Category Archives: Negative Space

January as Negative Space

I have come to treasure the month of January.

I can trace my affinity back to college when, rather than an extended holiday break, January comprised what was then called “Winter Term”. It was four weeks sandwiched between semesters when we studied only one course intensively. Distilling concentration to a single subject made the month seem more expansive than any other in the year.

Now, even though well beyond school, that sentiment has stayed with me, though for different reasons. I’m relieved the busy holidays are behind us and enjoy that there seem to be less commitments, the weather is conducive to buckling down in the studio, and there are even leftover Christmas cookies in the freezer!

Indulging in an afternoon of reading on January 2nd, I bumped into strategist / entrepreneur / writer Tré Wee’s blog post “52 key learnings in 52 weeks”. #9 on his list, a quote from poet Judy Brown’s poem Fire, is his “learning” that hit home most directly.

“What makes the fire burn is the space between the logs” * (to which Wee adds, “Negative space is not something we see intuitively, but cultivating empty pockets of space is hugely important in our live (sic) if we want to become more creative and effective.)

It made me realize that what I have come to love about the four weeks of January is they embody a form of the negative space to which Brown refers in her poem. It is a welcome time for regrouping and recharging.

Ironically, January often results in becoming my most productive month each year. As Brown says, “it is fuel, and the absence of fuel together, that make fire possible”. In that light, I would urge you to consider how you too might benefit from seeing and appreciating the negative spaces that surround you.

*Read Judy Brown’s poem Fire in full here.

Slow and Steady

This week has been full of experimentation, building on what I’ve learned so far. The process is similar to the progressive states of print-making, with each step producing unexpected discoveries that bring me a little bit closer to where I’m hoping to go.

Following last week’s layered drawings, I began by painting both a positive and a negative image on a piece of raw silk.

Using watercolor pencils and silk organza, a second layer creates the “X”. The idea to use complementary colors wasn’t so successful.

Staying within an analogous color zone was a smarter move.

I’ve had stitching much on my mind, trying to figure out how to integrate it so as to enhance the idea of a positive/negative dichotomy without overwhelming the under-layers and the piece as a whole.

I have been envisioning a much more intensive layering of stitching rather than these simple lines of running stitches. But for this particular rendition/sketch, the simpler lines seemed right. Although hard to see in this photo, a subtle variation of thread color leads the eye in and out of the shapes of both the plants and the “X”, beginning to touch on my goal of an uneasy sense of fluidity between fore- and backgrounds.

It’s time to sit with this for a while so I can figure out how to give stitch a more assertive voice. This example is only about 6″ square. I think working larger will help me figure it out.

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Speaking of “X’s”: before I let you go I want to share this TED Talk by Jamie ‘Mr. X Stitch’ Chalmers with you. I’m sure that those of you who also work with needle and thread will nod your head, appreciating his good humored articulation of truths we all understand so well. And for those of you who may not quite get the attraction to working in this medium, this short talk may make a believer of you. If you’re interested in learning more, here’s his website.

Back to the Drawing Board

Not much for you to read this busy week — instead I’m relying mostly on images to share my thoughts and progression.

I’ve continued to explore along the theme of positive and negative, but have stepped briefly away from painting on silk, reverting instead to pencil on Dura-Lar.

I felt like I needed to move back a bit, trusting that it would ultimately help to push me forward.

In doing so, the complexity of color is removed in favor of value alone.

I like the way the translucency of the Dura-Lar facilitates the idea of positive vs negative in terms of depth, but by using layers that are so obviously flat.

It’s another way to elicit the visual shift between image and surface that I find so fascinating.

Working in Multiples

Picking up from where I left off last week, I am pushing ahead with the idea of creating an interchange between positive and negative space. It’s not a realistic image that I want, but rather an abstracted language for playing with depth of field. I’m not entirely sure how all this will shake out, but the idea is intriguing.

As I’ve been plugging away, I’m beginning to realize the benefit of investigating one area and then releasing it in order to focus on another section, playing all the various parts with and against each other so that they are essentially borrowing from one another in a visual “ending-each-other’s-sentences” kind of way.

At this point I don’t want to be too concerned about the end product, but instead aim to relax any sense of preciousness by concentrating on several pieces at once. I think there is a subconscious advantage in considering each piece as just one in a line-up of several, rather than as a sole effort. I’m finding that by working these pieces in tandem instead of sequentially, they inform each other and, as I work between them, I can follow and act upon any conceptual detours that crop up mid-process.

The challenge of integrating stitch will come later; for now I’m just thinking about the base layers of color in paint.

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For a bit of visual fun with positive and negative space, take a look at Tang Yau Hoong’s website. He’s a masterful visual punster.

Considering Negative Space

This past winter was crazy-busy and as we march toward summer I am hoping to manage a change of pace to recharge my batteries. I’ll bet you are too.

Old habits die hard and I can’t escape the rhythm of the academic year, at least psychologically. I am savoring the idea of summer’s less regimented schedule in the same way I know I will look forward to falling back into a set routine come September.

Things in the studio seem to be moving more slowly lately, probably because of the added distractions of the garden, the higher temps, and the beautiful weather. But despite the fact that these things compete for the limited hours in my day, they also serve to feed the creative fire.

When I’m in the garden, kneeling low to the ground and weeding around the new growth, my viewpoint is concentrated on the two-foot square in front of me, focusing on details rather than a more comprehensive view. I start to see the leaves of young plants abstractly – flattened into the space around them. What I see is transformed into a formal arrangement of shapes in a way that won’t be as obvious once the plants fill out and begin to rub shoulders.

As a result, I have begun consider negative space, both physically – which I am investigating in new work, and conceptually – as it relates to time & each day’s agenda.

Visually, I am embarking on an exploration of a shifting back and forth between positive and negative shapes, using color, and eventually stitch, to orchestrate a dialogue between the two. In the same light, summer’s more relaxed schedule widens areas of “negative space” on our calendars; time that can be filled with restorative activities that soothe and rejuvenate the weary sense of ‘push’ that marks the rest of the year.

My aspirations are always broader than what I can actually accomplish, but I hope the next months will allow me, in addition to pushing forward in the studio, to delve into watercolor, be adventurous with recipes that highlight the bounty from the garden, and have the opportunity to sit on the porch, enjoy the breeze and read a good book.

That said, since I am always on the lookout for a good book recommendation, here are a half dozen that I hope might bring some pleasure to your “negative space” this summer. They are a mixture of art, gardens – and sometimes both together.

A Bigger Message: Conversations with David Hockney -Martin Gayford
The Samurai’s Garden -Gail Tsukiyama
Everyday Matters -DannyGregory
Strapless: John SInger Sargent and the Fall of Madame X -Deborah Davis
Museum: Behind the Scenes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art -Danny Danziger
A Bowl of Olives, On Food and Memory -Sara Midda

Elizabeth Fram

Eye of the Needle