EPHEMERA GEODES SKIES | Set 1 SKIES | Set 2 SKIES | Blue Phenomena Subset SKIES | Over Lahaina SKIES | Over Ground Zero 1 FINDS HOSTS CONSTELLATIONS SHARDS COCOONS QUAVERS STRAYS TWELFTH NIGHT ORIGINS SPIRES SUGAR STICKS WISHES ICE RANDOM ACTS BOWS PHENOMENA BUBBLES
 
QUAVERS
 
 
SOME PEOPLE CAN hear colors. Others can see musical tones. But what if you had a bit of both abilities? You'd have to try and explain it to people. That's what my "Quavers" are about: Synesthesia. The dictionary defines synesthesia as, "the production of a sense impression relating to one sense or part of the body by stimulation of another sense or part of the body." Turns out I must be what's called a double synesthete; I sense a frequency—like a humming, quivering, or vibrating from colors similar to what we experience from musical tones, and the same in reverse, i.e, musical tones provide a visual quavering of colors. What's weird is, you can tune them up together. 
 
I didn't realize I had this form of perception until I was in my thirties; I'd never even heard of the ability. But I recall having clues that something was up. For example, the first time I saw an Alexander Calder mobile sculpture, I remarked excitedly that he was showing a perfect pitch middle C. No one knew what the heck I was talking about. I remember, too, as a teen, watching the movie Close Encounter of the Third Kind...  when they try to communicate with the aliens, they play a musical phrase while flashing a matching color phrase. I noticed that they didn't really match up; they were botching it. It's no wonder the aliens left. 
 
With Quavers, I decided I try to show what each note in the standard scale "looks" like. "Looks" isn't the right word because it's more how it visually vibrates or quivers. I create these blobs of colors that serve as kind of Quija board paddles that I can move around the picture to "tune" the overall painting so the net vibration is exactly that of the corresponding musical note. I work at the piano and painting simultaneously. Once the painting is tuned up, I lock it down and ad a single overall ground and fluttery stuff to show it's shivering. This is an ongoing series and I've been doing them because when color and musical frequencies align, you get a wonderful sense of connectedness to the world.
 
"Quaver Between G & G Sharp" | Multimedia work on mounted masonite | 36" X 48"
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"Quaver Between G & G Sharp" | Approximate unframed scale view
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"Quaver Between C & C Sharp" | Multimedia work on mounted masonite | 48" X 60"
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"Quaver Between C & C Sharp" | Approximate unframed scale view
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"Quaver Between E Sharp & F" | Multimedia work on mounted masonite | 48" X 60"
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"Quavers Between E Sharp & F" | Surface detail
"Quaver Between E Sharp & F" | Approximate unframed scale view
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"Quaver Between E Sharp & F" | Multimedia work on mounted masonite | 36" X 48"
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"Quaver Between F Flat & G" | Surface detail
"Quavers Between F Flat & G" | Approximate unframed scale view
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"Quaver Between C Sharp & D" | Multimedia work on mounted masonite | 48" X 60"
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"Quavers Between C Sharp & D"| Approximate unframed scale view
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"Quaver Between F & F Sharp" | Multimedia work on mounted masonite | 48" X 60"
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"Quaver Between F & F Sharp" | Approximate unframed scale view
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"Quaver Between D & D Sharp" | Multimedia work on mounted masonite | 48" X 60"
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"Quavers Between D & D Sharp" | Approximate unframed scale view
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"Quaver Between D Flat and C" | Multimedia work on mounted masonite | 48" X 60"
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"Quavers Between D Flat and C" | Approximate unframed scale view
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"Quaver Between E & E Sharp" | Multimedia work on mounted masonite | 48" X 60"
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"Quaver Between E & E Sharp" | Approximate unframed scale view
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"Quaver Between D Sharp & E" | Multimedia work on mounted masonite | 48" X 60"
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"Quaver Between D Sharp & E" | Approximate unframed scale view
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"Quaver Between A & A sharp" | Multimedia work on mounted masonite | 48" X 60"
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"Quaver Between A & A sharp" | Approximate unframed scale view
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"Quaver Between B & B Sharp" | Multimedia work on mounted masonite | 36" X 48"
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"Quaver Between B & B Sharp" | Approximate unframed scale view
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"Quaver Between G & G Sharp" | Multimedia work on mounted masonite | 36" X 48"
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"Quavers Between G & G Sharp" | Approximate unframed scale view
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"Quaver Between B Sharp & A" | Multimedia work on mounted masonite | 48" X 60"
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"Quaver Between B Sharp & A" | Approximate unframed scale view
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"Quavers Study Between A Sharp & C" | Multimedia work on mounted masonite | 22" X 28"
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"Quaver Between E Flat & D" | Multimedia work on mounted masonite | 36" X 48"
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"Quaver Between E Flat & D" | Installation mock up
"Quaver Between G & G Sharp" | In sample float frame