The
Importance of Negative Space
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Many years ago I took oil painting
classes with Julanne Campbell in Suquamish, Washington. I like everything about
painting. Oil painting, water colors, painting the walls of my house. I like
the smells of paints and turpentine. I like the feel of the brush stroke against
a blank surface. I’m a tactile painter; my fingers often ignore the brush and
create a smooth stroke here or a smudge there.
I don’t spend enough time drawing to
be good. But in any endeavor, there are the professionals, the adequate and
then there is me. In any group that is ranked, somebody is first and somebody
else is last. I’m perfectly willing to be last for the pure pleasure of
painting.
One essential lesson I took from
Julanne is the importance of negative space. The space surrounding the vase of flowers in
the still-life is as important as the emerald vase filled with flowers, including
the dying rose petal which fell onto the yellow tablecloth.
Over time I realized that I,
consciously or subconsciously, apply the rule of negative space to other
aspects of my life. In planning my garden or arranging objects in my patio or
in my casita, I consider the object, the placement for effect and the empty
space around the object. I think without thinking.
Yesterday I made the comment to
Julie, my newest neighbor on the Rancho, that there is not space in my casa for
another person. We had been discussing men in our lives. Women here seem
concerned that I have a partner. I suspect one woman is scheming to hook me up
with a particular man. Neither of us is interested in a more intimate friendship.
My life has just the right amount of
negative space. I have solitude that I treasure. I am surrounded with beauty. I
have raised my children. I have known the love of a good husband. I have kissed
a frog or two who turned from prince to pauper. At this stage in my life, I’ll
settle for the talking frog, no prince, thank you.
This morning while hanging sheets on the line to dry, I
thought about the many families who made a life in a cabin on the Plains and
made that life work. My casa is 465 square feet, an opulence of space compared
to many homestead cabins. Those cabins, to we of privilege, are in our history.
Families are still being raised in smaller spaces.
After hanging my wash, I stood in the middle of my two room
house. With a smidgeon of imagination and judicious rearrangement, I can see a
table with benches, cots instead of couch and chairs; bookshelves become
dressers. Room for a mate and four children to live in relative comfort. Luxury
with indoor shower and flush toilet.
I surprised myself at how easily I could make these purely
imaginary adjustments.
These last several days I’ve crammed my “space”, space being
more than physical surroundings, with activities with friends, trips to the
Plaza, to San Marcos, to Tequila. In the summertime, by contrast, I’m often the
only gringa on the Rancho.
Taking advantage of opportunity, I started a writing group, Tuesday
evenings. Five people from the Rancho and one woman from town showed up,
nervous, curious, all non-writers, willing to try something different. My
intention is purely selfish. I miss my old groups. Our format is simple. We grab a topic out of thin air. Pencil to
paper, no crossing out, no fixing, no hesitations, write for ten minutes. Our
first topic—Black boots. We read aloud what we wrote. My friends surprised
themselves (but not me) with their brilliance.
Restlessly, I’ve been thinking, wanting, resisting putting a
regular meditation practice back into my life. Why did I drop meditation? A
combination of stubbornness and laziness. I don’t want to talk about it.
Since I feel a need for that kind of formal negative space,
and now that I’ve shared my need with you, I suppose I’ll have to quit
procrastinating and just do it.
I’m not holy. I’m flawed and human. No shaven head, no saffron
robes, no exotic chants. Fifteen minutes to start is easily doable. Today?
Sheesh. Not tomorrow? Today? Right now? Okay, okay. I’ll do it. Sheesh.
Sondra
Ashton
HDN: Looking
out my back door
October 26,
2017
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