Today looks like a beautiful day, the sun is shinning, New Mexico "blue sky dreaming." Today I will meet friends in Santa Fe for lunch and we will go to some galleries.
I asked Jean Myers, of Artit, the question about rejections as a part of the art process and how she handled them and she said, "...I've come to the conclusion after many years that it is more of a matter of taste and what the public is in the mood for. I do believe gallery owners are people who love art and want to be in the business of offering the world what they love to others, but it is a business and we all have different tastes--what I would put in my home may not be what you would like to live with everyday--so when a gallery says no thank-you to my work, then I smile and move on. What I want is a good fit with a gallery. An owner who loves my work and who has clients that love the type of work i do. That's what I call a good fit and this is what I'm searching for. I think if I am vigilant, I will find that perfect fit and until then?"
About rejection in general, "It's a part of life and it's one of the roads we follow our whole life and it teaches us to become the unique individual we are by standing strong in ourselves and knowing we are "enough". We are not meant to fit into every nook an crannie."
In the meantime I will keep working because it's what I love to do.
Thank you Jean for such a thoughtful statement and for allowing me to post this beautiful detail of one of your beautiful paintings. As Marge Piercy says in her poem, For the Young Who Want to Be," we have to like it better than being loved."
We are so lucky that we are able to do what we love. You can't be an artist without your share of rejections. Of course it feels best to be accepted, but you never fail unless you quit. I've always thought, when we allow others to open their mouths and speak to us about our work, we find out what they do not know. It is important to learn to nurture yourself, after all no one else is going to do it for you, it's not their job. So we are collecting our rejects to acceptance, with each reject we are one step closer to acceptance.
7 comments:
I'm always taken back by the beauty of your header photo...your home is truly on enchanted land.
Thanks for your thoughts on rejection and posting Jeane's views as well. I discovered early on about art rejection having no truth for me as I had a piece rejected from one show and the same accepted and awarded in another?!
We do what we love...art making!
Love what you have to say Jeane! I knew you had a great attitude. You too Annell, love your addition. "Follow your bliss"!
good morning Annell - thank you so much for the honor of featuring me this morning - I've linked to your post in my sidebar :)
Lovely post Annell. Rejection is something we all deal with, but as artists, we seem to gather an abundance. Jean has the perfect attitude toward her work. We all need to step back now and then to assess why we REALLY paint. It is nice to have a gallery that is a good fit....but I doubt any of us would stop painting if we did not have that. Thank you for this post.
Hi Annell, what an apt post-- you are right-- as artists we go through ups and downs- in and out-- and sometimes upside downs--I follow Jean's blog and she is a wonderful painter with great advice.
Thankyou Annell and Jeane! Don Gray steered me here after reading my post about rejection. We are all so fortunate to be artists and to feel passionate about what we do! Love your header photo! Wow!
Great post! I discovered your blog after Jeane's mention and am so glad I did.
Rejection can be devastating. It can also be part of one's portfolio too, don't you think?
Every two years, our city's Museum of Art hosts a Biennial for the artists of Arizona. Over 400 artists submit works, but only 43 are chosen. That's a lot of rejection.
An artists' cooperative started a Salon des Refusés and the Museum works with them, taking in all of the artists "rejected." Opening night is as big for the small gallery as it is for the Museum.
What's really neat is the t-shirt that the gallery produced. It said, "Rejection is Acceptance."
That's a positive way of looking at it. When we are rejected by one venue, we are free to be accepted by another.
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