Negative Space Embroideries

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.

Daily Thread: Piece No. 14 (Waning)

For the 14th piece in Daily Thread, my 2019 stitch journal, I chose the theme of “waning.” To start the piece, I stitched the colors of the year’s last nasturtium blooms in “V” or boomerang shapes something like the simple way children draw birds in flight.

As the piece progressed, I added intersecting, randomly curling lines in backstitch. This tangle of lines was inspired by the beautiful jumble of the nasturtium’s fading leaves and stems. In the end, I re-oriented the piece so that the “V” shapes pointed downward, to accentuate the feeling of summer ending, the time when flowers and plants begin drooping down toward the earth.

I worked on this piece from September 3, 2019 (Day 246 of this yearlong daily embroidery project) to September 24 (Day 267).

Coming up: My next Daily Thread post will be about the 15th piece, which had the theme of “sky.”

New work: While I’m furloughed from my day job due to COVID-19, I’m creating a series of furlough daily embroideries. To learn more, follow me on Instagram or follow the hashtag #furloughdailyembroidery.

Exhibition news: Two of my furlough daily embroideries are in POST PAUSE, the inaugural exhibition of the new 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.

If life is back to normal next spring, I will be showing the entire Daily Thread project in April 2021 at the Hosmer Gallery in Northampton’s Forbes Library. Later in the year (dates to be determined), it will also be shown at Easthampton City Arts.

LINKS

About the Daily Thread Project
@bonniesennottart on Instagram

Exhibition Announcement: POST PAUSE

Two of my furlough daily embroideries are in POST PAUSE, the inaugural exhibition of the new 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.

Bonnie Sennott, Daily Embroidery (19 Days), 2020, perle cotton on natural linen, 8 x 8 inches

Bonnie Sennott, Daily Embroidery (24 Days), 2020, perle cotton on linen dyed with oak galls, 8 x 8 inches

These abstract embroideries employ the technique of negative space embroidery. The unstitched spaces speak of all that’s disappeared from my life this year — I’ve had two shows canceled when the galleries closed. I’ve lost income due to being furloughed from my job. I’ve lost my sister Jackie, who passed away due to cancer. Daily embroidery has been a way to create something positive out of the loss and fragmentation of 2020.

I hope you’ll have a chance to visit the new Easthampton City Arts online gallery and see the exhibition. So far as I can tell, it’s not searchable, so here’s a direct link to my work.

Daily Thread: Piece No. 13 (Two Birches)

The thirteenth piece of my 2019 daily stitch journal focused on two birch trees I’ve spent years observing. These two trees stand tall at the edge of my backyard, greeting me every morning, in every season. For some reason, they give me a lot of inner strength. When they leaf out every spring, it’s the most thrilling, joyful time of the whole year.

The two birches this morning (just left of center). They still have most of their leaves and few have turned yellow yet. It’s late in October for them to still be green.

This piece is the least abstract of the 18 embroideries in Daily Thread, my 2019 stitch journal. I worked on it from August 14 to September 2, 2019, days 226–245. For this daily art project, I stitched each day using colors observed in my backyard in western Massachusetts. Each Daily Thread piece had a particular theme, chosen at the outset, such as "snow," "sky," "bark and bramble," "verdant," or "winged."

I happened to have a variegated Valdani pearl cotton that reminded me of birch bark every time I picked it up. Having devoted one piece to bark and bramble early in the year, I decided to dedicate another just to these two trees.

Palette for Daily Thread Piece No. 13

Coming up: My next Daily Thread post will be about the 14th piece, which had the theme of “waning.”

New work: While I’m furloughed from my day job due to COVID-19, I’m creating a series of Furlough Daily Embroideries. To learn more, follow me on Instagram or follow the hashtag #furloughdailyembroidery.

Exhibition news: I’ve had recent embroidery work accepted for “Post Pause,” an upcoming online exhibition organized by Easthampton City Arts. Their online gallery is under construction — I’ll share more details as soon as I get them. The show is expected to “open” around November 1.

If life is back to normal next spring, I will be showing the entire Daily Thread project in April 2021 at the Hosmer Gallery in Northampton’s Forbes Library. Later in the year (dates to be determined), it will also be shown at Easthampton City Arts.

LINKS

About the Daily Thread Project
@bonniesennottart on Instagram

Daily Thread: Pieces 5 (The Far Field) and 6 (Forsythias)

Beyond the backyard of my condo, after a narrow strip of birches and hemlocks, there’s a large field that slops downhill from west to east. A beautiful big field that’s home to foxes, rabbits, and clumps of forsythias—breathtaking when they bloom every April.

“The far field,” as I think of it, belongs to the people whose house is at the top of the hill. I’ve often wondered if they will ever sell the field, if it will be developed and the peaceful view ruined. But in the 16 years I’ve lived here, the field has been left alone. They mow it now and then, and a few years back installed a large solar panel that partly obstructs my view (but not theirs). I’ve gotten used to seeing the solar panel, though there are still times when I wish it would magically disappear (at left in the photo below).

For Piece No. 5 of Daily Thread, each day I stitched a color seen in the far field. The piece began with the tawny colors of last year’s growth, brittle and bleached by winter, and the deep browns of tree bark and branches. I started it on April 1 and ended it on April 18, just as the forsythias began blooming (Days 91–108 of the project). A few exuberant circles stitched in yellow French knots marked the joyful turn from winter to spring.

