Acceptance

is a wonderful thing. I just received notice that my entry was juried into a SAQA regional show - one of 38. It is a great feeling to be chosen for an exhibit. But, and isn't there always a but, reality means that I still have to get up and do the work needed to make more art to enter into more exhibits. This is what I love to do -- make the art. I am reminded of an interview with a pitcher who had pitched a perfect game the day before and said it was wonderful, but he had to get up and pitch again in the rotation - the perfect game was a very nice stat but did not change his 'job'. My job is to make more art, whether my quilt was accepted or not.

Rejections bruise and need to kept in perspective - they are not value judgments, just the choice of that particular jury. It is hard when we receive no feedback on the why. We cannot dwell on the possibilities. We need to get back into the rotation.

My quilt (that cannot be posted until after the exhibit) that was accepted taught me a lot in its making. First of all, I wasn't immediately drawn to the theme - Tarnish. It just felt hard, and winter is hard enough. After our regional meeting, I decided to give it a try with my own interpretation of Tarnish and in a shorter time frame. I asked for some feedback from some friends - some loved it and encouraged me - a couple had too many suggestions on how I 'should' do it. Both gave me things to ponder and made me stretch to create what was in my mind. Daily work brought me to the solutions I wanted to finish the piece. And I truly feel it is one of my best.

The exhibit will run from May 2 through June 1 at VisArts Kaplan Gallery, 155 Gibbs St, Rockville, MD 20850.

Phone:(301) 315-8200

 

Exciting stuff -- now it's time to get to work on the next right thing. Thanks for reading,

Karen