Betty Ford and Cy Twombly

Two great people passed this month.  A hero for all women, Betty Ford, brought awareness to the disease of breast cancer and addiction. She championed women’s rights. Standing and fighting for what she believed, even if it meant opposing the President of the United States, her husband, Gerald Ford. Some may feel she was a bit too candid, but she was my kind of woman, and her husband loved her. I wish I could have been her friend.

                                                 III Notes From Salalah (Note II), 2005-2007 Cy Twombly ©

Cy Twombly

Twombly’s work has influenced many of today’s artists. His works are usually large-scale. Often they are calligraphic scribbles on backgrounds of mostly gray, tan, or off-white colors much like graffiti. According to Wikipedia , In the late 60’s Twombly made this work using an unusual technique: he sat on the shoulders of a friend, who shuttled back and forth along the length of the canvas, thus allowing the artist to create his fluid, continuous lines.

The layered or stacked drawing/ paintings are my favorite. The gestured marks remind me so much of the calligraphic ink writing of my Japanese sensei that I painted with when I was a young girl living in Japan.

Later I hope to write about some of today’s artists influenced by Twombly, but today I wanted to take the time to pay tribute to Cy Twombly and Betty Ford.