I am often asked how I title my artworks, and the answer is, it depends.
Sometimes names come almost automatically, like the work already had a name and I just needed to pull the actual physical piece into being so I could match it with its title.
Sometimes I will base a title on the music that was playing as I painted it – maybe a song title or a line of lyric that resonated with me in that moment.
Other times, I might name it according to the thoughts I had as I set out to create it initially, or maybe something that occurred to me during the making, or perhaps even, the final sentiment it leaves me resting with as I bring it to conclusion.
Occasionally, I will send a photo of the piece to my sisters, and we will go through a lightening round of suggestions, often ending in hysterical laughter over one inappropriate suggestion or another, but usually we’re able to dial it back into something usable.
Still, sometimes I draw a blank. In those instances I will might enlist the help of my family – my husband and kids; but then I end up with titles like, “Dumbledore With Clown Nose”, or “Upside Down Fish with Ice Cream Cone Beak”, so. . . not so much.
However, with large works like the one pictured above, I like to sit in front of them for a while and contemplate all the parts: the movement, the strokes, the forms and suggested forms, the colors and what all those parts mean to me. As I do this, I journal stream-of-consciousness style then read back through what I’ve observed. This practice is how I can identify the meaning infused in my work, and how the title “Soul” emerged for the afore mentioned painting.
Leave A Comment