The beauty of dreams
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. ”
I have just finished some new paintings. I have named this series of just three paintings The Beauty of Dreams after the quote above. Believing in the beauty of our own dreams seems to me like a potent and powerful spell.
A small act of hope, purpose and magic all mixed into one.
It’s a quote I love and it came to mind as I was finishing these paintings. They have taken a good while to unfurl, I have worked slowly on them for many weeks until they became what they were going to become. Embedded within each one are layers of acrylic paint, detail, line work… small moments of hidden treasure…
When they were nearing the end phase I kept thinking they had a dreamlike quality… there was something about them that felt like they were part twighlight, part dream-state, part bathed in starlight. So when it came to naming them I kept circling back to the idea of dreams and hope…
I initially thought I might call them Mid-Summer Night’s Dreaming but it somehow didn’t feel exactly right. Then I remembered the quote above and I felt like it just suited them….like it was for them.
I try and take my time naming a painting. As the paintings develop I keep a list of words and phrases which occur to me as I work, that have resonance… a running list of possible names or just fragments of thoughts. I think about what I am trying to convey, the feeling that is embodied in the painting...how the painting makes me feel.
Naming a painting is like a small milestone, a closing ceremony, a gift to the painting and the viewer, a mark of completion, a small badge of respect, a sense of identity for the new painting that has been created…