Rejection

Last week I submitted work to different regional competions. This week I receved the notification cards back. Rejected! I submitted 2 paintings to each of the regionals and all were rejected. These are both regionals that I have been in the last 2 years. My wife is taking this very personally. Maybe because she chose the paintings that were submitted.

For me it is more like, yeah, well so, when can I pick up my stuff? I know that jurors will select work based on their own likes and dislikes and not necessarily the quality of the work. Maybe I don't especially care because I have a lot going on right now and I am enjoying life. When I was a young man it was far more difficult. In order to help ease the pain of rejection I would, along with my artist friends, staple the rejection notices up on the studio wall and then proceed to drink way too much beer. The collection of notices became like an icon on the wall. Stack some empty beer cans on the floor and before you knew it, I had an altar to the arts gods.


So, Ive got some frames to finish making and about 6 paintings that I am working on. The weather is getting nice and I'm getting work done on the outside of the house. We are targeting mid-July to get our house on the market. I spend more and more time, in my head, dreaming about our move to the SW.

Both of these pieces are done on Strathmore paper using a combination of Caran D'Ache Neo-Pastel II artist crayons and oil pastels. They are matted with a single white mat, the glazing is plexi and the frames are made by me. They are a simple profile with a natural finish. The wood is poplar.