Rejected Again

It's been a while since I've been on the blog.  There are a few reasons.  I've been posting ACEOs for sale on eBay which has taken up much of the time I choose to allocate to fooling around on the computer.  And there was a Studio Tour last weekend that I was getting ready for.  But the main reason for my absence was receiving my second rejection from the Society of Animal Artists.

The first time I applied I really had no idea of my chances.  But this last time I really thought my chances were good.  Apparently I was wrong.

But it seems that I've been making a little progress at least.  Of the five required images, the first time the jury liked two.  But this time they liked three.   The comments were not very englightening though, other than to ttell me that they witheld an offer of membership on the basis of the squirrel and monkey paintings.  I can see that the monkies were the weakest of my submissions.  But I really don't see where the squirrel painting fell short.  On the plus side, they liked the dog (Rudy), lamb, and cat (Red).

For a few minutes after receiving the news I was so discouraged that I really didn't see the point of continuing to try, and also couldn't see how I could do better.  But after talking with Shelley for a while, I built up my resolve to keep trying, and I will.  But unless I have five paintings that I feel really good about in October, I'll skip that deadline and re-apply in April instead.

Shelley found a blog entry on the Society's blog which stated, among other things, that applicants would be judged on the basis of their weakest submission.  Pretty brutal.  But they have their standards, and a right to them.

So I find myself once more at the beginning of the entry process.  The guidelines I put together for myself last time still hold.  The new one, inspired by the blog entry, is that if I chose to add backgrounds, I must remember that I must be as proficient a landscape (or whatever the background is) painter as I am an animal painter.  Tall orders.  But I will keep repeating to myself "nothing ventured, nothing gained."