Wednesday, July 20, 2011

What's in a Name?

Throughout this post, I share some past orders of Personalized Sketches that I've completed.

To those that are already familiar with the art I do...Thank you so very much for your interest.

& Thank you to those that are new here on my blog and for your time visiting...

Each drawing is entirely composed of the name of an individual.  
Each one drawn specifically with the person in mind... an image of a family member, pets, homes, hobbies, careers, ...something of interest that is significant or special in their lives.

This post and first drawing was from part of a guest post that I had written previously.
(this rose was drawn with the first name SHIRLEY)
~~~~~~~~~~

Although Shakespeare's Juliet is correct in that a rose would smell as sweet regardless of what it is called, names play a special part of who we are.

Often, even if we’re not fully conscious of it, names affect us in some way.


Thank you Julie for another order. 
I appreciate you thinking of these for farewell/appreciation gifts.

For example:

...Deciding on names for your child. Have you ever thought of a name, and because of someone that you had known with that particular name, you had a positive association with it and moved it to the top of your list?

Or, you had a negative association and immediately eliminated it as a contender?


 Thank you for thinking of this one of you and your hubby.
This was drawn from a photo sent to me from Angelica.

I love to learn the meaning of names.  And when doing the drawings for a baby, it is fun to learn how a name was chosen...

 This handsome little boy has a unique first name 
and carries on a family name as his middle name.

Some are chosen for their meaning or how the name sounds or with a family member in mind.


Thank you Chris for thinking of this one for your dad who is a Georgia Bulldog fan!

With all three of our children, we love the meaning of each of their names.

I loved the name we chose for our older daughter first name. I had loved this name even when I was still in high school!  (Today is the birthday of Girly~Twirly aka the Luckiest Mrs. and a couple of days ago was my dad's bday...)
Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday!!! Here is a past birthday post done last year for them both.

And although not officially included with our daughter's first and middle names,  I love the Hawaiian names that my sister-in-law helped me to find for both our girls. "Makanani" means "beautiful eyes". And "Kaleonahe" means "pleasant voice".

(these are 3 separate drawings that I drew, but put them together here to view).

 (and these are the 3 photos that I drew them from).


And when we were expecting our second child, we loved the name of our dear friends beautiful and sweet daughter....so chose that name for our sweet Girly~Whirly.

(Girly~Twirly, Girly~Whirly and Heartbreaker are just my nicknames I use for my blog :o)

Also with our son, we wanted to be sure to have both dads names included in his middle name, so he does have two middle names (my hubby's dad's name in Hawaiian and my dad's first name).

Thank you Kayla for this order for your husband's promotion. 
& Thank you to him for his military service.


Joining in 
...with  Marine parents, Life with my Littles, & Semper Wifey for Military Monday blog hop.
...with Trisha's Follow Me Wednesday.
...Free Pretty Things For You's Whatever You Want Wednesday.
...with Jenny's  Alphabe-Thursday's "N" 
...and with Alicia for Friday Photo Flashback
...and with Mel for Fancy Friday.
...and with Stacy for Friday Follow Fun.
~~~~~

Later in life, some people define and categorize a person when introductions are first made.  First impressions are often based largely on the name.   This may be why some have changed their birth names—to be more memorable or easier to pronounce, or to evoke a different persona.  Some famous examples include:
  • Bob Hope – Leslie Townes Hope
  • Chuck Norris – Carlos Ray
  • Demi Moore – Demetria Guynes
  • Harry Houdini – Ehrich Weiss
  • John Wayne – Marion Michael Morrison
  • Judy Garland – Frances Gumm
  • Marilyn Monroe – Norma Jean Mortenson.
  • Natalie Portman – Natalie Hershlag
  • Natalie Wood– Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko
  • Pelé – Edson Arantes do Nascimento
  • Shania Twain – Eileen Regina Edwards

There are many sites and sources for learning the meaning or origins of names. And whether someone realizes it or not, it can’t be helped but to associate a name with the individual. A name is a treasure that helps identify an individual immediately.


Many things change, but one thing is certain—names are part of an individual’s identity.



Signature for blog

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Maria,WOW!...amazing....does it take long for you to do a piece of your art?absolutely beautiful how do you find the time?
~JO
LazyonLoblolly

Marjorie's Busy Corner said...

your sketches are so unique....very nice to look at...I wish I could do that...can't draw a straight line...lol

Betty said...

