by Greg Busceme, Sr.
Executive Director of The Art Studio, Inc.
This is the one I always write after TASIMJAE. If you’ve read this before you are excused to read any further.
For the first time entrants it can be a traumatic experience to put your work in front of a judge only to realize he did not see your anguish as you laid yourself bare through your art. I felt the same way and sometimes rightfully so. Jurors will readily tell you that when they judge a show it has no bearing on the quality of the artists’ work but the preferences that that juror choses to decide on a show. Confession: works that are entered are not all a level that would be chosen by any juror. Even so it is important that you, as artists, persist until you get on that wall! We all need an unbiased opinion and jurors do that. As you enter show after showing you will find that as you grow in your work and when your work truly reflects who you are, you will find acceptance letters more than rejections.
Art is a lifelong happy struggle. We absolutely complicate our lives in the pursuit of our passion that only comes when we make work. I think it’s better to keep thinking of yourself as a student of art and see each piece you create as another step toward the greater works you will make as your journey continues. We can so easily simply stop making art, making music, writing, acting and everything will be …simpler! You could just skip the mental struggle that keeps you up at night trying to create what’s in your heart. All I can say is in 47 years of sculpting and potting my worst years were when I couldn’t make art except in my mind. I cannot imagine living without clay stuck under my fingernails and smudging my clothes.
Your passion is your art. Your world revolves around the next shot at making a masterpiece and so it shall continue until it doesn’t.
Not all creators will continue the pursuit of art. Most will find solace in other distractions.
Be fearless, be strong! Persevere and never give up that great work is just around the corner.
ATTENTION! Our annual exhibition, The Alternative Show, is a call for participants to show two of their favorite pieces to be hung in the main gallery at TASI. No juror, all ages, all entrants get in the show. Enter your artwork on the last week of May to be shown at the opening June 4th. Bring your friends and family and enjoy being a part of the arts community.
In the spirit of Gustav Corbet, an impressionist painter, who set up a tent outside of the prestigious annual Salon Exhibition for the artists who were rejected from the Salon, particularly the impressionist painters. Often called the reject show, it became so popular as to supersede the Salon Exhibition in subsequent years. Again perseverance, stubbornness, and community win the fight.