El Ardor

People ask me why I title my paintings in Spanish. Am I am trying to make it more difficult for them to understand my work. I'm not sure if a painting should be easy to understand. If I could explain what I feel what I put down on canvas in words would I not be a better writer than artist? There is something in life that can only be communicated visually, musically and some only in words. Words have a way of distorting things; we are easily manipulated by words.

Rothko often didn't title his paintings, at times titled them by color, "Purple, White, Red', "White over Red" or titled them by number. When you stand in front of a Rothko and really look is it not what you feel the most vital part of the experience.
Perhaps people wonder if there is a secret underlying message that will unlock the mystery of an abstract piece. A friend suggested if my latest works might tell of the mysteries of my love life. I was a bit amused. Is all the red representative of all the past passions of my life, are the drips representative of the tears I cried, the light pinks and yellows of the joys I felt? Perhaps a bit. More likely I love the deep reds against reds and the depth that reds have. The drips of paint are drips of paint and are not representative of tears. The drips and solvents thinning the paint mixing with other pigments, allowing gravity to help create the piece I am making. My work has control only when I feel it needs it.

El Ardor, fervor, life, heat. The word in Spanish seems to mean more to me. The Spanish language is beautiful and poetic. Why should not the titles of my “Hearts” be poetic as well.