURED ARTIST AT THE GREAT WESTERN ART GALLERY IN DOWNTOWN DENVER UNTIL JUNE 12,2009

YOU CAN SEE TWENTY FIVE OF THE SYMPHONY SNIPPETS SERIES.

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Sonja Elingboe of The Littleton Independent Newspapers interviewed me.

This is her article.

MUSIC AS COLOR AND FORM          ARTIST SENSES MUSIC AS COLOR , FORM

Synesthesia: one sense is experienced through the perception of another sense. For example, one may see numbers in certain colors, or one may hear music when observing particular colors,

When painter Jane Renau Denison, who is gifted with this sensitivity, listens to music, colors and shapes form in her mind. That leads to sketches and a series of transparent, brilliantly-hued, multi-layered paintings, framed to emphasize the depth, shapes and shadows. “Music has layers and I see melodies and movements of music as shapes and colors.” Changes in the time of day, as well as where the viewer is standing, will offer a  new view of these floating works, allowing the viewer to “see the music around us.”  She views the wide white mat that surrounds each painting as “the quiet of the music hall.”

A new series of paintings, “Symphony Snippet Series,” by Denison, who has homes in Sedalia and Littleton, will be exhibited May 9 to June 15 at Great Western Art Gallery. An opening public reception is scheduled from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, May 9.

“”Mixed media” is the category where these paintings would be classified in an exhibit, but each one is different and may combine several traditional techniques. “I do lots of experimenting,” Denison says quietly.

The back is a white mat board, which may be left plain, textured in white, painted a textured black or color, or have a material such as wrinkled silver foil attached in collage style. She then paints images on one or both sides of a sheet of duralar, a non-yellowing, flexible material. She applies acrylic and transparent inks in precise forms, lines and loose, “floated” forms, always careful that it not get too thick (or it will peel). The sheets, one or more frequently two, with different images, are fixed between pieces of matting to allow space and light between layers.

Next, the whole collection of layers is placed in a thick brushed silver metal frame.

Denison remembers lengthy conversations with the gallery framer in order to get the effect she envisioned. Now they have it down to a formula, using a Larson Juhl high quality frame with the other materials, including museum quality glass, she says.