I've been watching the Olympics, mainly gymnastics, which has reminded me of a piece I made back in 2008 when I was also watching the Olympics. The commentators kept talking about the gals on beam having to make balance checks to keep from falling off, and that stuck in my head as I worked to strike a good balance with the applique pieces that were leftovers from another piece. Then there was lots of musing about maintaining the design balance of the piece as I added more and more quilting in various colored threads on that black background. It seemed a given that I'd name this piece "Balance Check". You can read more about this on this blog post where I talk about not just achieving balance in my artwork, but in life in general.
Do you have trouble naming your quilts or do names just appear as you are working? As a general rule, I do settle on a name before each piece is finished, although a few stubbornly refuse to reveal what they would like to be named. I'm having that issue with the rails baby quilt and it's driving me crazy. I think it must be because I feel like Helen Wells feels:
I try and take my time naming a painting. As the paintings develop I keep a list of words and phrases which occur to me as I work, that have resonance… a running list of possible names or just fragments of thoughts. I think about what I am trying to convey, the feeling that is embodied in the painting...how the painting makes me feel.
Naming a painting is like a small milestone, a closing ceremony, a gift to the painting and the viewer, a mark of completion, a small badge of respect, a sense of identity for the new painting that has been created…
What's your experience with naming quilts?
.
2 comments:
I usually have the name come to me pretty quickly as I'm working on it, maybe because in my previous life as an editor at daily newspapers I had to VERY quickly come up with headlines that conveyed the essence of the story. And in the days before computers, we had to memorize how many "counts" each letter had in each font and headline size to make sure it would fit in the column space!
I either come up with a quilt name quickly or struggle with one as I sew. There's no middle ground on that one for me! Recently, I've copped out with something like 'Christmas 2023', etc. Laziness, perhaps? Jan in WY
Post a Comment