The Rejection Dance

Funny I don’t think I used to think about it. I wasn’t an artist. I was a sales professional. I never really hesitated to ask for the business and potentially receive a “no.” It is just part of the process. You actually eagerly seek the rejection, to uncover the why, in order to get to the yes. It is called trial closing. Over time you learn how important the “no” responses are.

Unlike sales, the artist process of applying to juried exhibitions doesn’t come with a feedback loop, unless you get the acceptance. When you get a “no” that is all you get. No insight, no reason. You just learn you were rejected. This has been hard for me to adjust to after years of feeling rejection was a way to learn and grow because you had more information to iterate from.

So what is a former sales professional now a full time artist to do? Well, I don’t know how well you know me, but if you do, you know I refuse to give up. I keep applying and sometimes the answer is acceptance and sometimes it’s rejection. I took it personal at first but now I’ve toughened up a bit and realized I just need to keep trying and keep iterating on my own with my work. If I stay true to my process and continuous learning I know that even without feedback I will ultimately improve.

Recently I had a very exciting acceptance to a prestigious gallery here in the city, the Bridgette Mayer Gallery. The exhibition call was different from others I’ve applied to. Instead of submitting completed artwork for inclusion in a group exhibition, the request was to submit images of your work and from that they selected artists to create an original piece on a specific size gessobord panel. I was thrilled to be accepted. Even better in my mind, the exhibition is a benefit contributing to two worthy causes, The Dina Wind Art Foundation and Help Us Adopt.

The opening reception is coming June 13th and if you’re interested in attending or seeing it while it runs, you can find the details here. Curious to see my piece? You can get a preview of A Garden Embrace here, but know that in person you will see more of it. Every side is part of the artwork so there is more than what meets the eye on a one dimensional image.

I’d like to leave you with a quote from Robert Collier. “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.”