My exhibition in Bear River opens in 6 days and I’m finishing up edges of paintings and varnishing and putting the wiring on the backs of the canvases. (Thank you Larry for that part.)
This part is fairly tedious compared to painting and I have to hold myself back from starting anything new.
And now, in my opinion, I am faced with the toughest job – finding titles for the paintings.
Sometimes a title will pop into my head while I’m painting. Other times its dependant upon my mood of the moment. I spend ages pouring through old poetry books and the Thesaurus looking for the right words. And when it comes, it’s a satisfying relief!
Sometimes a title will foretell its destination. Years ago I painted a huge floral that was a happy one with lots of warm rose colours. I called it ‘Through Rose Coloured Glasses I See the World”, because I absolutely do when I paint. Or at least, I am drawn to paint what makes me feel happiness. That painting went to the Teichert Gallery in Halifax. A year after it was purchased, a friend told me she saw one of my paintings in her optometrist’s office in Halifax. The title was ‘Through Rose Coloured Glasses I See the World”! I was happy to learn of the painting’s destination and of course the title was very appropriate!
Besides coming up with 20+ titles, I have a few more ‘to-dos’ like:
- baking goodies for the opening and buying refreshments
- hanging the show
- cutting more forsythia for display
- creating labels for the work
- artist statement
- pricing work
- posting announcement on social media
- decide what to work on in the gallery over the 8 afternoons I’ll be there after the opening
It’s both stressful, and exhilarating. I can’t wait to see them all hanging and can’t wait to share them with my friends and neighbours. Here is a preview of most of the (untitled as-of-yet) paintings.
If you have any title ideas, feel free to share them below! 😉
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