Ninety percent of the time – I pick a name for a painting before I pick up a palette knife. I want every stroke to mean what the title indicates. ‘Close to Home’ fell in that other 10%. I just felt the paint moving and went with it – but then… it was complete and nameless. It happens sometimes.
My husband actually selected the title to this piece. When I’m in that 10% category we’ll sometimes pour a sip of wine, I’ll get out my notebook (a continuous flow of potential names) and we will walk around the painting for a half hour or better. Sometimes hang it on a wall, sometimes set it at the end of a hallway. Talk about what we see – what strikes us – future (potential) titles will pour out of us while he helps me find something suitable for the piece in front of us. While I’m making the journey (in my mind) purely about the lady with the red umbrella, he’s drawn to the building at the end. He determines, she’s Close to Home.