Singular/Plural Phrase: "Notes to Self" or "Note to Self"?

I am an artist and have done a series of 10 paintings that I have titled "Notes to Self." Each painting has a subtitle. For instance, "Notes to Self: Breathe" or "Notes to Self: Hope." Someone has asked me if my exhibit label in the gallery should read "Note to Self" singular rather than the plural "Notes to Self." I have no idea and hope someone here can help me out. This is an ongoing single series with more paintings to come, but each painting represents a mental note to I make to myself. Thanks in advance for any ideas!

Solution 1:

In theory, it's completely fine to refer to a work within a series in the format “Name of Series: Name of Work”. For example, I might refer to the book from the series “The Dresden Files” titled “Storm Front” as The Dresden Files: Storm Front. A much more famous example is Star Trek: The Next Generation.

So, labeling a painting Notes to Self: Breathe would not be an error.

The problem, however, is that it looks like an error. Many people will look at that label and be confused about why it says “Notes” instead of “Note”.

Here's what would make sense to me. Instead of giving the painting the title Breathe and labeling it Notes to Self: Breathe, give the painting the title Note to Self: Breathe and label it exactly so. The collection will still be called Notes to Self, and even though the name of the collection is technically no longer on the paintings' labels, the relationship will be obvious.

On the other hand, maybe you really do want the title of the painting to be Breathe, not Note to Self: Breathe. In that case, I have an alternative suggestion: I think it would make to label the paintings as Breathe (Notes to Self), Hope (Notes to Self), and so forth.