Artist Discovered She Could See Colors in Music. What She Did Next Is Amazing (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Sarah Kraning standing in front of one of her paintings.Photo:Michelle Grace Hunder

Michelle Grace Hunder

Sarah Kraningfirst noticed something unusual about herself when she was 8 years old. While listening to music, she would describe seeing different colors associated with the songs. For Disney tunes, she often saw sparkles, which left her mom looking on with confusion.

As a child, Kraning also fell in love with painting. She would listen to sounds and music, then apply colors to a canvas to match what she saw. It wasn’t until years later, while studying psychology in college, that the Minneapolis native learned aboutsynesthesia— a condition in which sensory crossovers occur, such as tasting colors or feeling sounds. It was then she realized her unique experiences were part of a recognized phenomenon.

“Every song is totally different,” Kraning tells PEOPLE. “They have unique colors, textures, and movements. Sometimes people ask if it’s just imagining something, but for me, it’s incredibly intense — almost like a waking dream. It doesn’t cover my vision, but it’s so vivid that it might as well be happening right in front of me.”

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Sarah Kraning painting in her studio.Brad Allgood

Brad Allgood

When it comes to painting, Kraning explains that each experience is different. She works primarily with acrylic and acrylic ink on canvas and tends to use increasingly larger canvases each year.

“Sometimes I’ll hear a song just once, and I’ll paint the whole piece in a matter of minutes,” she says. “Other times, I might work with musicians, painting their music and creating one painting per song. It can happen quickly, but for more intricate pieces, I might replay the song 10 or 11 times to get every detail just right. I always play the song while painting to capture as much of it as possible.”

“A lot of musicians, they’ll see my paintings and they’ll say it makes sense,” she adds. “So I suspect there may be some musicians actually that also have synesthesia or a little bit of it a spectrum. A lot of musicians actually talk about their music in terms of color and texture. So I think that might be part of why there’s a nice connection there and some positive feedback.”

When she first began sharing her paintings online, Kraning didn’t expect anyone beyond friends and family to see them. But during the pandemic, she decided to post her work. “It took off pretty quickly,” she says.

“I had a few videos hit a million views, and it just grew from there,” Kraning adds. “I’ve received feedback that it helps others with synesthesia feel seen, and music lovers appreciate it too. Music is such a unifying force, and the positive response from both groups gave me the courage to keep sharing.”

“I’m fortunate to be able to sell most of my paintings when I put them up on my site, but I have a large studio where I keep my unsold work,” she continues.

If Kraning had to choose a favorite genre for both painting and listening, it would be EDM (electronic dance music). She finds it to be the most sensory and colorful of everything she listens to. However, some EDM tracks can be so intensely sensory that they make driving challenging due to their vivid and distracting colors in her mind.

“I’ve also received positive feedback from musicians, which is really fulfilling,” she adds. “For instance, I worked with the electronic duo Bob Moses a few months ago in April. They saw the painting and provided feedback about it, which was incredibly exciting for me.”

“I’ve had a lot of requests from that for other K-pop groups, like BTS. So I think probably I’ll do a BTS song soon. Obviously Sabrina Carpenter is on my list, and those are kind of the big ones coming up,” she adds.

source: people.com