Betty Woodman

Happy birthday to Betty Woodman—a garden enthusiast and artist who ingeniously experimented with her lifelong muse, the vase, and its multitude of sculptural possibilities.

Around 1952, a young George Woodman in Cambridge, Massachusetts, penned his devotion on a USPS customs form: “Little box with littler box inside” and “1 engagement ring of Navajo silver with turquoises.” The precious 4-ounce package was destined for the hands of Elizabeth Abrahams (later to be known as Betty Woodman) across the ocean in Fiesole, Italy, where she had been living and working for the past year.

Betty Woodman’s numerous glazes, paints, and the varied configurations of brushes—sometimes mixed or assembled by the artist herself to achieve desired color swatches, brushy marks, and parallel stripes—reflect her continuously innovative work with ceramic forms.

Over the course of a year from 1965-66, the Woodman family lived and worked in Italy, just outside of Florence. During that time, Betty and George became close friends with the artists and then-couple Nancy Graves and Richard Serra, who, like Betty, was there for the year on a Fulbright-Hays scholarship. They spent many hours together around the table, sharing meals, funny hats and conversations about art.