Frustration, Pleasure and Satisfaction by Southern California Artist, Marian Fortunati

 Hills of Mustard and Oak
© Marian Fortunati
6"x6" Oil on RayMar Panel

This has been a weekend filled with frustration and pleasure as well as satisfaction.  I considered titling this post, "Is the Glass Half Empty or Is It Half Full?"  During the weekend I did enjoy painting several small 6x6 instant gratification pieces.   One of them is shown above.  However, all the while my mind was on the frustration of my artistic journey.



Frustration
Most of us set goals for ourselves.  We try to stretch our skills and talents so that we continue to grow.  In order to measure progress, we have benchmarks.  For artists, some of those benchmarks include being juried in to shows, winning awards and, of course, selling.  Happily all of those are happening for me, but there is one show in which I have always coveted a position but to which I'm rarely juried in. 

This weekend it happened again.  I had submitted work to the California Art Club's Associate Artist Exhibit and once again I received a rejection letter.  In the past I have found that work rejected from CAC shows has later been selected for awards in other shows.  I HAVE been juried in to CAC shows several times and it's always exhilarating, but the rejection this time was especially frustrating to me.     These are the paintings that were NOT included:

Monterey Magic

Channel Islands Awe

Pleasure
Along with the above three-month Associate Artist Exhibit, for this holiday season there will be a "Magnificent Miniature" one day exhibit.  Those same jurors (John Budicin and Sharon Burkett Kaiser) juried in two of my paintings to the California Art Club miniature show.    I was pleased...  happy to be included and validated.    The Miniature Show will be at the Women's City Club located at the historic Blinn House in Pasadena on December 4th.  The reception and sale will be from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m.   I'm sure there will be many fine paintings which could make great holiday gifts there.    These are the two that were juried IN.

 Pelican Bay

 Sunrise Sail From San Miguel

Satisfaction
On Sunday, two nice events gave me a great deal of satisfaction.    One was the reception for the San Fernando Valley Art Club's exhibit at the Finegood Gallery.  It was a fun reception.  I talked to friends and enjoyed inspecting the great variety of terrific work which had been juried in to the show.  I enjoyed hearing positive comments about my pieces as well, like we all do, I'm sure.

Then to add further satisfaction to the day, one of my previous collectors called me up and wanted to purchase a painting for his sister-in-law.  He came over and picked it up and paid me on the same day!  Hooray!!   A SALE!! Satisfaction for sure!

The weekend ended with a wonderful family gathering... great conversation, togetherness and a fabulous evening sky and moon set.

    

It rained last night and this morning the skies were crystal clear, sunshiny and beautiful.   I guess the glass is really more than half full!