I recently re-connected with a friend of mine who just had a
baby; she was talking about the challenge of naming her child so that the name
would reflect her heritage, be unique and also “fit” the wee one. It had been 6
weeks and the pressure was on! It made me think about the process of naming paintings. As I paint abstract, I have come to realize that most people need a way to ‘navigate” an abstract work so the names are very important. This process of naming can sometimes be a challenge. I almost always have a photo reference to start with (usually something from my garden) but as I am working on the piece, it often takes on a life of its own and sometimes does not look like the original reference. Where the original piece may have been inspired by a photo of a rose, the result may be more reflective of a cool pond, wildflower meadow or something different altogether. Unless it is truly a series, I prefer not to have multiple paintings of the same name (Rose I, Rose II).
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| Sky Through Oak Trees |
To solve this dilemma, I pour myself a nice glass of red
wine, hang the painting in all 4 directions, sit and wait to be inspired. In the
end, I called this Sky Through Oak Trees.
