What's In A Name?

A friend and customer of mine is speaking at the Upper Midwest Bead Society meeting on Monday night. She is speaking about designing, writing instructions, and teaching/publishing, and she phoned me yesterday to ask me about how I name my pieces. It's a valid question. I know people who look at their pieces and never name them unless they have to. I also know that I don't start out with a name, but that the piece (if it is a major piece) usually names itself over the course of making it. And that seems to carry forward from my beadwork into my metalwork and enamel work. Unfortunately, the project that I'm currently working out in my head doesn't have a title yet, so it seems unformed, unfocused, and very incomplete. But I'lll share a few finished projects with all of you.

This is "Summer of Love 1969". I realize that the real Summer was actually 1968, but this was the name that the project wanted, so that's what it got. This piece won a few first place prizes for me.

"Hobby Horse Dreams" was a piece created for a contest that requested a "whimsical" project. The hobby horse dreams of flying away through the skies like an eagle. Although I didn't win a prize in that competition, he had a good lifespan - being accepted into three different competitions and/or display venues in two different cities. I'm proud of "Horse", he graces my glass display cubicles at the moment, managing to get along well with my many dragons also on display.

And speaking of dragons, this last piece - "Emperor's Dragon" - was never really intended to belong to me. I made it for the Beading For A Cure auctions of 2007. But I had a certain dollar amount that I required for it and when the auction didn't reach that amount, I bid the amount and bought my piece back. I've never regretted it - it's a stunning piece. I hope that someday I'll be able to put it back on sale and get the dollars that it deserves. It features a fully beaded front panel over hand-painted silk and mounted onto a leather handbag. If I never sell it, I'll still love it. It's a great piece :-)

So what about all of you? Do you name your pieces? Do your pieces speak to you at all? I doubt I'm that unique, but not everyone listens to those soft whispers at the back of their heads.