Juried Exhibits

I recently submitted some of my paintings to some juried exhibits, sometimes called painting competitions. It’s kind of a strange concept though — painting is not a competitive endeavor. Nevertheless, I submitted and actually won two different “bronze” awards, which is actually fourth place in this case, instead of third (first is “platinum”).

It was a fun experience, but I can’t help but feel like competitive art is kind of missing the point. My paintings aren’t going to defeat a competitors, so the whole thing is a little strange to me. Still, I’m grateful that the jury considered my work worthy of a bronze. One thing I did find odd though is that for both awards, I submitted two paintings each. The one that got the award in both cases was what I thought was the weaker of the two (from a technical standpoint).

I’ll probably continue to submit work into these types of juried exhibits, at least for now. Maybe it will result in some wider recognition. Until then I’ll just keep painting.