Mark making & Cy Twombly

I have always loved the work of Cy Twombly, with his expressive gestural mark making and scratchy lines. It’s not what I create, but I love seeing it. Pen Kirk and I were talking about that the other day, that for many artists what we like to view is not the same as what we create. Which is not to say we don’t love what we create! Anyway…

I’ve been doing a course from Marabeth Quin called Mixed Media Collage and the Intuitive Landscape. I’ve been working on the 4 larger pieces from the second part of the course and I’m struggling to finish them so have put them aside.

Last night I grabbed an art journal and was playing with layering and mark making … and boom! Suddenly there was a combination of my old mark making, which I’d lost at some point, and a new visual language that’s emerging thanks to the course. I can see hints of Cy Twombly and the Abstract Expressionists and that makes me happy.