Thinking the show was looking for political commentary I busted my brains and ingenuity on a piece about our river. It was painted on a recycled mirror (no small feat) to reflect the viewer as a part of the responsible party. I even got the animals biologically correct if you will. I was quite proud of this piece (forgetting that pride goeth before a fall) and prepared to enter it: slam dunk.
Meanwhile the evil side of me emerged and, finding an old used canvas, I began to paint...no plan, no research, no care other than to put my tongue in my cheek and make fun of every thing I could think of. My painting gang of 8 gagged that I would put mt name on it but, the second piece only cost a pittance to enter so I threw caution to the wind and spit in the face of the art gods.
You can guess the rest: my "acceptance letter" announced that "Flushing Meadow" (above) made it to the walls of the museum while my masterpiece was rejected. yikes!
To shorten this tale of humuliation suffice it to say that I got another letter informing me I had an award winner and to be on hand for the ceremony. Leaving an important prior engagement we travelled to said event where my name was never called....my husband was
livid....he thought the longer it took to call my name, the bigger and better the award, poor guy.
Next day the press releases announce my winnings: a merit award. Nothing in the fancy-smancy program...hmmmm.... my Mom wants to write a letter...this is serious stuff for my loyal fan club.....what gives?
Soon an email (doesn't this warrant a call?!) explaining blah blah (I'll edit the whining)...so sorry to leave you off...can you come another night? No. And I still haven't seen hide nor hare of this ribbon....this is not the fault of the Museum...let me make that clear!! But in my human desire to hang in a prestigious locale perhaps I angered the art gods with my tongue in cheek and my cavalier attitutde towards judges and judging. Was THIS my payback??
We'll never know; this tale of woe is shared with a caution: don't paint anything you don't want published with your name on it. That's the lesson for you serious students. For an old broad having all the fun she possibly can with a paintbrush, the lesson is different: Push the envelope, have fun, don't take any of it too seriously and never invite guests to an awards ceremony!!
Here's the award-winning piece titled: Flushing Meadows, Brevard County
p.s. please don't flood my email with offers to purchase---it has to travel the County as part of the show first!
Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug. I worked at getting into a new "coffee table" book, was accepted, and was even interviewed for the write up in the paper. The rub? They spelled my name incorrectly. The mistake is bad enough that it will make me virtually impossible to find online. (I don't think I'll drive over an hour to attend the reception.)
ReplyDeleteBut, hey, congratulations on your award! It will still say "Award of Merit" and "Art Museum" on your resume!
You summed it up exactly!
ReplyDeleteJust imagine four of us standing there waiting for my (your) name to be called and thinking "Is it possible that I am winning Best of Show"?
Three if us were very disappointed and one was very happy.