Today, I awoke with my heart pounding. The Royal Portrait Society was to post the "Pre-Selection" choices for their annual portrait competition and exhibition. Since no one gently tapped my shoulder to wake me, I figured Michele had already visited the website and the news was bad. I was wrong.
Trying as hard as possible to remain calm, I lifted the lid on our laptop computer and opened the British Federation of Artists website. I logged-in and there it was: "Pre-Selection" Results Posted". A "button" titled, "What's Next", would take me to my destiny. How's that for drama?!
I clicked on that button and as the page opened, the first word I saw was in capital letters and magenta-colored. It said, "Congratulations". The first sentence said, "You have made it through to the next stage of the selection process. Pre-selection does not guarantee final selection, but means that your work has attracted the attention of our selectors."
You can only imagine my relief at reading, "Congratulations"! Since all three of my entries were, "Pre-Selected", I didn't know whether to be elated and proud or wonder if this stage of the process was simply a subtle way of making us feel that our entry fees weren't for nought.
In my February 14th post, I said my goal was to make the first cut. With that now accomplished, I'm struggling as to how to proceed. The next step in the selection process is sending the paintings to London and as you know, such transport is very expensive. Furthermore, the only painting in my possession is Charlie Daniels. I would never ask Harry Kent or the Parker family to burden themselves with the chore of sending their works to London--even though I would reimburse them.
It's going to be a tough decision to make. Do I send the Charles Daniels portrait or not? Is there sufficient satisfaction in making the first cut? What little common sense I have tells me to be content and save the money. The gambler and dreamer in me are screaming, "Go for it!". Whatever the decision is, there are only a few days to think about it as the portrait needs to be in London by March 17th.
Congratulations on making the first cut. Now, before commonsense kicks in too heavily, crate up Charles and send him on an international journey.
ReplyDeleteNothing ventured, nothing gained...
congratulations.... now go take a glass of water and relax a little bit.
ReplyDeleteyou deserve.
"go the whole hog including the
ReplyDeletepostage."
George Ivanovich Gurdjieff
follow your dream.
ReplyDeletewithout dreams...what is life for?
Congratulations!
WOW WOW WOW! Congratulations on making the first cut! How awesome Gary! I am not in the least surprised...at all. Your portraits are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteIs it a must to send a painting to them to view for the contest? I would be a little nervous too...but then again...
Best of luck in the next step!
Congratulations Gary! This is wonderful news and yes, it is a dilemma; also they expect you to take responsibility to organise pick up of the works after the whole thing.
ReplyDeleteI guess this is where artists throw caution to the wind and do what they must do for the sake of their art and beliefs and many have ended up poor and hungry as a result ....But then there is always that twinkle in their eyes called vision and it often pays off ;)
I am sure you will make the best decision even if it means you only send the one you have (brings to mind the old proverb ... a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush ;)
Jeanette, Caio, John, Ann, Lisa and Rahina,
ReplyDeleteThank you all for the congrats and encouragement. Your words have not gone unheeded. I will send the Charles Daniels portrait, despite the uncertain outcome. It is far better to try, then to live the rest of my life wondering.
Sincerely,
Gary.
Congratulations Gary! I just read this post so I apologize for the late response. I get sidetracked so easily now with the new job. It's hard to prioritize what I do. Anyway, making the first cut cannot be considered a way of letting artists down easily. They want you to send them the paintings so they can study them more closely. That would be my guess. It would be extremely inconsiderate of them to have you send them if they weren't serious about them. Whatever you decide to do, I hope you can take some reassurance about the validity of your talent. Personally speaking, I was drawn to your blog because of your paintings, and joined because of your consistent ability to capture your subject.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning Kevin,
ReplyDeleteIt's really late morning as yesterday's run must've tired this old man out. I slept in till nearly nine-thirty! And I must say that reading your comment was a most pleasant way to wake up! And no apologies--especially with a new job! I'm just happy you have a new job and still take the time to view the blog and comment.
What bothered me about that first cut was the fact that all three of my submissions made it. I agonized over which paintings to enter, worried that poor choices could result in total rejection. And even though I believe the submitted works were some of my best, my weak ego just couldn't believe it. There was no way the highly-esteemed Royal Society of Portrait Painters jury could consider all three worthy of closer examination. Anyway, now you know how I came to feel that the "First Cut" was something of a "mercy cut".
My hope is that the jury was, in fact, truly discriminating and that their choices mean my work was worthy.
Your last sentence made a great start to my day and I know that you know how much I appreciate it.
Sincerely,
Gary.
Gary--congratulations! So well-deserved. Hope you find a way to get the portrait there on time, and good luck with the next selection process!
ReplyDeleteHi Don,
ReplyDeleteThanks. It looks like I'll have to be satisfied with only that, as the cost of shipping it to London is fairly ridiculous and then I'd have to pay someone to unwrap it. They want the paintings free of packing materials at delivery and I don't blame them for that. Of course, the expenses would double if the painting didn't get into the exhibition, or didn't sell!
The proverbial bottom line is, it's just too much money. With our move coming up in little more than a year, gambling nearly a thousand dollars on such dismal odds can't be justified.
Just thinking about living in Hawaii is a wonderful tonic to ease any pain over this. Frankly, my original goal (and hope) was to make the first go-around and be happy if I did. Mission accomplished! It would've been nice to see what might've happened, but it's okay as is. Time to put this behind me and re-focus on the work.
Thanks for stopping by, Don.
Sincerely,
Gary.