putting it out there

One of the hardest things I do is submit my work to juried shows. It's nerve wracking, handing my soul to a stranger to judge, hoping that they'll like what I do, validate me, accept me. It doesn't matter how many times I've gotten into a show or how many times I've been rejected, it's always the same gut-wrenching rock in the pit of my stomach feeling.

This time the show is St. John's Religious Art Festival, a biannual show here in Sacramento that's been going on for nearly seventy-five years. Last time I was not only accepted, but awarded first place for my Mustard Tree piece but this time the curator is Scott Shields, the Chief Curator for the Crocker Art Museum - no pressure there at all...

So I'm dropping off these works today to be judged and scrutinized and I'll try not to be too anxious about the whole thing.