My imagination is a strange place. I’m not always in control, but I do know how it likes to eat. The menu includes fiction mostly, but also poetry, the occasional history book, images, and new experiences that induce physical sensations (not always pleasant).
I like to take long walks. Staycations, Vacations or just breaks from my daily routine always involve walking. When I come across something inspiring a painting will come to mind. If I’m listening to a story while I walk that’s when things really get interesting. Take these two ducks and drop them into a love poem by Rumi, and suddenly my mind has a story I want to paint.
When I can’t feed my imagination with long walks and books, I do wander via other artists. Photos of animals and landscapes by other photographers, and Children’s picture books are where I wander most. I’ll probably not see a Mandarin Duck in the wilds of China in my lifetime. I’ll also never sail around the world. Thank goodness others do and share it with me.
Often when I make a painting the title arrives first, but not always. I read 10 Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle, and Donovan Hohn’s Moby Duck has been on my to read shelf for years. Micro plastics terrify me more than zombies, but a childhood steeped in Disney can’t help turning plastic tub toys into comical 21st-century Ferdinand Magellans.
I recently resolved my imagination induced anxieties by painting an encounter between two creatures caught in my whirlpool of thoughts. A male Mandarin Duck and a well traveled Rubber Duck are face to face on the edge of a small wooded lake. There’s too much here for a title when a diatribe on humanity’s environmental agression looms on my tongue. So I need help. What would you name this painting?
This is an old fashioned kind of question. Please respond in the comments. Rest assured, a full time elementary teacher has better things to do than capture your information. I really just want to know what title is best.
Pick a name from the following for this painting of a Mandarin and Rubber Duck encounter on the edge of a wooded lake.
- Come here often?
- You Look Nothing Like Your Profile Pic…
- Made in China?
- Fancy Meeting You Here!
If you have thoughts on a better title, constructive criticism on painting techniques, or anything else positive that will lead to productive exchange, feel free to leave it in the comments. Grazie Mille and Happy 2024.
Nancy Polo 
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