During 2020, I completed several new negative space embroideries. Like my wrinkle embroideries, the negative space pieces are abstract and improvisational — I develop the compositions as I go, rather than planning them in sketches beforehand.
Daily Embroidery (19 Days), by Bonnie Sennott, 2020, perle cotton on linen, 8 x 8 inches, private collection
Negative space is an embroidery technique in which you stitch around a shape rather than the shape itself. For these pieces I used templates of circles and ovals to trace shapes with disappearing ink pen. Sometimes I stitched completely around a shape, other times just partially around.
Daily Embroidery (24 Days), by Bonnie Sennott, 2020, perle cotton on linen dyed with oak galls, 8 x 8 inches
These pieces have been a way for me to create something positive out of the loss and fragmentation of 2020, during which so much of “normal” life was disrupted. I limited the palette in each piece and kept the types of stitches employed to a minimum, hoping to find a balance between the empty spaces and the positive areas of color.
Scattered (39 Days), by Bonnie Sennott, 2020, perle cotton on linen dyed with oak galls, 10 x 10 inches
The three pieces shown above were stitched with Valdani threads. I love this particular brand of perle cotton because the colors are rich but not quite as saturated and bright as other brands. For a piece I’ve just begun (below), I’m using DMC perle cottons. I want this new piece to have a warm, sunny color composition, and the DMC yellows I already have on hand are perfect for it.
If you’re interested in purchasing a piece, please visit the Artwork section of my Etsy shop. Or, click on the email icon on any page of my website to contact me.
To view work in progress, follow me on Instagram — I’m @bonniesennottart there.
Two of these negative space embroideries are part of POST PAUSE, the inaugural exhibition of the Easthampton City Arts online gallery. Curated by Maggie Nowinski, POST PAUSE presents works created during this time of pandemic by artists in western Massachusetts. Each artist's work is accompanied by a statement about how their creative practice has been impacted by COVID-19; here’s a direct link to my work.