Synaesthesia &&&& Rachelle

Valley artist Rachelle Olsen, mentioned previously in this blog, made me an offer I could not refuse. If I would write her “Artist’s Biography,” a succinct crystallization of her artistic focus, career and philosophy, she would pay me either in cash or a painting of hers. No fool I, I chose the painting. This evening I go to pick it up. It looks like this:

Here is what she got in return:

“Rachelle Olsen is the artistic force behind the Phoenix, Arizona gallery

Impossible Blue Studios, which showcases her paintings in acrylics on wood and

canvas. Born in American Fork, Utah, her upbringing was in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Though she is mostly self-taught, she has benefited from the tutelage of Burdell

Moody of the Belleza Gallery in Bisbee, Arizona. Her signature work is the

depiction of realistic subject matter in a geometrically expressionistic manner,

uniting pictorial elements with pixelesque vibrance. There is speculation that her

work partakes of her unique synaesthetic sense, which occurs in about one in 25

people and which transfers sensory input from one sense to another. She may, for

instance, hear a sound and have her brain ‘translate’ it to sight.

“Ms. Olsen’s work has been showcased in such diverse Phoenix venues as the

Firestage Theatre, the Fair Trade Cafe, and “Equinox” on the Art Detour. Her work

is in the collections of Jobeth Jamison, Eric Shelley, and James Wannerton in the

United Kingdom.”

After we agreed on the deal I asked Rachelle if I could feature her in one of my blog posts, and double-acrosticize her and Synthaesthesia. She readily agreed, and here is what I did.

 

And here is what it says, synaes-synthesizing all over the place:

Synaesthesia & Rachelle

Sensoria draw lines across the [sand]
You C a sound to freeze U where you [stand]
Nor ought we give the C a [reprimand]
A [beaten] C [delineates] what’s [grand]
Effective photons hit us in the kisser
Salacious tactiles tickle aural viscera
Then translate them into a textual [or textile] doc
Hot contrails stream their vids from Mock to Mach
Essential oils taste green as mink we stole
So fletch that arrow & make William tell
Intentionally odd hues bright & droll
Avail her of a oeuvre si si belle [work so so beautiful]