"Morning on the Point" 12" x 16" oil/linen
Following on the heels of having two paintings rejected for the Oil Painters of America western show comes my rejection from the Salon International show held at Greenhouse Gallery in San Antonio. I do not handle rejection well. In fact, it makes me a little crazy as I quickly go through the five step process of rejection recovery...
Step 1. Anger
Step 2. More anger
Step 2. More anger
Step 3. Blame game...what's wrong with them? Do they not know good art when they see it? Are they on medication?
Step 4. Self realization...it's not them so it must be me. My art is just bad and I should just find something else to do.
Step 5. Forgiveness. Usually comes in the form of a check from a gallery because one of my paintings sold.
The painting above, "Morning on the Point" was one of my entries and I thought it was a very nice painting. I posted it on Facebook and got over 100 "Likes" so I thought it had a good chance of getting into the show. The painting below "Tahoe Blues" also got favorable reviews on Facebook but I thought it had an "iffy" chance of acceptance and would not have been upset by its rejection.
"Tahoe Blues" 18" x 24" oil/linen
But when I got the email this morning from Greenhouse Gallery listing the accepted entries and saw my name was not on the list....well all I have to say is *^*%^&*$*$*&%(&%(&%)!
There's got to be a mistake. I scan the list again. Nope, there's no Rusty Jones anywhere on the list. There's no freaking way! I close the email, reopen the link to the Salon accepted entries figuring it was just a bug in the system. Nope....no Rusty Jones. Crap! Well they have just lost their freaking minds. So I click on the link and start going through the accepted entries to see what dogs they chose instead of mine. Dangit...they've done a really good job. Dangit...this is really strong stuff, beautiful work...its going to be a great show. Not as strong as it would have been had they just chosen my work to be in the show. But hey, their loss. Until next year when I get the call for entries and I put myself through this same torture again.
There's got to be a mistake. I scan the list again. Nope, there's no Rusty Jones anywhere on the list. There's no freaking way! I close the email, reopen the link to the Salon accepted entries figuring it was just a bug in the system. Nope....no Rusty Jones. Crap! Well they have just lost their freaking minds. So I click on the link and start going through the accepted entries to see what dogs they chose instead of mine. Dangit...they've done a really good job. Dangit...this is really strong stuff, beautiful work...its going to be a great show. Not as strong as it would have been had they just chosen my work to be in the show. But hey, their loss. Until next year when I get the call for entries and I put myself through this same torture again.
What is it they say about insanity? Oh yea, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
7 comments:
Rusty, I feel your paint. My take on juried shows (especially GH & OPA) is that it's a huge money-maker for them. My first several tries to GH were accepted & I even sold. The sheer number of entries and quality of work means they pick new, untried artists over others. Hang in there. It's all subjective and doesn't mean diddly.
Hi Rusty...stumbled across your blog after doing a search on Salon Int'l. They took my painting this year, and really, I think you're a much better painter than I am! (Have you tried entering that "No More Harvests" piece anywhere yet?)
I've been rejected from shows that I thought I deserved to be in, and accepted into shows that I thought were way too good for me...I just see it as a giant board game - you never know what's going to happen! I had one piece that won first prize in the local fair, then it was a competition winner in a Southwest Art magazine contest...but then it got rejected from a local show, and I was appalled at the awful stuff that juror had picked. Sometimes I think the judges *are* on medication! But then, that's what makes the art world so interesting.
Keep on entering, and know that it's not because of your painting - I was quite impressed with it!
I don't pay much attention to being rejected from a show. Regardless of what is stated about objectivity. it's all very subjective and depends on who the juror/s is/are and their likes and dislikes. How else could it be...really?
I personally think they DID lose their minds by not accepting the one on top. It is drop dead gorgeous. I do, however, think that SI tends to favor realism over impressionism, but what the heck do I know. Your work is magnificent, so don't fret. I wish I could afford this, as I would hang it in my studio and look at it for inspiration each day!
I agree With peggy k on this one. It is funny how we react the same way with rejection I checked the list 3 times oh well saved money on shipping better check that list again. By the way I love the buffalo painting of yours i purchased a while back.
They are insane, your work is amazing! The hard part of being creative in a anyway is that you put so much of yourself into whatever it is you create and any rejection is very personal. Your paintings are stunning, you have massive amounts of talent! Don't let this touch your inner core, they probably are over whelmed with entries and after looking at so many they just stop seeing the beauty, the delicate brush strokes fail to catch their eye, the details probably get blurred... do not hesitate to enter again and do it early so they have fresh eyes : )
Great blog post Rusty....personally I think you got screwed on the California piece but hey what artist hasn't gotten the shaft from some fickle jury!
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