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Monday, May 3, 2010

I May Never Do This Again!

I came home yesterday with a massive headache (and I do not generally get headaches)...a feeling of having been run through the mill, drained, depleted, from the involvement in watching three judges, artists of some renowned themselves, in the process of five hours make snap decisions about more than 200 pieces of art submitted to this show. A piece had to have 2 yeses to be up for further judging in the show. Two yeses meant the piece was accepted in. So it became rather disheartening to hear, No, No, No! Yes, No, No! No, Yes, No! No, No, No! piece after beautiful, interesting, hard worked piece of art.
These are my two rejected pieces.
California Gold & Imago Mandala (butterfly)
This piece got one yes...was reconsidered in the end when the judges had not picked enough pieces to fill the show, they had to go through the One Yes pieces to pick more.
So it made it in by the skin of it's teeth.
But when the judges had more time then to look at it it received more praise
than it had gotten initially.
It's happy it will be hanging in the show.
Mono Maddess got 3 yeses!
I also received a personal critique after the judging was all over by the judge
who liked it best.
Seeds of hope I (behind it) got two yeses so was in the show as well.
The sad news to me was they had to judge the fiber art in with collages and other mixed media because they do not have enough funds for enough prizes to judge them in separate categories.
Therefore that small mixed media piece in the front was favored over the fiber art entries.
However, my fiber art did win out over other mixed media pieces so I can't complain too much.
;-)
They took a second and a third place prize!
Today my headache is gone.
My heart aches for all the artists who did not have work selected into the show.
There was so much very very good art that was rejected.
And the judging process leaves a lot to be desired in my humble opinion.
There were very few explanations for a lot of the No votes.
I did see some favoritism for a known artist (by the judges) in one case.
And given that several artists who had submitted art were present
(besides myself) they could have been kinder in how they behaved at times.
I would not want their job.
I am happy for my wins.

19 comments:

  1. What a process! Good grief...no wonder you got a headache! Congrats on all of your wins!!! Your stuff is winning no matter what anyone says anyway!!!

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  2. I feel your pain after having all three of my pieces rejected :(

    I wouldn't want to be a judge, but if I were a judge I'd be kind and more open.

    Congrats on the ones that made it...and awards, yay!!

    Just remember why you make art Lynn. No judge can ever take that away from you with a simple "no."
    Every time you make something say "YES!! I made this!"

    You know we blog buddies love your art and the passion you have for creating.
    Never give up ;)♥♥

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  3. I am not for juried shows any more. I feel that these are JUST OPINIONS of people who like certain things only and had there been three other people judging then those three they would have had other opinions. I have seen wonderful works of Art rejected, So that doesnt make your work any less wonderful. and yes they should have been much kinder. Shows lack of professionalism and favortisim on that one judge which I have seen over and over before. Congrats on getting in and winning what you did.

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  4. Oh...I truly know how you feel, because in a way, that's what "making" and showing cats is like. I do not miss showing one bit and it's something I did for 20years but when the switch went off, I was just over it. That's kind of surprising to me and I keep thinking/hoping that it will be the same when I finally say I'm stopping breeding, too. Maybe that is why I keep vaccilating back and forth about retiring from it and who knows, I may never get that "sign"

    Anyway...off on a tangent I went, mostly I started out to say that validation from judges isn't all it's cracked up to be, and can be something as silly as "I love blue cats" or "I love ribbons"

    I liked your "seed" work the best myself...but I am not a judge just an admirer and you have lots of those, and that admiration is well deserved!

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  5. congrats on your pieces that got accepted. and on participating the the process and getting an inside view of how its done. Eye opening I guess

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  6. Well done Lynn for your wins ....all your work id FAB anyhow ....Lorna

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  7. What a way to decide what goes through and what doesn't. Sounds a bit brutal to me.
    Congratulations on your wins.

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  8. Congratulations on your success Lynn! Who would be a judge? No matter what the judging process, it must be very difficult when there are so many beautiful works of art out there. At least they were smart enough to see in your art what we see :)

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  9. mazeltov on those accepted ones, you most certainly deserve it. but unfortunately i do hate this process of choosing the best when the others are present, i see this in school all the time and many a little child's heart has been broken and his confidence shattered by having work he has taken ages to do, just negated and even slashed by criticism. i think that every single child should get a prize no matter whether they are in the winner's line or not.

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  10. I got a headache only reading about the process.... ;-) Congrats on you pieces that made it across the line.

    Corryna

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  11. Now I am totally disheartened to ever submit to a juried show. It seems favoritism is the name of the game, rather than ability and talent. Glad to hear you had so many in the show.

    I thought your art quilts were in a wide open category. Each medium should have had its own category, but I understand budget concerns. Just doesn't seem fair.

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  12. Juried shows are always so difficult to bear. I have been left out of several that I really wanted to be in. But then, I have also been accepted into several that I never expected to be in, so there you go. Congrats on the accepted pieces. They are so you and very lovely, Lynn. Your personality always shines through your work.

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  13. I am so happy you made it in!
    I can relate to this as when they have judged shows at the Harwood here in Taos, it is always the same(favored)artists that get picked. Very few new people ever get in. It is a shame. xoxo

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  14. how stressful, as in stress-FULL! i am not surprised however and have read about how this and it always is unfair in one way or the other and always there is very good art that "has to be overlooked" for whatever reason...being an artist, at this point in life, i don't have the skin for it, nor the patience to walk the walk, etc., so if ever i am in a "show", it will be my own, in my own studio on art trails or something -open to the public, come and visit, throw open the doors, you know?
    on the other hand, i am thrilled you got in with your lovely pieces....they are stunning! but mixing them with mixed media doesn't "feel" right to me either and it's a shame there isn't a category for fabric art? strange, i didn't realize that but now that i think about it, i can see why it is put with mixed media as many MM artists use fabric, etc., in their work...can't win!
    xo

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  15. Thank you all for chiming in here on your feelings and experiences with juried art shows, your kudos for me/my art, your understanding and continued support and encouragement.

    No way will this stop me from creating...And I do have to feel good that even though I was not known at all to the judges they did choose three of my pieces to be in the show. And there was another fiber artist, who unfortunately did not get in, so I wasn't just competing against myself this year. And the more I thought about it I realized I also won out over a lot of mixed media artists that did not make it in either. So I did well, even with all the draw backs. I am satisfied.

    I hardly thought about art today at all...I cleaned my living room instead...dusted! And wow, was there ever a lot of dust! Felt good to do something mindless before heading back to work.

    Thanks again for everything, all of you.

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  16. I've just been catching up on my blog lists - wow! You've been through a lot this week. I've never entered an art show so didn't know the process. Isn't judging art always subjective? My husband doesn't "get" much art that I find beautiful. For him it has to look like what it is supposed to be. He doesn't have that artists mind. Of course, he would never be on a jury either! You know I have a book coming out soon and although I am pleased with it, I feel some fear that people will think it's stupid, dull, not well-written, etc. The list goes on and on. It's scary putting yourself out there and trusting in yourself. Kudos to you for having the guts to do it!

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  17. I am happy for your wins too Lynn. I hope it was all worth the headache.

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  18. Your art ROCKS BIG TIME and I love it! Congrats!
    Linda

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  19. Congratulations on your art Lynn - It is all beautiful! Way to go with the 2nd and 3rd prizes!

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Thanks for leaving your comments as I love hearing from you. Your words of encouragement are why I continue to draw!