{"id":4934,"date":"2017-02-01T16:26:54","date_gmt":"2017-02-02T00:26:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/?p=4934"},"modified":"2017-02-01T16:32:55","modified_gmt":"2017-02-02T00:32:55","slug":"february-1-2017-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/february-1-2017-name\/","title":{"rendered":"February 1, 2017 – What is in a name?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n \n \"Fb-Button\"\n <\/a>\n <\/div>
<\/fb:like><\/div><\/div>
<\/a>

“The painting I finished yesterday, which I gave what feels like the most audacious title of any so far!”<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe Magnolias,\u201d as Sue has dubbed our group of artists, are having a show at the Sausalito Presbyterian Church and in preparation, Marilee asked for help naming a painting of hers.\u00a0 It\u2019s a somewhat abstract painting of leaves in a wonderful collection of colors \u2013 Marilee\u2019s full-spectrum palette.\u00a0 My first hit was that I would not be descriptive and include the word \u201cleaves.\u201d\u00a0 There is a soft, gentle quality to it and, if it were my painting, I\u2019d name it something more essential – a qualitative description.\u00a0 She came up with the title \u201cKindness\u201d – something that we can certainly use more reminders of.\u00a0 Then on Sunday, during our Painting our Prayers time, Marilee\u2019s painting\u2019s title came up and Jan was asked why I said this.\u00a0 I loved being asked – it gave me a chance to pause and consider what is in the name of a painting, how we name them, whether to be literal or poetic, when and why.<\/p>\n

<\/a>

“Marilee’s painting – Kindness”<\/p><\/div>\n

What I saw was this:\u00a0 though the visual impression is primary and most important to the viewers of our art, the names we give to our paintings can broaden, deepen and enrich their experience.\u00a0 I also saw that the titles I\u2019ve given to my paintings have undergone an evolution, just as my painting has.\u00a0 The shift in how I name my paintings has reflected my stepping into being an artist and a messenger in an even more intentional and overt – even public – way.<\/p>\n

For the first years I gave my paintings mostly descriptive titles:\u00a0 Honey Bee and Rugosa Roses, Squash Blossom and Bee, Queen Anne Cherries.\u00a0 Often there was another element in the description besides the thing I painted, too.\u00a0 I included the weather or season to put the painting in a particular time: \u201cPersimmon Rain,\u201d \u201cPersimmon Sun,\u201d \u201cApricots in the Sun,\u201d \u201cMid-summer Zin,\u201d \u201cApple Blossom Spring,\u201d \u201cRhododendron Raindrops.\u201d\u00a0 The spirit of place plays a significant part in my art \u2013 so there are those titles:\u00a0 \u201cParis Roses,\u201d \u201cBJ \u2013 First Tahoe Swim,\u201d \u201cTropical Peaches,\u201d \u201cSouthside Lily Pond.\u201d\u00a0 And, people in my life have inspired titles:\u00a0 \u201cNancy\u2019s Rose,\u201d \u201cRoses for Annie,\u201d \u201cTwin Dahlias\u201d (for my nieces, Nicole and Kiersten).\u00a0 There is one exception to this.\u00a0 In naming the painting I called \u201cBlue Door\u201d I could have included something about its place \u2013 a village in southwest France. But, that I didn\u2019t turned out to be even better.\u00a0 The title didn\u2019t interfere in the imaginations of the people who were drawn to the painting.\u00a0 I\u2019ve heard different people say they see that blue door as a place in Mexico, Italy, France, Spain, Greece – Tunisia even!<\/p>\n

I could have called \u201cFull Circle,\u201d one of my earliest paintings, \u201cRoses in a Jar.\u201d\u00a0 But this one holds a special place in my body of work (it\u2019s the only one so far that I\u2019m certain I don\u2019t want to ever sell) – it needed a title that would reveal this.\u00a0 The name \u201cFull Circle\u201d is a cue to read the underlying story of how that glass jar had come into my life and what the painting symbolized to me. Others that followed in this vein were inspired by:\u00a0 a song (\u201cTouched by the Sun\u201d), an election (\u201cBlossoming Hope,\u201d and by my favorite color (\u201cA Celebration of Pink\u201d).<\/p>\n

