What’s In A Name: How I Title My Art

When collectors see my work on display, they always comment how my art makes them feel both calm and happy at the same time. The beauty of this reaction is that it happens to be how I want my art to make people feel.

It has taken years to hone the skills to create this feeling through the use of colors, subject matter, and texture,

My art practice has developed as a personal means of processing and transforming life. I am always striving for optimism and positivity, and use my work in combination with my journaling practice to build a collection of thoughts and imagery that heals me.

My childhood was full of heartache, and I found art making to be the best way for me to connect with the qualities in life I wanted to create for myself, those of joy, harmony and self-love.

Though I am always finding and responding to new influences, the WAY I approach subjects is how I personally benefit from my own work, and this process, in turn, allows me to share that feeling with others.

For this art, I combined the sweetness of the cow with a rose garden.
→Click here to learn more about Rosie the cow

Never underestimate the importance of HOW

In terms of my subject matter, I create a lot of art with animals that I call “animal spirits” and I love to research and discover ancient feng shui properties to find relationships between the magic of the animal spirits with the universal power they have to bring life into a collector’s home.

I also paint flowers, figures and landscapes and infuse them with music and positive vibrations, rhythmic patterns, and colors that invoke the imagination.

So we understand the how, but how do you put words to feeling. In my case, I was asked how I title my paintings, and so I wanted to share my personal approach.

crocus painting | floral art | flower painting | purple flowers | http://www.schulmanart.com/collections/spring-collection/products/crocus-original-mixed-media-art
I took the title “Spikes of Crocus” from a line 
of poetry by Edna St Vincent Millet called “Spring”

The Final Conversation

When I title my paintings, I consider the title “the final conversation” before I release the painting into the world. To title my art, I often use peruse poetry to find bits and pieces of poems that carry a similar feeling or thought in the written word that best describe my intention.

Title Parties

To free up the process and make it more collaborative, at times I have turned to social media to ask my followers how they might title my art. This is what I call a “Title Party”, where I challenge my followers to title the painting and then I choose from their responses. I love having this conversation with my audience as the reaction in them completes the painting and makes my art a more interactive process. It also gives me an indication of how the art makes the viewer feel without the assistance of a title that lends a preconceived idea.

I liked “Moonlit Solace” and “Gathering Moon Flowers,” but I ultimately went with “Moon Child” suggested by one of my followers on facebook.
→Click here to learn more about Moon Child 

In case we haven’t met yet…

About Me (Miriam Schulman)
Miriam Schulman, founder of The Inspiration Place

In case we haven’t met yet, I’m an artist and founder of The Inspiration Place, where I help other artists learn how to profit from their passion or become better artists. Through online classes, business coaching programs, and a top-ranked podcast, I’ve helped thousands of artists around the world develop their skill sets and create more time and freedom to do what they love. My signature coaching program, The Artist Incubator, helps artists go from so-so sales to sold-out collections.

A graduate of Dartmouth College and M.I.T, I initially pursued finance but after witnessing 9/11, I abandoned a lucrative hedge fund job to work on my art full time. Since then, my art and my story have been featured in major publications including Forbes, The New York Times, Art of Man, Art Journaling magazine as well as featured on NBC’s “Parenthood” and the Amazon series “Hunters” with Al Pacino. My forthcoming book with HarperCollins Leadership on how to make it as an artist is scheduled to be released January 31, 2023. When I’m not in the studio, you can find me hanging out with my husband, adult kids, and a tuxedo cat named Ebony. I’d love to invite you to check out one of my free resources for art lovers (of every passion level) at schulmanart.com/freebies

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I’m Miriam Schulman, your curator of inspiration.

I inspire art-lovers to reconnect with their creativity and profit from their art. Whether you paint simply for the joy of it or you’re serious about selling your work, and you’re ready to stop putting yourself on the back burner...You're in the right place. I've done it and I can inspire YOU how to do it too.

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