The Chatham Public library, which is not exactly in my town but very near, hosts a yearly art exhibit for artists in an 80-mile radius. In the past I have somehow managed to miss the call to entry every single year, except this one.

Because the show is close to home, I decided to enter three of my works (above) that I feel are deserving but have not been juried into other shows. Wonderfully, they were all accepted!

My artist friends have varying attitudes toward entering juried shows.

Some, I believe, think it’s strange that I want to do it. I was asked by one friend why I would enter: did I perhaps feel a need for the validation conferred when one’s works are juried in or win an award?

Some just think it’s too expensive as there is usually a fee to submit and no guarantee your work will be chosen. And then again I have other friends who seem to enter every local juried show.

My strategy so far is to try for regionally located shows within a couple hours’ drive (some of which are national calls.) That is more interesting to me than, say, having a solo show in one of the galleries in my town where I always show. To me, the local solo show at this point is more of a social event.

And while I appreciate the validation – when I get it!- entering shows, especially where my work isn’t known, gives me feedback about the work that I can think about. Sometimes I don’t get in. I don’t find this discouraging. It’s just information that I take note of but don’t worry about in the slightest.

As a result of entering a national show at an art center about 75 miles away from here, I won an award and was asked to do a show in conjuction with a 3D artist. Getting that show was even more exciting than winning the award, because it not only rewarded my past work but gave me a big new goal to shoot for.

Carl Jung wrote that “most of the time, we are living in shoes too small for us.” The farther “out there” I try to go, the more likely it is that my work will not be accepted. These days, I want to stretch out and see what I can accomplish. Each opportunity for having my work seen spurs me on to keep making paintings, to paint more and paint better.