Life is a journey
I’m really thrilled to announce that this painting ‘Life is a journey’ was selected for the 2018 Art2Life Academy Exhibition. I didn’t win a prize but I feel really honoured to have been included. Artworks were submitted from around the world, only 63 pieces from nearly 300 that were entered were chosen to be included in the exhibition. There is some amazing work by some very talented artists.
Art is subjective
I really wanted to enter this exhibition, and I was working on a new painting to submit, unfortunately I couldn’t finish it by the entry deadline so had to choose something else to enter. I almost didn’t bother entering this painting as it was recently rejected by the Society of Women Artists for their London exhibition. However, I’ve always quite liked it and thought I’d put it in. I genuinely didn’t think it would be accepted and was amazed and delighted when I heard that it had been chosen. It just goes to show that it is all a matter of taste and context. As an artist I am always striving to put my work out into the world hoping that people will connect with it; when they do it is thrilling. When they don’t like it so much, that has to be ok as well.
Art is personal
Making art is a really personal thing to do. It’s like revealing a little bit of yourself in every painting. It can be scary to do this sometimes and it is really easy to take rejection personally and therefore badly. I am learning that this is unhelpful; it is unrealistic to expect everyone to like what I make. Until this year I was worrying too much about what everyone else thought of my work. I think I also spent a lot of time trying to make work that would sell. Neither of these things help you make personal authentic art.
It’s about the process
I still want to sell my work and I’m currently talking with a number of galleries and a charity that I want to raise funds for. But, this takes second place to the daily practise of thinking about and creating art. I believe my gift is to make art and put it out there in the world and not to worry about what people think about it. So I finish a painting and go right onto the next one. This gives me a great freedom to create that I haven’t experienced until recently.
It’s all relative
Getting the news that I was selected for this exhibition made me feel good for about a day. Selling a painting makes me feel happy for an even shorter time. Enjoying the process of making art makes my soul sing every day. That, as they say is priceless.
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