At times the life of an artist can be a rollercoaster of rejection and acceptance. I suppose that can be said of anyone's life, but artists must ride the roller coaster to survive. A good portion of my time is spent applying to juried shows, outdoor art fairs, artist in residence programs, approaching galleries, etc, and all this activity invites a fair amount of rejection.

 

I was feeling a bit down a few weeks ago. I've been planning to expand into the outdoor art fair market this year and I'd received several rejections from the first round of applications. I had especially wanted to get into the Grand Rapids Festival Art Sales Tent, but the posted deadline for reporting the jury results had passed with no word.

 

I was feeling pessimistic. No news just didn't seem like good news. I commiserated for a day or two with a good friend, Stacy Niedzwiecki, who also had received no word on her application. Then Stacy emailed that she'd been accepted! I was genuinely pleased for her, but as the day went on with no word on my application, I figured the jig was up.

 

Then the day started to turn. Shortly after noon I received a telephone call. My application for the artist in residence program with the Glen Arbor Art Association was accepted! They'll provide accommodations and the freedom to explore the beautiful Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore from October 5-18.

 

Just  a short time later I received an email from the director of exhibitions at Calvin College. They were interested in purchasing the two photos I had on exhibit in the Alumni Photography Show. In fact, the place they had in mind could use a third piece and they wondered if I had any suggestions!

 

With my ego bolstered I decided to email the folks in charge of jurying the Grand Rapids Festival. They replied almost instantly. I'd been accepted! They had delayed informing me because they were still working out if they could accomodate my request for a double booth.

 

The truth is, I love roller coasters!

My most recent exhibit is in the ARTery at the Church of the Servant in Grand Rapids. This is a large space and my largest exhibit to date. You can see 33 of my photographs M-F 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sunday 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. You can also see the photos I included in the show at  in the Now Showing section of Great Lakes Editions.

 

I've entitled the exhibit "Simple Gifts." Here's an excerpt from my artist statement:

I've been conducting a series of photography workshops for special education students through a program run by VSA Arts of Grand Rapids. This has been a thoroughly enjoyable experience for me. I've been impressed by the courtesy, creativity, and eagerness of my students.

Yesterday I conducted a workshop on "patterns" with a class of upper elementary aged kids. I encouraged them to explore their surroundings and try to see patterns that they may never have noticed before, to look at their world with new eyes. I told them that our goal was to make people ask "What is that?" when they saw our pictures.

I showed them a couple of samples of my own work that often prompts this question. You may remember my photo of a pine plantation in winter, but this shot is new:

The most common guess is that this is a photo of broken glass. But it is actually broken sheets of crystal clear ice I found along the pier at Muskegon. I call the photo "Ice Mosaic."

 

The kids were amazingly creative in their exploration of their classroom and school environment. Here are a few samples of their work. You can see more on my blog Beauty Worth Preserving.

 

 

 

 

 

My show at the One Trick Pony runs through April 13. So far 3 people have taken my up on the offer to give a personal tour and buy the first round. The offer still stands! If you'd like to take me up on it, send me an email or give me a call.

 

One Trick Pony is smoke free and has live music every Thursday night, starting at 8 p.m. You can see the photos I included in the show at  in the Now Showing section of Great Lakes Editions.

 

The results are coming in from my applications for the 2008 season of outdoor art fairs. It looks like I'm going to be plenty busy! Here is the current list of shows I'll be exhibiting at.