When I gave a painting the title \u201cGrace\u201d it started what has become a \u201cthing\u201d for me – to find a single word that isn\u2019t necessarily literally descriptive, which points to something beyond the visual image.\u00a0 Out came:\u00a0 \u201cAwakening,\u201d \u201cRadiance,\u201d \u201cFaith\u201d and \u201cHallelujah.\u201d\u00a0 I have had help from those in my life – the paintings \u201cDazzling,\u201d \u201cRipe,\u201d and \u201cLuscious\u201d were their exclamations when seeing those just-finished paintings.\u00a0 These single-word titles are hard for people to connect to my paintings, but these names honor what these paintings are to me.\u00a0 We are generally teasing when we say these paintings are \u201cmy babies.\u201d\u00a0 They are not living, breathing things, but they all<\/em> have meaning to me \u2013 I don\u2019t paint anything that I cannot write a story about.\u00a0 And it is my experience that they are<\/em> my off-spring – as they do go on to have their own lives.\u00a0 Also, they each carry a particular energy, which is due an appropriate name.\u00a0 In that vein, I\u2019m glad we<\/em> are given names that have meanings and that I was named Cara, (which means both dear and friend) and not \u201cLate-autumn Dark-Haired Female.\u201d<\/p>\n

About five years ago I decided to challenge myself to single-word names, not just when it worked, but with every painting.\u00a0 Restrictions spark creativity, so this has led to some made-up words.\u00a0 (This isn\u2019t Scrabble, so I can<\/em> do that!)\u00a0 As I stretch myself with these names, made up and not, I frequently feel a bit shy about the name – it can seem presumptuous or audacious.\u00a0 Even so, I\u2019m both uncertain about the name and<\/em> sure that this name is the one.\u00a0 After hearing it come out of others\u2019 mouths a few times and it settles in.\u00a0 The painting becomes<\/em> its name to me.\u00a0 \u201cZinoasis\u201d was awkward at first, now this painting is<\/em> an oasis of Zinfandel and there is no other name for it.<\/p>\n

We expose ourselves when we dare to name our work like this.\u00a0 People could roll their eyes or criticize, but that\u2019s always a risk when putting ourselves out there, revealing our deeper selves to the world.\u00a0 The thing is to both protect ourselves from it (don\u2019t listen) and to develop an inner structure that is strong enough to operate in the face of the risk.\u00a0 It helps to hold the point of view that feedback is 100% about the giver<\/em> of it, rather than about our work.<\/p>\n

I finished a painting a few days ago.\u00a0 The title came to me when I saw the image, before I even started painting it.\u00a0 I\u2019m calling it \u201cBeatitude,\u201d which I learned means \u201csupremely blessed.\u201d\u00a0 Alluding to part of Jesus\u2019 Sermon on the Mount seems like a whole lot to put on to one of my paintings.\u00a0 I\u2019ve tried to shrink back from it, as it seems like the most audacious and lofty title I\u2019ve ever given to a painting.\u00a0 I shared it with Sandy Roos in yesterday\u2019s painting group and she loved it and encouraged me to go with it.\u00a0 So, I signed it and wrote \u201cBeatitude, copyright 2017\u201d on the back side of the paper.\u00a0 It is off to be scanned and framed \u2013 no changing it now!\u00a0 I\u2019ll share the full story behind the title when I write about the painting for the gallery on my website, but the main message is that even when things are past their prime and beaten up a bit, they are very beautiful – even supremely blessed.\u00a0 All this said, I\u2019m still shaky about this lofty name!<\/p>\n

Straight-forward, descriptive titles are fine.\u00a0 Even \u201cUntitled\u201d is fine.\u00a0 Not every one of us is called to be a messenger \u2013 or has the interest in seeing the meaning our art carries.\u00a0 Regardless, there is an in-escapable essence that emanates from our souls, which is conveyed in all that we do.\u00a0 This essence, as expressed in our paintings, is our visual voice<\/em>.\u00a0 In consciously looking \u201cunderneath the rock\u201d for what we might be saying with this voice, we become more aware of what we are up to.\u00a0 It just might show us what it is that compels us to make this art, why we spend all these hours with our brushes and paints.<\/p>\n

Giving my paintings meaningful titles is a form of respect for what I\u2019m up to in this life.\u00a0 It has me take my art and myself<\/em> more seriously.\u00a0 These names are my attempt to call attention to the energy and essence in my paintings, which might increase the impact they can make.\u00a0 My coach Lissa said last week she just read a book entitled \u201cBeauty Will Save the World.\u201d Whether I read this book or not, today just that title is enough.\u00a0 It supports how vital it is that we re-orient towards beauty as a response to what is happening in the world.\u00a0 Look, see if you can see what are you saying in your work?\u00a0 What flavor of beauty are you orienting towards?\u00a0 It\u2019s why you are here.<\/p>\n

