Today was the deadline for another group show I was interested in entering. I currently have three of my ceramic pieces in the outgoing show at this venue.

The theme for the next show is “Today’s Weather.” The watercolor above I painted specifically for this show. It is reminiscent to me of weather maps. My husband thinks it looks like breasts, lol. As I could submit multiple entries for this show I spent much of today going through my art and photographs to see what would fit this theme.

I found several pieces in various mediums that I thought were a good thematic fit. I shared the images with my family and polled their results. A couple pieces were liked by everyone, and a few were polarizing. That’s art for you.

While I really like some of these I think it may be hard for the juror to find the relevance to the theme based on the image alone.

When I was mid application I remembered that I had a composite photo I made as part of a set. The same Montreal scene , edited with warm summery images and a second which was cool and icy feeling. I sold the summer one this past summer, but the wintery one had not been in a show yet. I went ahead and entered that one on a whim. Bonus, its already matted and framed.

Ultimately I decided on the Watercolor Weather Map, the Acrylic Forest Fire, The Mackinac Bridge in fog and the Icy Montreal.

Now I’m waiting for the jury results on two shows. The Michigan Annual selections should be announced on Wednesday, and this show a few days later. I’ll also be entering two more pieces in a group show Wednesday. Waiting for the results used to make me so anxious, but not as much now. If anything repeating this process with over and over has made me realize how subjective these shows are and not to put weight on the rejections. Its much easier to put myself out there now.

Do you struggle with entering shows over a fear of rejection, or have had that same anxiety ing the past?