Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Rejected...or just not selected?

I wanted to show you a photo of a mixed media canvas I completed recently.


I enjoyed the process a lot. The canvas is 6 by 12 inches, an interesting size, especially turned vertically. I did a lot of layering with acrylic paints, gesso, rubber stamps, ephemera and the tea cup is an image transfer using clear packing tape. I've been encouraging myself to be less precise in my creating--more free, more loose. I don't know that I've come very far yet, but I do like slapping on paint and gel medium. That's a start, right?


I made this piece for ClothPaperScissors' Tea Party Challenge. The magazine was looking for mixed media art for their November/December 2008 issue celebrating home and hospitality. I'd never submitted anything to a magazine and thought I'd give it a try. I do like taking a theme and going with it.


ClothPaperScissors posted the results on Friday. My piece was not one selected for publication...oh, well. I do have to admit I was disappointed and felt rejected. And I wondered what to do with the canvas now. Do I want to keep it and forever be reminded of the disappointment?


Today, I was thinking that my blog could use an update and maybe I would show pictures of my Tea Party canvas. But how would I write about it? Could I just say 'this is something I've been working on and this is what I did'?

I decided to upload my photos first and when I looked at them I was aware that I still liked this piece even if it was rejected. And then I realized that it really wasn't rejected, it just wasn't on the list of those selected and that made a world of difference in my thinking.

But, even more, it helped me take a step towards seeing my art through my own eyes and not letting it's value be determined by others. For me, that's huge...and it feels GREAT! Now I know that I'm going to keep my Tea Party canvas and it's going to be a reminder of some valuable growth that happened today! Halleluja!

Marilyn

10 comments:

Shawn said...

Oh Marilyn it's GORGEOUS!!!! I think it would be wonderful hanging in your house or mine :) I have submitted a few things too and have been constantly rejected, it is hard and I try not to let it get to me. So I know how you feel. I just stopped submitting for awhile. :( Hugs to you

Pam Mattick Art and Stuff said...

What a cool piece of work you did. Beautiful (and if you don't believe it, put it up for a Give Away and see if tons of us are not signing up in a heart beat to win it :) But it never feels good to not be chosen. I find art therapy to be a good thing and every word that you shared will make some woman reading it braver, she will see that you didn't fall apart or die by not being selected, that you even learned valuable lessons and she'll send her own work out, maybe she's been stalling for a long time. I think that you are blogging about art therapy without even realizing it. I'm proud of you! You show true character and in a world filled with prima donas that is a beauty in itself :)
Hugs,
Pam

Pam Mattick Art and Stuff said...

And you did what with packing tape, the tea cup? How??? Very cool.
Pam

Marilyn said...

Pam, here's a tutorial I found for packing tape image transfers:

http://www.scrapscene.com/2008/04/thursdays-tutorial-packing-tape-transfers.html

It's kind of like magic and a lot of fun:)

Beth Leintz said...

Just not selected is a much better way to look at it- I've only submitted things for publication a few times, but they were never selected- the first time I was so upset, but then I realized that they only have so much room, so a lot of really good work doesn't get selected.

I could very easily see your canvas on the pages of a magazine- I think you just have to keep trying.

I love that you used so many different techniques on it- I haven't done a packing tape transfer in awhile- I even bought a roll of clear contact paper so I could do BIG transfers, but I haven't gotten around to trying one yet- I can say that about A LOT of things!

Cindy said...

One to the many things that I have had to get used to (as an artist - and believe me, it's taken MANY years to get comfortable with that term) is that there are art critques everywhere. And you know what? It's all subjective. There was one teacher in art school that only favored a particular students drawings that incorporated overly large hands and feet. Hmmmmmmm. And he once told me that only women would ever buy my work. I looked him straight in the eye and said that I really could'nt understand the problem then, cause most of the women I knew had money! So, you go girl! Hang that art and be proud. And submit again. And again. : D And Kudos to you for slanting your attitude and not taking it personal. That my fren, is the key.

c

Unknown said...

Hi! I think your piece is lovely. I guess that is the hard part of the creative process is our perception of rejection or acceptance. It feels great to be validated by others but is it the reason we create in the first place? I'm glad you were able to look at the positive side & there's no saying you can't try again.

Carla said...

Marilyn, I think your canvas looks great. How wonderful that you're trying new things. I keep hearing about gel medium and I'm still trying to figure out exactly what it is and how it's used. The packing tape transfer sounds interesting, too. So sorry I missed the bloggers craft day --it sounds like I could have learned so much from you. I'd encourage you to keep submitting to the magazines. I got quite a few rejections on my writing before I got something published.

3rdEyeMuse said...

love, love, love that you figured it out all on your own (the not rejected part) - the piece really is quite lovely.

thanks for the link to the tutorial - so easy to follow! :)

karlascottage.typepad.com said...

Your canvas is really pretty! And I have been on enough selection committees for the Art Center or for local Art Guild shows to know that the reason somethings are chosen and some are not, can be varied. High quality items can be on the "not selected" list just because they didn't fit the look the jury was going for, not because it wasn't good!