December 2015 Show at The Art League

Fish at the Market
watercolor by Jane McElvany Coonce

One of the hardest things for artists is entering juried shows.  In this area, competition is very stiff.  There are a lot of artists!  The Art League at the Torpedo Factory in Old Town Alexandria has 1,000 members.  Although not every artists enters the monthly juried shows, many of them do.  So when you enter a juried show, you have to realize that there are lots of artists doing the same thing.  The juror also has his or her own personal taste, and he may or may not like your work.  I've seen many a good painting get rejected and wonder why the judge didn't pick it.  Some of them that get rejected are so good that if I had been the judge, I would have given the artist a prize.  But art is in the eye of the beholder.  When you enter juried shows, you have to remember that.

It's hard for beginning artist, who just start entering juried shows, get up enough courage to enter.  And then when their piece is rejected, they feel that maybe they aren't as good an artist as they thought they were.  But that's the wrong attitude.  It's one day and one judge.  On another day and with a different judge, the paintings that are picked for a show might be totally different.

I've had my fair share of rejection.  But that doesn't keep me from stopping entering juried shows.  I entered the December show this month at The Art League. An artist is allowed to enter two pieces, but only one can be picked.  I entered the painting that I won the award with, "Approaching the Equinox", and also the "Fish at the Market."  My prize winning painting didn't get selected!  But I was thrilled that the judge picked the fish painting.

One can never guess what a judge will like.  One judge gives a painting a prize, and the next day a different judge rejects it!  But at least my Fish painting will hang this month at The Art League.
If you get a chance, go see the show.

I guess the moral of the story is:  Never give up.