I've Been Selected for the 2020 ArtPop Street Gallery Columbus - My Painting on a Billboard!

Happy me in front of the ArtPop Street Gallery
billboard featuring my painting "It'll Be Grand".

Oh my, there are times when you hope for things, you want them very hard, and everything goes wrong.

But there are other times when you think "that sounds interesting, I'll give it a try" and you get the the best results. 

The first time I applied for the ArtPop Street Gallery Columbus, in 2019, I thought I had a strong piece, but did not get selected. It was a little disappointing.

So, this year I applied again. Even if I had very low expectations, I tried to do it right. I chose a piece I really liked, I cropped it just right, and I made sure I followed all the technical requirements of the online submission. 

Then I moved on and kind of forgot about it for several weeks.

The Advantages of Submitting for a Juried Art Competition

I think submitting for any juried competition is a win-win, especially when, like in this case, there is no submission fee. It takes a little bit of work and technical skills, but hey, you never know who is going to see your work because of that submission, and just that could open some future opportunities.

Just the submission process itself got me to do things that I would not have done, and those alone were positive outcomes:

• I finally loaded Powerpoint on my computer, and I know I will use it - it's an old version, but it gets the job done.
• To fulfill the upload format requirements, I had to learn some things on Powerpoint that I had never done before, hence new skills.
• My art was going to be seen by a committee of judges that probably had never heard of me or my paintings before, and you never know how and when they might think of me for in relations of other opportunities.
• The whole process got me thinking proactively and positively about my work and my career.

Here is a photo of my painting on the newsstand
at the NW corner of West and High in Columbus, OH

About the Fear of Rejection

In ten years of being an artist, I got many rejections.

I am finally at the point where I understand that a rejection is ok, judges can only choose a certain number of artworks. Getting a rejection email does not mean my painting was bad. It only means others matched that exhibit's focus more. Maybe my painting was deemed good, but did not fit the needs of that particular show. It's ok, I'll find a better match next time.

Easy to say, right? but don't be fooled, it took me years to process and fully accept that.

In truth, a rejection still stings like a killer hornet, but I choose to focus on the positive aspects of the submissions, things like the four bullets above, acknowledge that this time my submission was not, for whatever reasons, among the top ones, and move on.

The Joy of Being Selected

Of course, all that positive thinking of "getting a rejection is ok" goes out the window the moment you receive an acceptance email. ;D 

For the 2020 ArtPop Street Gallery, getting chosen came as such a surprise that I had to read the email three times before it sank in. Wow. My art on a billboard!  

Then I realized that it was also going to be on a huge newsstand downtown, plus some kind of feature at the Columbus airport, and at the convention center. WOW.

Not to mention a monetary retribution of $500 and some truly amazing marketing support.

The fact that we were all on lockdown and people were not traveling or going to conventions has not dimmed the light of this wonderful honor.

The announcement post I had on social media after being chosen.

I Am Super Happy and Super Thankful

In 2010 I started painting every day just for myself, following a personal passion. My initial bliss has now grown into a true, huge blessing.

Who would have ever imagined that people would pay to own my paintings, and some collectors would want to own several of them? Who would have thought that I would be even writing articles about art?

 

And here I am, ten years later, being featured on a billboard,  100+ articles published, and with a solo show on the way.

AMAZING stuff!!

About the Painting

The painting "It'll Be Grand" sold last year at Marcia Evans Gallery, prints of this painitng and other sold pieces are available on my Print Shop on my website.