Thursday, April 25, 2013

Titles


Interplay
by Jo Reimer
7.5 x 7.5"
Collage on paper
We're home from a visit in Texas with old friends and while I did manage to draw every day I have done little since returning home to good weather and large weeds. Now I'm back to my rather loose attempt to make time every day for art, even if it's something small such as the above collage or smaller greeting card sized pieces or a drawing in my sketchbook. I'm making no excuses. I like working small and finishing fast.

Collage suits me. I've done this sort of work for so long now that it feels like coming home when I sit down to my table and sort through bits of color and pattern, looking for just the right pieces of painted papers to puzzle together.

But I do have a painting that's percolating in my mind. It might be called 10 Days in Texas. Or maybe not. It might turn out to be something un-nameable.  When that happens I go through my lists of names and titles, or even consult the dictionary until I find a word that fits.

Some people are so good with titles. One such artist and wordsmith, the printmaker Anne Moore who uses titles like Approaching Stillness, Driving Force, and Interplay. I'd love to get into her head to see how she comes up with such appropriate ones. Does the work come first or does the work follow the title?

How do YOU come up with your good titles? I'm searching for a better way.

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5 comments:

  1. Bren Graham Thebeau4:52 AM PDT

    Glad you had a great trip and have been enjoying the nice weather you've had (we're still waiting on springs warmer weather here!) Coming up with titles is a major challenge for me too, and your right Anne Moore has wonderful titles!

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  2. Ruth Armitage8:17 AM PDT

    Hi Jo,
    Welcome home :) My titles often come to me in the shower, when my mind is relaxed, or in the middle of painting. If I'm working on the piece when the title comes to me, I quickly jot it down on the back or on the edge of the paper, so I don't forget. The title often feels like the completion of the piece for me. I say, go for it! Who needs a title?

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  3. Sarah Bachhuber Peroutka3:56 PM PDT

    I tend to be literal with my titles: "Sedona Bluff", for example, or "Sunset, Sauvie Island." I don't know if that's good or bad, it's just what I do, but I've often wondered how much a title influences someone to purchase or not purchase a work of art. I like thought-provoking titles, poetic ones, even whimsical ones. Coming up with a good title in and of itself is a creative act!

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  4. Jo Reimer12:07 PM PDT

    Thanks for your input, Sarah. I find it easier to be literal with objective work but quite difficult to title some abstract and non-objective work. I'll keep researching this issue and maybe come up with hints on the subject that'll be of interest to everyone.

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  5. Randall David Tipton4:03 PM PDT

    That`s a bold beautiful collage!
    Wait for the title if you can.
    Looks sort of apocalyptic to me. In a good way!

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I appreciate comments and questions.