About the artist
Carlene Frances holds a BFA in painting and drawing from Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design. She attended Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids, Michigan before moving to Colorado in 1974, where she currently resides. Her medium is oils and uses as many as 20-30 layers of thin transparent glazes creating depth and luminosity in her paintings.
She is inspired by aesthetes of Asian design elements and her work is rooted in eastern philosophy. The journey of finding peace and calm is expressed through her creative practice, where she applies the Buddhist principal of Shunyata–dwelling in emptiness to her canvases, by eliminating the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.
She has been exhibiting professionally since 1997, and her work has been featured in major national and international exhibitions.
Selected Solo, Invitational and Juried Exhibitions
2023 Lone Tree Arts Center, Curated The Commissioners Choice Exhibit, Women Artists & Poets: A Collaboration, Lone Tree, Co
2022 Colorado Gallery of the Arts, Arapahoe Community College, this is Colorado, Littleton, CO
2021 Lone Tree Arts Center, 2021 Commissioner's Choice Exhibit, Into The Rearview Mirror: A Look Back At 2020, Lone Tree, CO
2020 Space Gallery, A Move Towards, Order, Simplicity, Balance, Solo Exhibit, Denver, CO
2020 R Gallery, Meaning in Abstraction, Group Exhibit, Boulder, CO
2019 Arvada Center for the Art and Humanities, Colorado Abstract + 10; A Survey A History, Invitational Exhibit, Arvada, CO
2019 Valdosta State University, Valdosta National 2019, Juried Exhibit, Dedo Maranville Fine Art Gallery, Valdosta, Georgia