If I was going to do one of those drawings (and I'm not because I can't), with my luck I'd misspell the name. Have you ever gotten all done and discovered a mistake? It must take forever to do and I'm sure you have to concentrate the whole time.

Kathie said...

I can't imagine changing my name as an adult and answering to something so completely different...it would feel so weird!

anyway, you know I love seeing your drawings!

Unknown said...

I love that my son is named for three Joseph Daniel's before him in our family .

Judie said...

I love all your "name" drawings!! Great post!

I hope you will take the time to visit one of the sites on my sidebars and leave me a report!

Jazmin @ My Little Memory Jar said...

Pretty awesome collection you have here. Love it. :o)

♥Jazmin

Pat said...

The rose is just beautiful...I can hardly wait to give my DH his Personalized Sketch in August...you did a wonderful job on it!!

Pondside said...

I believe that a name can influence the way a person grows up. It's a huge responsibility to name a child!

My name is Riet said...

That is amazing art. Beautiful.

Jenny said...

What a perfectly nifty link. Love your art...and how clever to tie it in to this letter of the alphabet!

It was always so very nice to see you linked here.

A+

The Poet said...

Hello. I'm new to your blog.
Your work is amazing! You capture so much detail.
Very nice indeed.

EG CameraGirl said...

Your work is very well done!

XmasDolly said...

Girlfriend, so you were away for a while, and you chose me to come visit on your return? You really put a smile on my face! Thank you so very much for stopping by. Now as far as names not sure what you mean, but I think you're looking for names for your grandchildren to call you? I'm called NaNee (I have nine grandchildren). It's supposed to be gramma in Italian which should really be NaNa, but we went with NaNee because that's how it came out when my first grandchild said it. That's really what you go by. My MIL use to be called Ga-Ga cuz her grandson couldn't say grandma. My dad was BaBa for along time cuz my daughter couldn't say grandpa, so it's kind of up to the baby. You give them a word they'll run with it! hahaha Are you going to join our grand-club?

Monica said...

I LOVE that your sketches are made with names! You do such great work! I'm going to have to look at your Etsy shop more...My husband is retiring in September! (Air Force)

Ames said...

With so many posts on this AT I have been having a hard time getting around to everyone. But you know what? When I was reading some of these post I thought of you and how you use people's names to create art. I was wondering if you would do a post on Names for "N". Glad you were able to stop by my blog. Good to see you again! As always you are so creative! Hugs!~Ames

lissa said...

I have never really like my name but it's not choice one can make although even if we chose to change our name, we would always look back on that old name and compare

anyway, thanks for your visit.

Francisca said...

That's a unique talent you have. For many years I did not really identify with my own name, even if it is a nice one. :-)

More Than Words said...

Hi Maria! It feels like I leave the same kind of comments every week! I'm running out of adjectives to describe your talent, and how much I adore the pics of your family!!!!!! LOVE THEM!

Esther Joy said...

I agree with you - there's a lot of power in a name! Since you visited my blog, you probably noticed that I did mine on "Names" for Jenny this week, also.

Veronica Lee said...

I totally love the one with the Hawaiian babies! And of course, the rest too!! BEAUTIFUL, Maria! Like Alicia, I'm running out of adjectives...er superlatives to be exact!

Have a nice day!

Unknown said...

What a great post :) I still remember the whole decision process when we were trying to come up with a name for E. We technically waited until the last few weeks of my pregnancy before we settled with a name but her middle name was decided the minute we told her grandparents that we were having a girl. E has a traditional Chinese name as her middle name and Jason's parents did a lot of research and decision making before coming up with her middle name. :)

Btw, I always find your drawings so amazing and so beautifully done. It's so hard to believe that the entire drawing is made out of words!

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Hi Maria, Great post... Names are so interesting... I was determined to use family names.. (Of course, this was back in the 60's and 70's). My oldest son is III (named after his father and grandfather). He hated his name --and when he became an adult, he changed it to Tre....Middle son has my Dad's middle name as his middle name (Edgar). Youngest son has a family name from my family (Bruce) as his middle name.

I also was given the name of Bruce as my middle name. I used to hate it because back then, it was a boy's name. Now I love it--and am proud of it.

Hugs,
Elizabeth Bruce Banks (Betsy Adams)

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