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How to title artwork

Night Colour - original watercolour painting of swirly rainbow trees by KL Bailey Art

How do you give a title to your artwork?  This is something I often have difficulty with. I recently finished a painting I’m struggling to find a title for.

I feel like the title should help the viewer to understand the meaning and inspiration behind the work.  But I want the title to be interesting and in some cases, a little mysterious – especially in my abstract work – I want the viewer to have the chance to make up their own mind.

Sometimes, a title comes to me immediately – often this is the case for the simple images – a group of colourful trees on a night sky background becomes ‘night colour’, or an image of a baby bird taking its first flight becomes ‘brave‘.

Night Colour - original watercolour painting of swirly rainbow trees by KL Bailey Art
“Night Colour”

 

"Brave" - original watercolor painting by Kirsten Bailey
“Brave”

For other paintings, I have more trouble thinking of a title.  Sometimes I’m inspired by quotes or poetry – My painting “Hope is the thing with feathers” is inspired by a poem by Emily Dickinson.

Hope is the thing with feathers - original watercolour painting of a bird in a swirly tree by KL Bailey Art
“Hope is the thing with feathers”

The title of my painting ‘Beautiful Mysterious’, of a star filled galaxy, was inspired by a quote by Albert Einstein:

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom the emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead —his eyes are closed.”

"Beautiful Mysterious" - original watercolour purple galaxy painting by KL Bailey Art
“Beautiful Mysterious” – original watercolour purple galaxy painting by KL Bailey Art

Fellow artists: How do you come up with titles for your work?  Is it something you struggle with, or does it come easily?

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Inspire Me Thursday: Albert Einstein

This week’s topic over at Inspire Me Thursday is Albert Einstein.

This topic fits in perfectly with my ‘Science in Art’ series of works.  I decided to paint a space-inspired watercolour, and give it a title based on a quote by Albert Einstein.  This is what I came up with:

Beautiful Mysterious:

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed” – Albert Einstein

I had so much fun with this topic that I had to do a few more paintings with the same theme:

Persistent Illusion:

“People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion” – Albert Einstein

Imagination Encircling:

“I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” – Albert Einstein

If you would like to purchase one of these paintings, or see some of my other work, please check out my gallery.