So it was a few years ago when Maria Albani and John Harrison and their respective bands were on tour together. Albani and Harrison are also visual artists, and they got to talking about all the other musicians they know who are too.

Harrison, who sings and plays guitar in North Elementary, said he would see art displayed inside a musician's home and would inquire about the artist. Often, it would be the musician.

Albani figured they were onto something. Some musicians make art and never show it.

But "we knew it was good and we wanted people to see it," says Albani, who plays bass in Schooner.

So the pair formed the Minus Sound Research artist collective to exhibit the work of local musicians. The group will open its third annual exhibition tonight at Wootini in Carrboro.

The exhibition features musicians who work in a variety of media. Albani uses acrylic paints on wood. Nathan Oliver, a musician and dentist, carved a tooth from a block of wood. Harrison works with acrylics, spray paint, silk screening and stencils.

Each of the seven artists will show five to seven pieces. All of it is for sale. In a nod to the visual artists' other careers, a CD will be available featuring one song from each artist.

Musicians are often so busy making music and promoting it, not to mention working a day job, that it is impossible to spend much time promoting their visual art, Harrison says.

Minus Sound Research gives them that opportunity.

And it's interesting, he says, to see the parallels between an artist's aural and visual work.

Asked about the similarities in his own art, Harrison says North Elementary makes pop songs that can include sounds that are "counterintuitive to a sensible melody." His visual art does the same thing: Instead of what one might call a "normal" painting, Harrison will enliven his work with random color blotches.

For people who know the artists only through their bands, he says, seeing their visual art "is another window into their creativity."

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