Rejection, by any other name, Still Stinks

Monday, April 14, 2014

Rejection, by any other name, Still Stinks

Well, since none of us hesitate to post exciting news, I suppose it's only fair to come clean about negative events.

So here it is: I submitted paintings to two respected, national arts organizations - and got rejected by both. Needless to say, I was bummed.

I have been known to over-analyse and may have obsessed a bit with self-doubts and criticism: were they too small, too boring, too brown!? Wrong subject matter, bad photographs? Just plain bad?!!!!

But, life is short ...and busy ...and often crazy, so no time to wallow.
Facebook friends, and others closer by, cheered me. One pointed out that Courbet, Manet and Pisarro were famously rejected by the Paris Salon, creating the infamous Salon Des Refusés. Not that I'm comparing, but it did make me smile.

While it was majorly disappointing, it was not totally discouraging or debilitating. Attitude isn't quite everything. Sh*t happens. Work matters. So I paint nearly every day, working to refine skills. And on a good day, to define my vision. It's not easy, but that's the challenge.

It took a day or two to settle comfortably at the easel after being "rejected", but, I'm back to work on some pieces that present new challenges of their own. That's always rewarding - typically passing through frustrating along the way! It's just the way it works. The trick is sticking with it long enough to get to the other side. So "stay tuned" for some new paintings of interior spaces. And thanks to everyone who talked me off the ledge (so to speak ;)

Meanwhile, here's my personal Salon des Refusés.