What's In A Name?

"View From The Dunes" by Sandi Parker

Every artist struggles with coming up with names for their paintings. After pouring our heart, soul, talent and untold hours into a piece, we are then left staring at it thinking "What am I going to call it??" It can completely stymie even the most experienced artist. One thing artists worry about is leading the viewer - and potential buyer - in the wrong direction. Titling a painting "Cape Cod Afternoon" can lose you a sale if the viewer is thinking 'Hmmm, really looks like the Outer Banks where we vacation every summer. Too bad it isn't..." So some artists opt for something more generic like "Afternoon by the Sea." That way the buyer can tell themselves it's their favorite vacation spot. On the other hand, sometimes it works the other way. The buyer sees "Cape Cod Afternoon" and is so enamored of Cape Cod, where they grew up spending every summer, that they have to have the painting - more than they would if it was just any old ocean!

Naming abstracts is a whole other conundrum. Similarly, many abstract artists shy away from being too specific, lest it take away from what the viewer thinks they see. Many of us have experienced an art patron at a reception saying "Wow, I really like this - it looks like birds/skiers/trees....." To which the smart artist just nods! To help an artist keep things generic, there is actually a website devoted to naming abstract art called The Abstract Title Generator. You simply click, and up comes..."Investigation vs Echo" or "The Superimposed Content." You just keep clicking until you find one you like.

"Rocket Man" by Dennis Crayon

Our Gallery Underground artists have offered some of their methodology. Says Dennis Crayon, who has a solo show at the gallery this month: "A lot of times when I am painting I listen to music. If a hear a lyric or title that catches my eye I'll use that as the title. Also I'll look for a song that may fit the title directly. It all started when I was doing a tromp l'oeil of a coloring book page that had an Astronaut in it." The painting at right was eventually titled "Rocket Man" after the Elton John song.

Says gallery member Mary Ryder: "I always try to find an interesting twist of words—a double meaning or a verbal play. [I did a] painting of a doll with straight arms and legs and a painted mouth—I named that one “I Wish I Could Articulate” because the doll can’t speak and it has no joints—playing on both meanings of the word “articulate.” I like to engage the viewer—see if they are paying attention!"

Gallery member Sybil Bedner Ostrowski has an even more intriguing method of naming her paintings. She says, "For my abstracts, I like the idea of opening any book to page 75, and use the second three words in line 1 of paragraph 3. Sometimes they are quite intriguing. e.g., "...on the fields of Crete..." or "...in your hands..." Etc. It's fun!!

"Metalica" by Jane McElvaney Coonce

"Naming a painting is a talent in itself. I didn't get that gene. It's a very hard thing for me," says Gallery member Jane McElvany Coonce. "Sometimes I use a name of a book or movie and slightly change it. For example, I used the movie title 'The Bridges of Madison County' and named one of my bridge paintings, 'The Bridges of Arlington County.'" Following on Dennis's musical theme, Jane says, "I did a painting of those metal cups we all had in our houses in the 50's. I called this painting 'Metalica' after the band." 

Finally, gallery member Elise Ritter offers her take on naming paintings: "I try to be short, to the point, and descriptive. I try to avoid puns or jokes or plays-on-words, since I just can't pull this off well. Since many of my paintings are based on my travels, or where I have lived in the past, it's not too hard to come up with some, like "Rosegill Reflections." I like that one, since it is named for a body of water (Urbanna Creek) that fronts an old plantation named, "Rosegill Plantation," and what's going on in the painting is the reflections on the water of the sailboats and boathouse. "Rosegill Reflections" has some nice alliteration, too--those double R's!" 

"A Star is Born" by Elise Ritter

She continues, "My favorite new titles are 'A Star is Born,' 'Center of the Universe,' and 'Light Up the Heavens.' These are 3 big abstracts I recently finished. They are inspired by the birth of my first grandchild, in April of this year...and at the same time I became fascinated with images of outer space, the origins of the universe, the galaxies, etc., after reading books on the Hubble telescope, and by binge-watching the series 'Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey', featuring Neil deGrasse Tyson (based on the original with Carl Sagan). Fun stuff!"

Although artists may sometimes have a difficult time coming up with a title, we also have a lot of fun with it. Page 75 anyone?

--Sandi Parker