Inspired by lace

Several years ago I dabbled in making bobbin lace.  It completely changed how I create artwork…in lace, the negative (empty) spaces are almost more important than the positive spaces (the main subject).  From that point forward, I became mesmerized by the negative space in between objects, and it shows up constantly in my abstract art.  When making a drawing like the one above it usually feels like a dance. I soften my gaze, and can feel the energy of the shape push me into the next shape…in the end it turns into this push and pull where I’m not really concerned about the composition but more the energy of the space around each object. In this particular piece each of the panels is its own object, but each color mass is an object as well, and as a result the empty spaces are almost as captivating as the spaces filled with color/decoration.

Here's some examples of lace that play with the positive/negative space in case you were interested.

I loooove my sketchbook

I loooove my sketchbook...It took me a while to warm up to the book because it's an odd shape and it's so pretty I would get intimidated every time I held it...but I've used the same book for a few years now, so that intimidation has warn off.  There are only two blank pages in the entire book (I'm terrified of both pages).  I've gotten to the point that I'm painting over the old pages that I don't like, and I can't wait until the day that I have completed the entire book - happy/satisfied with all of the pages. (I have never in my life completed a sketchbook like that, I always hop over to the new book when I'm 90% done with the old book).

My sketchbook is almost a square shape and apparently a very odd size.  I've scoured the internet, and the only place I could find a new book that is similar to what I am so attached to is on Etsy.  It's being sold as "vintage" for $40. Pfsh!

Luckily my boyfriend is a whiz with tools, and he was able to cut down a new book for me, but it will be a while before I'm ready to start on a fresh book filled with blank pages.

My only complaint about my current book is it has slightly fuzzy paper that causes markers to bleed a tiny bit. I enjoy that little bit of color run when working on a piece of art, but I hate how much of the color bleeds through the page...I find it really distracting when working on the next page.  Usually I have to keep two blank pieces of scrap paper behind the page I'm working on (so the markers don't bleed onto the next page) and another piece of paper clamped to the side where you can see the bleed through from the previous work. If I didn't hide the last piece of art I'm sure I'd find myself recreating the same thing over an over. Oh the things we do to cope.

Secret Code

When I work through a sketchbook I don't used the pages from front to back in an orderly fashion.  I skip all around the book.  I've done this for years because I always felt like my sketchbook was a journal of my life and it would be embarrassing if others picked up the book, because they would know exactly what was on my mind...by scrambling the order of the drawing they wouldn't know that I painted this one right after our date, or that one right after we had that fight....but looking back I can see how silly this thought is.  I've gotten so abstract in my drawings that one can see the references, but not the intention.