Deciding what to give as the title to a picture can be difficult on some occasions. I know that some artists chicken-out, and just give numbers to their work. (Diebenkorn was a devil at this!) I recognise that a title can be a helpful way into a work for the viewer, and invariably try to give something helpful in that respect. There are occasions, however, when this task can be quite puzzling for any artist. I’ve had a very unusual experience this week, having completed a piece more that two weeks ago, and still finding myself uncertain about a title.
Oddly, it was only when I began to reflect on the fact that the new piece had been painted over a much older picture, which I had subsequently abandoned, that I realised that reference to this fact actually provided an interesting take on the meaning of the new piece. I’ve decided to call it De Profundis. This is appropriate, first of all, because its subject is the shattered remains of an old tree, reaching sky-wards. I like also the idea that the canvas was rescued from my cellar, where it had lain abandoned for several years.