The Story Is In The Title

Choosing a good title for a finished work of art is an art in itself. What makes a good title appropriate? What works? In my paintings, I deliberately choose titles that don't necessarily make sense or explain the obvious, but instead say something a little more cryptic, hinting at a narrative perhaps on the edge of your conscious grasp. Why such elaborate titles? What do they mean? These are the questions I'm sure you may ponder. My titles are like micro-poems, complex and dynamic in their arrangement, like the colourful abstract shapes and forms in my paintings. Nothing is defined in the playful, seemingly chaotic yet semi-figurative, more organised nature of the paintings, and the titles reflect that - not giving meaning, they are expressing. The American Modernist painter Stuart Davis, is also known for his use of poetic, stream of consciousness, jazz influenced titles such as 'Hot Still-Scape For Six Colors - 7th Avenue Style'. Words can be as interesting and evocative as visual works. I find by combining these two qualities, this creates an emotive interplay of sounds, feelings, ideas and abstract thought patterns. 'Smashing Through The Hush-Up In Cascading Wings Of Ecstasy' (below) is one of my latest paintings with such a title. 

Smashing Through The Hush-Up In Cascading Wings Of Ecstasy (Acrylic on canvas - 150 x 150 cm)

Introduction

A very warm welcome everybody, to my very first artists blog! I will begin by pointing you directly to my artists website, as it's had a brand new make over, with which I am very pleased. www.markelliottsmith.co.uk Best viewed on a pc. I hope you enjoy my work.
I am interested in painting that is contemporary and forward looking. In brief, I am passionate that in my paintings, people will find a sense of optimism in the dynamic forms and shapes, recall an impression of innocence in the playful, bold use of colour, become immersed in their smooth, stylistic, more sophisticated and graphical quality and engage in their almost tangible resonance that I hope will motivate and excite the human spirit. I am especially interested in bringing my paintings to contemporary workplace environments. This could be somewhere like a spacious modern design studio, hotel foyer, or office building. I feel they would compliment many of these spaces ideally and inspire those who work there. I have sold work to corporate clients through the Adam Gallery, who are based in Bath, UK, which incidentally is where my current studio is.
I have dedicated much of my time to developing my artistic career over the last 10 years since graduating from university, many of those years spent finding and developing a visual style that most resonates with 'who I am'. I hope you enjoyed this introduction. Please take a moment to look at my website. You can also find me on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/markelliottsmith/?ref=hl and Twitter @artymarksparks.

The Erratic Charismatics Of Euphoric Apparitions (Acrylic on canvas / 160 x 160 cm)