With my love,<\/p>\n

Cara<\/p>\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe Magnolias,\u201d as Sue has dubbed our group of artists, are having a show at the Sausalito Presbyterian Church and in preparation, Marilee asked for help naming a painting of hers.\u00a0 It\u2019s a somewhat abstract painting of leaves in a wonderful collection of colors \u2013 Marilee\u2019s full-spectrum palette.\u00a0 My first hit was that I would […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life-stories"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFebruary 1, 2017 - What is in a name? - Life in Full Color<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/february-1-2017-name\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"February 1, 2017 - What is in a name? - Life in Full Color\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cThe Magnolias,\u201d as Sue has dubbed our group of artists, are having a show at the Sausalito Presbyterian Church and in preparation, Marilee asked for help naming a painting of hers.\u00a0 It\u2019s a somewhat abstract painting of leaves in a wonderful collection of colors \u2013 Marilee\u2019s full-spectrum palette.\u00a0 My first hit was that I would […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/february-1-2017-name\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Life in Full Color\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-02-02T00:26:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-02-02T00:32:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/beatitude.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cara\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cara\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/february-1-2017-name\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/february-1-2017-name\/\",\"name\":\"February 1, 2017 - What is in a name? - Life in Full Color\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/february-1-2017-name\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/february-1-2017-name\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/beatitude.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-02T00:26:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-02-02T00:32:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/#\/schema\/person\/d797aedc34742442251ceb8fef7ff393\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/february-1-2017-name\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/february-1-2017-name\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/february-1-2017-name\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/beatitude.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/beatitude.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/february-1-2017-name\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"February 1, 2017 – What is in a name?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/\",\"name\":\"Life in Full Color\",\"description\":\"Watercolors by Cara Brown\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/#\/schema\/person\/d797aedc34742442251ceb8fef7ff393\",\"name\":\"Cara\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c6f3732b38fdc958366cca34fe90f54746a926a829fe1f8d64ceebfb3ac46752?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c6f3732b38fdc958366cca34fe90f54746a926a829fe1f8d64ceebfb3ac46752?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Cara\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/author\/cara\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"February 1, 2017 - What is in a name? - Life in Full Color","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/february-1-2017-name\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"February 1, 2017 - What is in a name? - Life in Full Color","og_description":"\u201cThe Magnolias,\u201d as Sue has dubbed our group of artists, are having a show at the Sausalito Presbyterian Church and in preparation, Marilee asked for help naming a painting of hers.\u00a0 It\u2019s a somewhat abstract painting of leaves in a wonderful collection of colors \u2013 Marilee\u2019s full-spectrum palette.\u00a0 My first hit was that I would […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/february-1-2017-name\/","og_site_name":"Life in Full Color","article_published_time":"2017-02-02T00:26:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-02-02T00:32:55+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/beatitude.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Cara","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cara","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/february-1-2017-name\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/february-1-2017-name\/","name":"February 1, 2017 - What is in a name? - Life in Full Color","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/february-1-2017-name\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/february-1-2017-name\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/beatitude.jpg","datePublished":"2017-02-02T00:26:54+00:00","dateModified":"2017-02-02T00:32:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/#\/schema\/person\/d797aedc34742442251ceb8fef7ff393"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/february-1-2017-name\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/february-1-2017-name\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/february-1-2017-name\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/beatitude.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/beatitude.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/life-stories\/february-1-2017-name\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"February 1, 2017 – What is in a name?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/","name":"Life in Full Color","description":"Watercolors by Cara Brown","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/#\/schema\/person\/d797aedc34742442251ceb8fef7ff393","name":"Cara","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c6f3732b38fdc958366cca34fe90f54746a926a829fe1f8d64ceebfb3ac46752?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c6f3732b38fdc958366cca34fe90f54746a926a829fe1f8d64ceebfb3ac46752?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Cara"},"url":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/author\/cara\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1uJKT-1hA","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4934"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4934\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4940,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4934\/revisions\/4940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeinfullcolor.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. The constant WPCACHEHOME must be set in the file wp-config.php and point at the WP Super Cache plugin directory. -->