I finished this painting yesterday, a 12″ by 36″ canvas called Moonlight Theatre. I really enjoy working on these pieces. They grow very organically, one bit leading to the next, and easily absorb my full attention making time fly by. When I started I fully intended to work on a landscape, one with a few red-roofed houses. I even started in the lower right corner with one of my typical windowless houses. I started to put my brush to the canvas for another hosue when I stopped and began to sense that there was a cityscape here instead. So it came to be.
I opted for windows and doors in this painting, something I only use on rare occasions. I normally like the anonymity that comes from windowless structures in these paintings but here there is that same sense even with the windows. They’re like the eyes and faces of a crowd of people crossing the street in a large city, aloof with little recognition of anything around them as they move. If their eyes are like windows, they’re open but you can’t see in. The same here.
I finished most of the painting before putting the M on the marquee of the theatre in the forefront of the piece. I had already decided that the marquee was the focal point of the painting and wanted it to lead to or be influenced by the title. I saw this as a city at night and felt that the word moonlight was in there somewhere. That’s when I decided on the M for the marquee. Moonlight Theatre.
Cheri came into the studio soon after I had finished and, after looking at it, asked ” Is that M your initial? Aren’t we a little self-centered?”
I hadn’t even considered that when I chose the M. It was always for Moonlight but I could see how it could look that way. I immediately thought of changing the M. Maybe an O for Orpheum, which is a common name for theatres. But I decided to hold off. I liked the M and its angles in this piece– it just seemed to fit. Besides, it was already Moonlight Theatre in my mind.
So it stays. For now, M is for Moonlight.
Redtree Times 
Ah, phooey. If Van Gogh can paint a self-portrait and Joyce can write Portrait of the Artist, you can put an “M” on your marquee, without apology. If some people see if as your initial, so be it. Personally, I love the layered meaning.
Besides, creativity demands a sense of self. Self-centered can be a problem. Self-aware and self-assured usually aren’t. 😉
I, too, immediately noticed the “M”. For what it’s worth, my first thought was “Marriott”. My second thought was “Myers”. But I also see a sun, not a moon, so what do I know. Maybe I should read the title before looking at the painting?