Another Heart Breaks, paper collage, 2022
As a general rule, I am not good at titling artwork. Poetry is easy: the title seems to happen organically (most of the time). But with regard to collage art…forget it. Unless a phrase or concept arrives in my mind while I’m creating–which almost never happens–I typically resort to one of several strategies for generating a title: I use simple descriptions, like “The Walk”, “The Climb” (below), or “Sunset” (also below). I pull from a word or phrase in my environment, like those on scraps or magazine clippings. Or, I pull from other aspects of my environment, like whatever music I’m listening to, a word or phrase from the TV, bits of conversation, etc.
With regard to the first collage here, Another Heart Breaks, I relied on the third strategy and titled it after the Electric Light Orchestra song by the same name. The song came on while I was working and seemed a good fit. (I highly recommend listening while scrolling through the rest of the artwork below.)
Please enjoy.
A note: A Hawk is Forever is a teeny tiny (3 x 3 in.) collage made of cut paper scraps, except for the bird, which comes from a vintage field guide.
The hawk here is a Red-shouldered Hawk, which is common where I live and which I am fortunate to be able to photograph regularly.
The Used Life 
11 responses to “Another Heart Breaks & Other Art”
Loving the elegance in Another Heart Breaks and the layered dimensions present in Behind the Wheel! ❤
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Thank you so much, Jaya!
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I enjoyed a wonderful stroll through your gallery, with music, of course. I think you do a fine job titling your work. It was interesting to learn about your process for doing so.
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Thank you so much, Michele! I’m glad you enjoyed this post, music and all.
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You are welcome! 😊
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The Climb is fantastic. I love how close the cosmos feels in these.
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Thanks, Bob. I think that’s what I like best about these spacey, retro-future collages: they make me feel like I get closer to something cosmic, or eternal.
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Reading/looking through this with the music was such a pleasing experience. I relate to your titling process as well.
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Thank you very much! I’m glad this post resonated and that you found the music-art experience pleasing. It’s always satisfying when we can combine words/images/music in new and interesting ways.
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Loved listening to your song recommendation while I scrolled through your collages’ 🙂
Really good!
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Thank you so much!
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