Carlene Frances holds a BFA in painting and drawing from Rocky Mountain College of Art and Designwhere she studied under educator/artist Clark Richert.  She also attended Kendall College of Design ofFerris State University in Michigan.  She has taught drawing/painting at Colorado School of Mines, andRed Rocks Community College.  She is a member of the National Association of Women Artists in New York.

 

Selected Exhibitions:

•        Arvada Center for the Arts, Art of the State 2013, Juried Exhibit, Arvada CO

•        Chelsea Art Museum, 1st International Juried Peace Art NYC Exhibition 2011,

          International Juried Exhibit, New York,

•        St. Julian Hotel, One Woman Exhibit, Boulder, CO

•        Denver Modernism Show, Juried Exhibit, Denver, CO

•        Museum of Modern Art, International Juried Exhibit, A Book About Death, Wales,

          UK.

•        National Museum of Brazil/Museu Brasilerio da Escultura 2010, International

          Exhibit, A Book About Death, Sao Paulo, Brazil

•        The Dairy Center for the Arts 2009, Juried Exhibit, Enso The Circle, Boulder, CO

•        25th All Colorado 2008, Juried Exhibit, Curtis Art & Humanities Center,

          Greenwood Village, CO

•        Museum of Contemporary Art- Regional Juried Exhibit, Rocky Mountain

          Biennial 2002, Fort Collins, CO

•        Canyon Road Contemporary Gallery of Art- National Juried Exhibit, National

          Invitational Exhibit, Santa Fe, NM

•        Susan K. Arndt Gallery, Mountain Valley Women Artists, Red Rocks Community

          College, Lakewood, CO

•        The Lincoln Center, 13th National Art Exhibit, National Juried Group Exhibit,

          Fort Collins, CO

•        Cultural Arts Council Fine Arts Gallery, Abstract Expressions, Estes Park,

          COMuseum and Corporate Collections:

•        Flux Museum, Fort Worth, TX

•        Museum of Modern Art, (MOMA), Wales, UK

•        DCG Law Firm, Broomfield, CO•        Marriott International Inc. Charleston, SC

•        Law Firm of Castle, Meinhold & Stawjarski, Denver, CO

•        Summit Financial, Denver, CO

•        Law Firm Huttner & Huttner, Denver Cherry Creek, CO

•        AMS Health Inc., Denver, CO.

•        National Museum of Brazil/Museu Brasilerio da Escultura (MUBE), Sao Paulo, Brazil  

•        Towne & Country Real Estate Company, Denver, CO

•        Kentler International Drawing Space Collection, Brooklyn, NY

•        Dean Evans & Associates, Greenwood Village, CO

 

Artist Statement: Enso Series

 

Enso, Chinese for Circle, is an important figure in Taoist Philosophy.  It is considered all-powerful andencompassing.  The circle is a geometric figure without a beginning or end.  Enso is a formless reality, andmostly deals with the concept of oneness.  In his commentaries on the collective unconscious Carl Jungrefers to the circle as the“archetype of wholeness”.Throughout the ages, the circle has always evoked feelings of calm, completeness and a representation of ourtrue self.  Each time an enso is brushed it reflects the state of mind of the artist.

 

The technique I use in my paintings is called glazing.  I apply many thin layers of transparent oil paint tocreate a luminous atmosphere. These large simplistic areas of glazed color are juxtaposed to complex areas ofgestural graphite lines, circles (enso) and shapes, therefore creating a fusion of balance and blur the linebetween drawing and painting.My intent is not to make art that appears Asian but that emerges from the power of its aesthetics.  I striveto transcend technique, primarily using it as a tool to communicate spiritual insight.…In this great circle. The whole self is presented. And my true face is revealed.