2019 ART 2, Two Person Exhibit, Junction Place, Boulder, CO
2019 Denver Place, The Quest for Serenity, Solo Exhibit, Denver, CO
2018 Brownsville Museum of Fine Art, 46th International Art Show, Juried Exhibit, Brownsville, TX
2018 K Contemporary Gallery, Seijaku, Solo Exhibit, Denver, CO
2017 Globe Fine Art, Solo Exhibit, Translucency, Santa Fe, NM
2017 Civic Gallery at Azamino, The 25th International Exhibit
2017 Invitational Group Exhibit, Yokohama, Japan
2017 Space Gallery, White, Invitational Group Exhibit, Denver, CO
2017 Art Movement Colorado, InvitationalGroup Exhibit Grand Opening, Boulder, CO
2016 Center for the Visual Arts,CO Women in Abstraction, Invitational Exhibit, Denver, CO
2016 Nagasaki Art Museum, International Exhibit, Nagasaki, Japan
2016 Park View Gallery, LELA International Exhibit, Los Angles, CA
2016 Rogue West Gallery, Power of Spirit, Steamboat Springs, CO
2016 Space Gallery, Expanding the Dialogue...., Denver, CO
2016 Highland Gallery, Retina, Boulder, CO
2015 Nagasaki Art Museum, International Exhibit, Nagasaki, Japan
2015 The Painting Center, Writing on the Wall, New York City, NY
2015 Riverside Museum of Art, California Dreaming, Riverside CA
2015 Space Gallery, Nature's Line, Denver, CO
2015 40 West Gallery, Black, White & Metal, Lakewood, CO
2014 Ice Cube Gallery, Ice Breaker 5, Juried Exhibit Denver, CO
2014 Curtis Arts & Humanities Center, 31st Annual All Colorado, Juried Exhibit, Greenwood Village, CO
2014 Palazzo della Provincia di Frosinone, California Dreaming, Frosinone, Italy
2014 Oceanside Museum of Art, California Dreaming, Oceanside, CA
2014 Space Gallery, Fusion V, Invitational Exhibit, Denver, CO
2014 Space Gallery, Surface, Invitational Exhibit, Denver, CO
2013 Space Gallery, 30 x 2, Denver, CO
2013 Republic Plaza, Total Abstraction, Denver, CO
2013 Space Gallery, Mind Over Matter, Denver, CO
2013 Arvada Center for the Arts, Art of the State, Juried Exhibit, Arvada, CO
2012 Space Gallery,The Other Primary Colors; White Black Grey, Denver, CO
2012 Cultural Arts Council Fine Arts Gallery, Abstract Expressions, Invitational Group Exhibit, Estes Park, CO
2011 Lowery Gallery, Poetic Synthesis, Invitational Exhibit, Community College of Aurora, CO
2011 Chelsea Art Museum, 1st International Juried Peace Art NYC Exhibition, International Juried Exhibit, NYC, NY
2011 St. Julian Hotel Gallery, Enso, Solo Exhibit, Boulder, CO
2010 Spark Gallery, Biennial Juired Exhibit, Big Themes/Small Work, Denver, CO
2010 Denver Modernism Show, Juried Exhibit, Denver, CO
2010 Museum of Modern Art, International Juried Exhibit, A Book About Death, Wales, UK.
2010 National Museum of Brazil/Museu Brasilerio da Escultura, International Invitational Exhibit, A Book About Death, Sao Paulo, Brazil
2009 The Dairy Center for the Arts
2009 Juried Exhibit, Enso The Circle, Boulder, CO
2008 Curtis Art & Humanities Center, Juried Exhibit, 25th (2008) , 20th (2003), 17th (2000), 16th (1999) Annual All Colorado Art Show, Greenwood Village, CO
2007 Denver Public Library, Santa Fe Art District Exhibit, Denver, CO
2004 Susan K. Arndt Gallery, Mountain Valley Women Artists
2004 Red Rocks Community College, Lakewood, CO
2004 The Lincoln Center, NCAA13th National Art Exhibition, Fort Collins, CO
2004 Evergreen Arts Center, Contemporary Art Exhibit, Evergreen, CO
2002 Museum of Contemporary Art, Regional Juried Exhibit, Rocky Mountain Biennial, Fort Collins, CO
2000 Canyon Road Contemporary of Art, National Invitational, Juried Exhibit, Santa Fe, NM
Education
1998 BFA, Painting and Drawing, Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, Denver, CO
1972 Kendal College of Art and Design of Ferris State University, Grand Rapids, MI
1970 Schoolcraft College, Livonia, MI
Current Representation
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Space Gallery, Denver, CO
Museum and Corporate Collections
2016 Envision Healthcare, Denver, CO
2014 Willow Creek Dental, Lone Tree, CO
2012 Dean Evans & Associates, Greenwood Village, CO
2010 Flux Museum, Fort Worth, TX
2010 Museum of Modern Art, (MOMA), Wales, UK
2010 National Museum of Brazil/Museu Brasilerio da Escultura (MUBE), Sao Paulo, Brazil
2009 Marriott International Inc., Renaissance Hotel, Charleston, SC
2009 Kentler International Drawing Space, Permanent Collection, Brooklyn, NY
2008 AMS Health Inc., Denver, CO.
2008 DCG Law Firm, Broomfield, CO
2007 Towne & Country Real Estate Company, Denver, CO
2007 Law Firm of Castle, Meinhold & Stawjarski LLC, Denver, CO
2000 Law Firm of Huttner & Huttner, Denver, CO
1998 Summit Financial, Englewood, CO
1998 Mississippi Dental, Aurora, CO
1998 Stephens Financial, Denver, CO
Awards and Recognition
2018 Published article, ArtBeat Magazine, Carlene Frances; Non-Referentially Speaking, April issue
2018 Recognition by Westword,Soloe exhibit Seijaku, denver, CO
2013 Recognition by Westword’s Best of Denver, “Best Group Show”, The Other Primary Colors; White Black Grey, Space Gallery, Denver, CO
2013 Published Review in Westword by Michael Paglia, Mind Over Matter Exhibit, Space Gallery, Denver CO
2013 Recognition by Westword’s Best of Denver 2013, “Best Big Show Colorado Art”, Art of the State, Arvada Center For The Arts, Arvada, CO
2013 Arvada Center For The Arts Exhibit Catalog, Art Of The State, Arvada, CO
2013 Published Review in Westword by Michael Paglia, Art of the State, Arvada Center For The Arts, Arvada CO
2012 Space Gallery Exhibit Catalog, The Other Primary Colors; White Black Grey, Denver, CO
2012 Published Review in Westword by Michael Paglia, The Other Primary Colors; White Black Grey, Denver, CO
2011 Space Gallery Exhibit Catalog, Fusion IV, Denver, CO
2011 Published, Tao Te Ching, by RZ Foster, Painting on Book Cover
2010 Flux Museum Exhibit Catalog, FluxFace in Space, Fort Worth, TX
2008 Home & Gardens TV, 22 Paintings featured and filmed in Denver, Designed by architect Suzette Evans for HGTV series, “My Amazing Renovation”
2007 Orbitz Design Published, Corporate Calendar, Denver, CO
2007 Published Article, Art of the Four Corners Magazine, Fall Issue, Full page article on Fusion Exhibit, page 68
2007 Published Book, Fusion: Painting and Poetry
2006 Curators Choice Award, Art for Aids Exhibit, Denver, CO
2004 First Place Award, Contemporary Art Exhibition, Evergreen Center for the Arts, Evergreen, CO
2002 Award of Merit, 3rd Annual Artful Women Exhibit, Fremont Center for the Arts, Canon City, CO
2000 Award of Excellence, National Invitational, Canyon Road Contemporary Art Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1997-2001 RMCAD Published Mural, Integration of Space, Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design College Catalog, Denver, CO