Piece No. 6 of Daily Thread focused exclusively on the bright patches of yellow — there are two stands of forsythia in the far field, and every year their beauty makes me catch my breath. I began it on April 19 and finished on May 4 (Days 109–124 of the project).

Daily Thread: Piece No. 6 (Forsythias), by Bonnie Sennott, 2019, pearl cotton and linen, 6 inches x 6 inches

I used a template to create oval shapes that burst outward from the center. Then I filled in the spaces between the ovals with golden seed stitch, gradually transitioning to green as the yellow flowers faded and green leaves replaced them.

From this point forward — until fall, anyway — the project’s colors became brighter and more saturated. For Daily Thread: Piece No. 7, with the theme of “winged,” I stitched colors of the birds throughout May. More on that in my next post.

Exhibition update: I had planned to show Daily Thread next month in my show at the Hosmer Gallery in Northampton’s Forbes Library. But since the library is closed for the time being due to the coronavirus, the show has been postponed to April 2021. It’s disappointing, to be sure, but it’s important that we all do what we can to prevent spread of the virus. I’ll also be exhibiting in September of this year at Easthampton City Arts and Daily Thread will be part of that show.

LINKS

About the Daily Thread Project
@bonniesennottart on Instagram

Fiber and Fashion Exhibition Closes Sunday

“Fiber and Fashion,” an exhibition at #LOCAL Gallery featuring 16 artists working in a variety of textile media, closes this Sunday.

The show includes three of my wrinkle embroideries — works that I begin by purposely wrinkling linen, then stitching along the wrinkle lines with back stitch or running stitch. I then add other colors and other kinds of stitches to the resulting “map” or “armature” of wrinkle lines, gradually building up areas of greater texture and density. This collage shows the piece titled Winter Flame in progress and finished, stretched over a canvas.

#LOCAL Gallery is located at 40 Cottage Street in Easthampton, Massachusetts. Gallery hours are Thursday–Saturday, 12:00–7:00 pm and Sunday 12:00–5:00 pm

Art Talk at #LOCAL Gallery

This Friday, June 28, I’ll be one of several artists in the “Fiber and Fashion” exhibit at #LOCAL Gallery speaking about our work at an Art Talk. I’ll bring a couple of works in progress and will share how I create my wrinkle embroideries. The event starts at 6:00 pm; admission is $10, which includes champagne.

“Fiber and Fashion” continues through July 7 at #LOCAL Gallery, 40 Cottage Street in Easthampton. Gallery hours are Thursday–Saturday, 12:00–7:00 pm and Sunday 12:00–5:00 pm.

Billow

This piece, titled Billow, is one of my abstract embroideries in “Fiber and Fashion,” a show featuring 16 artists working in a variety of textile media at #LOCAL Gallery in Easthampton, Massachusetts.

Billow is one of my wrinkle embroideries — works that I begin by purposely wrinkling linen, then stitching along the wrinkle lines with back stitch or running stitch. I then add other colors and other kinds of stitches to the resulting “map” or “armature” of wrinkle lines, gradually building up areas of greater texture and density. The stitching proceeds slowly and meditatively, until the composition attains a sense of balance and completeness.

“Fiber and Fashion” continues through July 7 at #LOCAL Gallery, 40 Cottage Street in Easthampton. Gallery hours are Thursday–Saturday, 12:00–7:00 pm and Sunday 12:00–5:00 pm.

Fiber and Fashion Exhibition at #LOCAL Gallery

Several of my abstract embroideries are part of a group show focused on fiber art opening this Saturday, May 11, at #LOCAL Gallery in Easthampton, Massachusetts. “Fiber and Fashion” presents fiber art you can view and fiber art you can wear by 16 artists working in a variety of media.

The pieces in this show are examples of my wrinkle embroideries — works that I begin by purposely wrinkling linen, then stitching along the wrinkle lines with back stitch or running stitch. I then add other colors and other kinds of stitches to the resulting “map” or “armature” of wrinkle lines, gradually building up areas of greater texture and density. The stitching proceeds slowly and meditatively, until the composition attains a sense of balance and completeness.

“Fiber and Fashion” continues through July 7 at #LOCAL Gallery, 40 Cottage Street in Easthampton. An opening reception will be held Saturday, May 11, 5:00–8:00 pm, during the monthly Easthampton Art Walk. Gallery hours are Thursday–Saturday, 12:00–7:00 pm and Sunday 12:00–5:00 pm.

Bonnie Sennott: Abstract Embroidery Closes March 29

Stitch Journal 2019, No. 1 (Earth), by Bonnie Sennott

“Bonnie Sennott: Abstract Embroidery,” at the Hosmer Gallery in Northampton, Massachusetts, closes this Friday, March 29. Included in the show are the first two pieces in my current yearlong daily art project, Stitch Journal 2019.

The gallery is located on the second floor of the Forbes Library at 20 West Street in downtown Northampton. Hours are Monday and Wednesday, 9 am - 9 pm; Tuesday and Thursday, 1 - 5 pm; Friday and Saturday, 9 am - 5 pm.

Works by Lou Peugh and Emily Tareila are also on view.