by Jill Stefani Wagner

I’ve been a very lucky artist when it comes to fine art competitions this year. And I have also been a very rejected artist as well.

And that’s the way it goes when I apply to national exhibitions. Thousands of artists enter and very few are accepted. The chances are quite small that I will be juried into any given show, and even smaller that I will win an award. But the chances for denial are HUGE.

When I first started applying to national shows, I’d joke that I was sending in my money so that I could receive my own personal refusal letter. But in a way that was true. I knew deep down that I wasn’t quite ready for that type of competition, but I wanted to be. I knew I had to keep painting and painting…and learn from the rejections as well as the acceptances. AND I needed to learn from the quality pieces that WERE accepted.

And isn’t that really the goal for all of us?… To raise the quality of our work, to improve our skills, to better express the idea behind our vision?

So I keep entering competitions…and I keep getting rejected, like the vast majority of artists who apply. But every once in a while I get “lucky.” Here are a few pieces that were recently noticed by jurors. (The list of pieces that were rejected is waaaay too long to print!)

“Catching Up” Ann Arbor Women Artists Summer Exhibition, Honorable Mention
oil  12 inches x 12 inches   See Pricing

Please contact me if you are interested in this or similar artwork.

“Downtown A2” Great Lakes Pastel Society National Exhibition, Bronze Award
Pastel 16 inches x 20 inches    SOLD

“Under the L” Plein Air Magazine Plein Air Salon, Best Pastel Award
Pastel 14 inches x 18 inches   See Pricing

“At the Point” Degas Pastel Society National Exhibition
Pastel 17 inches x 20 inches   See Pricing

“At the Point” Degas Pastel Society National Exhibition, Merit Award
Pastel 18 inches x 14 inches   See Pricing

Please contact me if you are interested in these or similar artworks.

These artworks were created with:
Paper:   Prepared board, Ampersand PastelBord and UArt paper
Medium: Rembrandt Pastels and Sennelier Pastels