Last Thursday evening I went with an artist friend to the Cheyenne Museum Depot in Cheyenne Wyoming. We had both entered an art competition and the participants who made the "cut" were invited for a reception. The winners of the competition were also to be announced. Well, we didn't win, but we learned some interesting things that, if we had known about them, might have given us the opportunity to win.The boots above were the design I submitted. In comparison to most of the submissions that were on display, I felt that they were very good. I felt that they were good enough to have won. However, we discovered that the winning artists, who had competed before and knew the "ropes", had their designs on large canvases as opposed to the rest of us, who submitted in an 8-1/2" X 11" format. The winning entries were very good also. I know that if I had been informed of these particulars regarding the submissions, I would have definitely done them on a large canvas for presentation. Live and learn. The competition for the 2008 "Images of the West" is due by May 1, 2008 and I'll be painting my fanny off over the winter in preparation. The prizes were $1500, $1000 and $500 - nice chunks of change.
Being in the art business is sometimes fun, sometimes frustrating and rejection is a big part of taking a chance on art. I have submitted many greeting card designs that have not been accepted. I have painted many paintings that have not been purchased (our walls here at home are my gallery). I have entered competitions that I have not won. However, this is the way of the art world. When you are not a highly sought after creator of artworks, you are one of the majority who keeps trying even though you may never get recognized.
Lest you think I am bitter, let me state that I am not. I have learned to roll with the punches, pick myself up, dust myself off and start all over again. Just about anyone who has ever been successful has done the same thing. At this point in time, I am just trying to enjoy creating works of art and if that's all I ever do - then fine.
Here's another nice design that was rejected earlier this year. It was for a tee shirt. When I finally did see the winning design - it was pitiful. No flair, no style, no color and downright ugly. I'm not sure who judged the competition. Maybe their nephew was an artist.
Not all of my art has been rejected. I have sold a couple of paintings, I painted a cow for the Denver Cow Parade in 2006, I've sold a couple of greeting card designs, I was invited and joined a gallery and I've been paid to do illustration. Those things help validate me as an artist. In my next blog, I'll tell you about the Denver Cow Parade experience - a very good one."The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls "
