Art Show Rejection - Don't Take It Personally

Most artists have been told they should enter lots of juried shows and competitions to build up their resumes while building their art career. Since I have never, ever been asked to show my resume before selling a painting, or being accepted into a gallery, I have some disagreement with this idea. But that's a topic for another post. Whether or not you think you need to enter shows, or just want to, it's' never fun when you don't win anything. What's even worse is when you don't get into a show at all. You get that dreaded "sorry, your work was not accepted in..." letter. To add insult to injury, you later attend the show and see artworks that were accepted that make you scratch your head. Sometimes it's even worse and you are literally shocked. You're thinking, "OMG .... THAT amateurish piece of junk got into the show while mine was rejected?"

Usually if you go complain to someone about how some piece of junk art got accepted and yours didn't, you get that look ... that look that the person you're telling thinks you just have an ego problem and you are bitter and jealous. Of course, they didn't actually see the junk that got in so they don't really know. Either that or they're thinking art is subjective, so all art is good in some way, and you just can't accept that some people may like that "crappy" art better than yours. I beg to differ. I know a stylized piece of art from a beginner's finger painting. (Read my post on Why Can't I Say Some Art Is Bad? for my opinion on that). My point is, you usually get no sympathy from anyone. They think the jurors surely picked the best art and you're just being a baby about it because your art was not considered the best. You know that feeling.

But you know you're not just jealous. You're sometimes shocked by what was selected and what was rejected in an art show you didn't even enter. You're sometimes surprised that what you think is a wonderful piece of art by another artist is sitting in the rejection room while another painting was accepted that looks like a dog wiped its bum across the carpet. Your personal art aside, you're baffled.

Regardless of what others think of your rejection, or the reason for the rejection, getting rejected from an art show sucks. I'm writing this post because there's one very important thing I've learned about being rejected from art shows: Don't take it personally.

The first thing we artists tend to do when we get rejected from a show is think that our art was not good enough. Our art sucks. We failed. Maybe we really aren't as good as we think we are and should just throw in the towel.

I'm here to say ... Stop! It's not about you. You weren't necessarily rejected because you're art sucked.

One thing I've learned over the past few years is this is not about my art. It not even about the best art. We are led to believe that jurors are objective, they have some totally objective rule book they use to select art, so only the actual best art gets in a show. We believe art shows are all about selecting the best art and that's it.

I'm here to say I don't think that's true.

I should now make my disclaimer. I have no inside knowledge whatsoever into how juried shows work. But I have talked with a several artists who have far more experience with them than I do. Whether they have the actual facts or not, I don't know. But what they say about how juried shows work makes a lot more sense to me than thinking jurors actually prefer crap art over good art sometimes. Here's what I've learned. The "rule book" for selecting art is not just to select the best art. Shows are a business. So sometimes it's about:

1. What attracts visitors. Art shows want to attract the most visitors possible, especially if visitors have to pay to get in. Variety matters. If a hundred artists submit landscapes and 10 artists submit florals, the jurors may reject 10 beautiful landscapes in order to include 10 crappy florals so they don't have all landscapes. They want landscapes and florals to make sure the show has variety to attract all sorts of visitors.

2.  What sells. Let's face it. Most of these shows are not out there for the sole purpose of helping artists get exposure. They're out there to make money. They want art that sells. You may have the most beautifully rendered painting of a dugong the world has ever seen. But there really isn't much of a market for dugong paintings. If wolves are the "hot" item then the juror may very well select a poorly crafted wolf painting over your excellently painted dugong painting simply because they know the wolf painting is more likely to sell.

3. Personal preference. We'd like to think jurors are objective. And I'm sure many try their best to be objective. But, they are human, and their opinions and tastes are going to influence their choices no matter what. People are usually surprised when I tell them I barely scraped by with a 'C' grade in one of my college art classes. The reason? My teacher did not believe realism was art. His opinion was, if you want it to look realistic just go take a photo. So I got a poor grade for making my paintings and drawings too realistic. It didn't matter to my teacher whether I did a good job or not. He just really believed my renderings were not "art" in the true sense of the term. I was a human photo-copy machine in his opinion. No style. No creativity. I sucked to him. OK, so here is this college professor, supposedly trying to teach art objectively, and could not separate his personal opinions from his judgment of my craftsmanship. So it is with jurors. Try as they might, if they love colorful abstracts and you submit a monochrome realism, they won't be able to entirely detach their personal dislike for monochrome realism. They are going to favor the colorful abstract.

4. Space. This is one I was actually surprised to learn about. But the truth of the matter is, sometimes it's just about space.The prospectus may say they accept paintings up to 5'x6', and you submit work that's 3'x4', but it gets rejected simply because it's too big. Technically it's within the legal limits. But the fact of the matter is they have a limited amount of space to hang artwork. They decided they want to hang 200 pieces of artwork and if they accept 3'x4' paintings then they'll only have room for 150 paintings. So they select some lesser quality 9"x12" paintings over yours so they can squeeze more paintings into the space available.

Really, it could be that simple. Your art is wonderful. They love it. But they simply don't have room for it. They don't tell you this though. I have never seen a show actually tell artists why their art was rejected. It would be nice if they did. But I think they don't because they don't want to tell anyone it's not always about picking the best art. That's what everyone believes, that art shows exhibit only the best art submitted. But it's an illusion. They don't want to admit it's sometimes about stupid stuff, like space. So I'm here to tell you that. Sometimes it is just about stupid stuff. Sometimes it's about wall space, or money, not about the quality of your art. So I hope after you read this you'll feel a little better next time you get that rejection letter.

Miniature Art Show at Parklane Gallery

Every year the Parklane Gallery in Kirkland, WA hosts its Annual Miniature Show in May featuring miniature paintings and sculptures from artists all over the country. The show includes artwork from some well-known miniature painters such as Linda Rossin, Beverly Abbott and Wes & Rachelle Siegrist. The show will be from April 29th to June 1, 2014. There will be an artist reception on May 9th from 6:00-8:00PM and usually includes music and refreshments.

I'll have a number of small artworks on display in the gallery during the show, sizes 4"x6", 5"x7", and 6"x6", all oil paintings.  Here's a preview of what I'll have there.

All these mini paintings are for sale and available for purchase through the gallery or directly from me. If you are in the area I invite you to visit the gallery and view these, and other miniature artworks, in person. Photos online never do them justice. If you are in the area, try to make it to the artist reception on May 9th, too. I'll be there, along with many other artists, and we'd love to meet you and chat about art together!

If you're not in the area, or can't make it to the gallery, and would be interested in purchasing one of these paintings, either the gallery or I can ship the paintings anywhere within the US and Canada. So don't hesitate to contact me or the gallery if you're interested. Of course, we'd rather see you in person, so I hope you can make it!

EAFA Public Arts Display

I'm happy to announce that three of my paintings have been selected to be part of the Evergreen Association of Fine Arts (formerly Eastside Association of Fine Arts) public art program. These 3 paintings will be on display (and available for purchase) at the Overlake Hospital in Bellevue, Washington from today until October 20th. If you are in the area, do stop by and see these paintings, along with many other paintings from EAFA members, in person!

Black Bear Falls

16"x20" oil

Friesland Nobility

20"x24" oil

Follow Me

18"x24" oil

Parklane Gallery Annual Miniature Show

The Parklane Gallery Annual Miniature Show opens tomorrow, April 30! Two of my paintings will be on display and for sale in the show along with many other miniature artworks, some from such well-known miniature artists as Wes and Rachelle Siegrist. Many other paintings by gallery artists will also be on display and for sale that are not in the show.

This is my first time in the show so I don't know how it's going to go. Although the show runs until June 2, from what I've heard, many of the paintings sell quickly the first day! So if you are interested in buying any of these miniatures get down there sooner rather than later. If you're not in the area you can still purchase paintings online but online sales won't start until the second day of the show, on May 1.

If you're in the area on May 10 stop by for the reception and awards starting at 6:00PM. There will be wine, snacks, artists to chat with and, of course, lots of art to see!

New Great Blue Heron Miniature Painting

I've been out of sorts, not feeling so well, so I haven't gotten a lot of painting done the last few days. Feeling better today so I was able to do a little painting and finish up a miniature painting of a great blue heron I photographed at Juanita Bay Park a few months back.

I'm trying to get some more miniatures finished up before the Parklane Gallery Annual Miniature Show next week. If you're in the area, please come by and check out the show! This is my first time participating in the show but I've been told by other artists that it's a great show.

4"x6"

Oil on multimedia board

Tiger Miniature Painting

I finished a new miniature painting of a Siberian tiger yesterday. It's only 4"x6", oil on multimedia board. I plan to enter it and the previous raccoon miniature in the Parklane Gallery Miniature Show next week. Wish me luck!

Artists for Conservation Festival 2012

I'm happy to announce my artwork below was accepted into the 2012 Annual Art of Conservation exhibit!

Title: It's a Big World Out There
Subject: Red fox pup
Size: 12"x16"
Medium: Oil on Canvas

Bothell LiveARTS Festival

I'm happy to announce that my artwork, Love's Golden Touch, a painting of a mother giraffe caressing her baby, has been accepted into the Bothell LiveARTS Festival going on this weekend. It will be on display June 23-24, and will be available for purchase there too.

Love's Golden Touch
12"x12"x1.5"
Oil on wrap-around canvas

(For those of you not from the area, 'Bothell' is pronounced like 'brothel' without the R. Unfortunate, I know. Not a pretty word to rhyme with. But better than the more commonly mispronounced version of 'bot hell' I suppose.)

Anyway, if you happen to be in the area this weekend, please stop by and enjoy all the wonderful art, live music, and food! I plan to spend some time there this weekend, although I don't know what hours yet. I'll likely post the times here when I'm ready to go. Maybe I'll see you there!

Art Show Practices

I must admit, I'm not very experienced at entering art shows or understanding how they work. Even years ago when I was doing my wildlife art full time I did not spend much time entering shows or exhibitions. I mainly spent my time painting, selling originals through a local retail gallery, and working on publishing and licensing deals. I really didn't give much thought to art competitions or exhibitions.

This time, I decided to try things differently. Everyone seems to say you need to enter shows and win awards to build up your resume. Entering's the easy part. Winning's another story. But, I digress.

My purpose for this post is to ask, do many shows ask to submit originals just to enter?

I've only entered a few shows this year. Usually they ask you to submit some digital images via email or CD. Then they notify you if you are accepted into the show. If you are accepted then you deliver the original artwork to the show.

Sounds good.

Now, recently, I entered a local show where things didn't quite go that way. They actually ask you to deliver your original artworks just to enter. First, this seems odd to me for them to spend all this time and energy handling and storing originals that won't end up actually in the show. Why not save themselves the hassle and eliminate unwanted artwork via digital preview like many shows seem to do nowadays?

Then, to make matters worse, they only notify you if all your submitted pieces are rejected. If you enter 3 artworks and 1 is accepted and 2 are rejected, you hear nothing from them. So I guess you assume "no news is good news" in this case. But, even if no news is good news, you don't know which pieces that you entered have been accepted. This can be a bit frustrating for the artist. I'd imagine most artists would like to announce ahead of time which pieces of their art have been accepted into a show. They would like to inform their fans and clientele so they may go view that art at said show. To think an artist has to actually attend the show to find out which of his/her pieces are in it seems ridiculous to me.

On top of everything else, the rejected pieces of art cannot be picked up until after the show. So, even if all your submitted works are rejected, your originals are tied up for the duration of the show. You cannot submit them to other shows, you can't sell them, you can't show them anywhere else. This seems a heavy price to pay to enter a show you may not get into.

This seems completely backwards to me. Am I wrong? Is this weird? Or is it common? Let me know.

Art Shows - May 2008

Note: These are not listings of shows I will be participating in. They are just art shows with wildlife and/or western themes that may be of interest to you.

March 1 - June 1
The Art of Robert Bateman
The Wildlife Experience
10035 South Peoria
Parker, CO 80134
720-488-3300
http://www.thewildlifeexperience.org/

April 1 - May 16
The Horse in Fine Art
Columbia Art League
111 South Ninth St
Columbia, MO
573-443-8838
http://www.aaea.net/2008springshow/default.htm

April 18 - May 9
Masterworks for Nature Celebrates the Wilds
Cincinnati Art Galleries
225 East 6th St
Cincinnati, OH
513-232-0954
http://www.masterworksfornature.org/

May 2 - 4
27th Annual Decoy & Wildlife Art Festival
Havre de Grace Middle School
Recreation Center
Havre de Grace, MD
410-939-3739
http://www.decoymuseum.com/special.html

May 2 - 24
Native Visions
A Collection of Work by William Sitting Bull and William Zelt
304 E. Elkhorn Ave
Estes Park, CO
970-586-9203
http://www.estesarts.com/gallery/index.asp

May 2 - June 14
17th National Juried Exhibition of Traditional Oils
Dana Gallery
246 N. Higgins
Missoula, MT
406-721-3154
http://www.oilpaintersofamerica.com/17thNationalShow.htm

May 3 - 4
Reflections of Nature
Art Center at Fallbrook
103 S. Main
Fallbrook, CA
760-728-1414
http://www.fallbrookart.org/

May 9 - June 8
Walk on the Wild side with Jim Oliver
104 E. Main Street
La Grange, KY
502-222-3822
http://www.gallery104.org/Gallery%20104/Navbar/events.html

May 10 - 11
Montana Wildlife Art Show
Holiday Inn Downtown
200 S Pattee St
Missoula, MT
406-721-8550
http://www.wildlifefilms.org/festivals/iwff/index.html

May 16 - 18
Ellensburg National Art Show & Auction
Kittitas Valley Event Center
512 N Poplar St
Ellensburg, WA
509-962-2934
http://westernartassociation.org/

May 17 - 18
Peppertree Art Show
3631 Roblar Avenue
Santa Ynez, CA
805-688-6205
http://www.peppertreeartshow.com/

May 17-18
Sculpture in the South
Azalea Park
Summerville, SC
843-851-7800
http://www.sculptureinthesouth.com/

May 24 - 26
34th Annual
Memorial Day Weekend
Western Art Show and Sale
Courthouse Plaza
Prescott, AZ
928-778-1385
http://www.phippenartmuseum.org/events/westernartshow.html

WAY Competition Deadline Extended

The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF) has extended the entry deadline for its Wildlife Artist of the Year competition to Feb 1, 2008 so there's still time to enter!

It's open to all artists worldwide, professional or amateur. The winner will receive a £10,000 prize. The runner up will receive £1,000 and the winner of each category will receive £500. The categories are as follows:

Endangered Wildlife - any wild animal or plant that is threatened or endangered nationally or internationally
Wild Places - any scene or landscape showing the natural environment at its most beautiful or dramatic
Wildlife in Action - any wild animal jumping, fighting, flying or any other interesting behavior
Wildlife in 3D - sculpture using any medium
Abstract - let your imagination go wild!

For more information visit the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF) or the Wildlife Artist of the Year website.

Upcoming Art shows - Nov 2007

Shows to see:

Nov 9-11
Waterfowl Festival
Easton, MD
www.waterfowlfestival.org
410-822-4567

Nov 9-21
Women Artists of the West 38th Annual Invitational
Hilligoss Galleries, Studio of Long Grove
360 Historical Lane
Long Grove, IL
www.hilligossgalleries.com
847-634-4244

Nov 10-11
Pepper Tree Art Show
3617 Roblar Ave
Santa Ynez, CA
www.peppertreeartshow.com
805-688-6205

Nov 16-18
Wildlife Art Festival the 25th Anniversary
2024 Orange Tree Lane
Redlands, CA 92374, USA
www.sbcounty.gov/museum/
909-307-2669

November 17-18
Eastern Pennsylvania Wildlife Art Show
Town Hall
New Hope, PA

Nov 17-18
Twelfth Annual Plantation Wildlife Arts Festival
Thomasville Cultural Center
US Highway 319
Jackson Street
Thomasville, GA
www.pwaf.org
229-226-0588


Shows to enter:

Nov 30 deadline
Endangered Species Juried Art Competition
Wildling Art Museum
www.wildlingmuseum.org
802-688-1082

Upcoming Shows and Exhibitions

Since my last post was about wildlife art shows I decided to look around and see what else is coming up in the near future for your wildlife art viewing pleasure. I realize not all of you can get to Port Townsand, WA to visit David Kitler at the Fort Worden show so let's see what else there is that might be closer to your neck of the woods. I'll just cover Sept and Oct for now.

Sept 8-Nov 11
Birds in Art Exhibit
Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum
Wausau, WI

Sept 14-Oct 7
American Plains Artists 23rd Annual Exhibit
Loch Vale Fine Art
Estes Park, CO

Sept 15-16
North Georgia Wildlife Arts Festival and Outdoor Expo
Downtown City Park
Blue Ridge, GA

Sept 22-23
New England Wildlife Art Show
Earthplace Nature Discovery Center
Westport, CT

Sept 29-30
Maine Woodcarvers Association and Wildlife Artists Show
Augusta Armory
Augusta, ME

Oct 5-6
Bill Worrell and Barbara Westwood Annual Fall Show
Exposures International Gallery
Sedona, AZ

October 5-7
Wild Wings Fall Festival Original Art Show and Sale
City Hall
Lake City, MN

Oct 5-14
Georgia National Fair Wildfowl and Wood Carving Competiton Exhibit
GA National Fairgrounds
Perry, GA

Oct 12-14
17th Annual Reflections of Nature Wildlife Art Competition, Show and Sale
Saskatoon Prairieland Park
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Oct 19-21
Wildlife Art Show and Sale
Civic Center Plaza
San Dimas, CA

Oct 19-21
26th Annual Southern Wildlife Festival
John C. Calhoun College
Decatur, AL

Oct 20, 2007 – February 17, 2008
47th Annual Society of Animal Artists Exhibition
The Wildlife Experience
Parker, CO

Oct 27-28
15th Annual Woodcarving and Wildlife Art Show
East Berlin Area Community Center
East Berlin, PA

I'm sure there are many more shows and exhibitions going on out there so if you know of some not listed here add it to the Comments section here. Thanks!