Rejected—The Nerve!
I just got word that all five of the pieces I submitted to the Arsenal Arts Center Member’s Show here in Boston have been rejected. Yikes. I’m shocked! I love the stuff I do. Both my writing and my art. But the single juror does not.
I’m experimenting as an artist. My main focus is writing but at the end of the day I sit down to explore art. It’s a fabulous puzzle—what we can communicate and how. The two creative ventures feed each other. It’s caviar and champagne. Daily.
The Impressionist’s rejection in the Paris salons of 1895 did waft through my mind for an instant. It can be useful to know your art history! My paintings were acts of visual play, authentic explorations, not art changing like the Impressionists. But then—this isn’t Paris. Well, bloody hell—there you have it. One person said no. And I love these paintings!
Does it mean anything at all? Perhaps The Grand Poobah is having a word with me—
Stick to your true desire. Stay with your passion. You have something else on the go. Don’t get distracted.
Or maybe he’s saying—Never submit your sense of things to the judgment of another.
Or perhaps he’s occupied with other things. I am too.
My friend Sally just called—also rejected. Hers was the perfect response—’Oh, well. We’ll carry on and we’ll have our own show.’
That took the stinger out. Who knows what the bigger picture is? Only The Grand Poobah knows and he isn’t saying—just giving hints. They’re subtle but rather affirming—as they always are. I’m listening. And carrying on—with everything. Spirit and determination intact. So there!
November 1st, 2007 at 2:39 pm
Well, poop. Seems a 1 person jury isn’t much of a jury to begin with. But do indeed keep your eye on the prize of the work, the process. You’re in a deep space of you and what better place to be? Some show in Boston? I hardly think so.
November 1st, 2007 at 3:14 pm
mdf, God I love your work! So humbling to stick your neck on the block………just to have it chopped off.
I feel so sorry for my work when it’s returned. Having to travel all that way. Being stacked up with total strangers, feeling vulnerable. Then unwrapped and nakedly exposed in front of a group of judges. Having to make the long journey home, rejected and dejected. It’s enough to break my heart. I’ve got a place in my studio which is sort of a recovery room. Eventually I will return to a piece and decide to rework it or not. This is the tacky side to being an artist. Of course, writers and actors deal with this all the time…but it seems different somehow.
But you don’t know, the show may open only to find it saturated with kittens in teacups and tigers on velvet. (Though as a child, the velvet paintings were always my favorite at our local art fair in Montgomery, Ohio. I distinctly remember my dear Mama gently steering me away ‘Come along, Kathleen, let’s go look at some nice watercolors.)
Be brave,’
Love, Kx
November 1st, 2007 at 3:39 pm
Thank you, my friends. Well, I’ve made my whole living forever through my creative work so I know this experience of rejection. It’s part of it. Sometimes it’s good—you see the work was not quite there in a clearer way through the refined perspective of someone you respect. I really appreciate that. But, but….what is this person thinking? No way of knowing until the show opens. We’ll see. Kittens in teacups on velvet maybe! You’ll have to fly over for that. mdf!
November 1st, 2007 at 7:00 pm
The point is that if the Grand Pooh-Ba himself were doing the judging then you might have a moment of doubt. But obviously it’s just some lame duck person, one who no one else wants to work with, without doubt, or the Jury would have had more than one person on it. Some poor, terminally depressed sad sack couldn’t see what was in front of him or her.
We don’t worry about such folks.
Better juries await.
Love, Allan
November 1st, 2007 at 7:54 pm
Well, with luck, the Grand Pooh-Ba will forgive me for mis-spelling his name! Thank you, Allan!! Not sure I can burn this juror at the stake but am sure the Grand One has something better in mind! I’m on the case!!
November 2nd, 2007 at 5:53 am
We used to enter juried shows a lot, with work we knew had integrity and quality. Sometime we’d get in an other times not. We started to call it The Lottery System of Earning a Living. We found that with some of the shows the Grand Pooh-Ba was actually one or two or a few people who already knew what they were going to accept. Paintings on velvet and dried flowers are sometimes the norm. So, that makes us exceptional
November 2nd, 2007 at 3:20 pm
Debra, I like your attitude!
November 3rd, 2007 at 9:02 pm
Just remember, the road to success is always paved with rejection slips…all the great artists and writers, actors and dancers have had their share of rejections. I love the statistic that even the greatest baseball home run hitters have also had the most strike outs! Keep the faith!