"On the Hill"
oil on canvas
30" x 30"
I apply to all sorts of juried exhibitions. I kind of hate it, but at this point, I feel like I still need to do it. Disappointment is a big part of these endeavors. Getting juried into a show involves paperwork, due dates, and hefty fees. If you're lucky, you might get in. If you're in, you get to pay way too much to ship your work with additional "unpacking and handling fees" to a gallery too far away to visit. If the painting arrives intact, the frame is probably busted. If it isn't, it will be by the time it's shipped back to you in somebody else's box (that they want back) with virtually no packing material but plenty of dust and dirt. Sometimes your painting gets lost or the gallery waits to ship it back until you've called eight times to inquire about its return, three months later. Don't count on awards at the exhibit. The better you think your painting is, the less likely you'll be recognized. But if you've managed to get this far, you've figured out a long time ago that your best work won't get in, so you send your least favorite paintings in hopes they'll please these non-artist judges. Don't count on that award covering your expenses either. In fact, go ahead and assume that the prize is actually a "purchase award" for approximately half the value of your work. Don't be surprised if they send your check to the wrong address, two months later, with your name misspelled. Don't be surprised if they resell your painting at an auction house for double the amount you asked for, four times the amount that you were actually paid. Don't be surprised if the show you entered in hopes it would lead to a sale, new gallery representation, or some type of accolade actually just leaves you several hundred dollars in the hole, in no way "more established" as a professional artist, and overall, more discouraged than ever that the most prestigious and honorable venues for your work don't actually do anything to support you as an artist. For that matter, anything to support art in general, and rather, the bottom line of a gallery and the egos of a few "modern masters".
There's nothing new about this, I'm sure. And please don't misunderstand, I'm not angry about it...in fact, I'm getting quite a chuckle out of writing this. It is what it is. Every once in a while, I get lucky and sell a painting. Every once in a while, I win an award. Every once in a while, these silly art competitions help me pay my bills. So long as I'm making more than I'm losing, I don't have a problem with swallowing my pride and playing the game. I'm eventually going to get so fed up that I just say the hell with it. In the meantime, I'll continue to be a hypocrite and bite the hand that feeds me. It's all in fun, but I mean it. It's fun to poke fun and shrug off the importance of things that I should probably take more seriously. It's fun to pretend I'm witty. It's fun to make fun of myself by critiquing things I'm involved with that don't actually matter. But seriously, I'm really serious about all of this. Just kidding...seriously.
Pretend I didn't just say all of that.
I'm honored to take part in the 17th Annual American Impressionist Society's Annual Exhibition at the Howard/Mandville Gallery in Kirkland, Washington. My painting "On the Hill" will be on display through the end of the month with a whole bunch of better paintings by artists of high distinction...some who are even allowed to write acronyms behind their signatures on all of their paintings so that we can recognize that the artist is better than most others. I guess you could say I'm an aspiring AIS, OPA, NOAPS master signature member. I can't wait until those dreams are realized, but I'd like to share some big abbreviation news of my own...I've just been recognized as a member of the American Satirist Society. It's not a requirement, but I'm really looking forward to signing my acronym behind my name.
