I don’t find it easy to pick names for my art pieces — it’s just not something that comes naturally. I think it’s probably because I’m a visual person and not a verbal one.
But sometimes you just have to listen to the universe for your answer.
Recently I completed three acrylic paintings of pelicans, which are among my favorite North American coastal birds.
As I worked on them, I shared images on my Instagram account (@thetextileartisan) so everyone could see how they came together. Commenting on the bird that looks directly at the viewer, my friend Chris called the pelican’s gaze “intense”.
I told the story to my husband, a Bond movie fan, who instantly quipped “Pelican, James Pelican…”.
I thought that was funny and, even though he thought it was just a joke, I decided that would be a great name for the piece.
We extended the theme for Bond-like names to the two other pieces in the triptych: Miss MoneyPelican (for Miss Moneypenny, M’s exec assistant), and Goldbeak (from the villainous Goldfinger). Goldbeak sold pretty quickly and I created a fourth pelican we called Goldbeak II. The names all stuck… and they seem to bring a smile to everyone’s face. 🙂
Sometimes the names are just presented to you — if only they were all that easy!
All three pelican paintings can currently be seen live at my solo show at the Washington Estuarium, or in our website galleries and Our Store.