Cari Amici (Dear Friends),
It is interesting how growth with the passage of time aids in our understanding of so many things. I have been spending my evenings lately going through many, many files in my office and weeding out things I no longer need. In my “Gallery File” I ran across a printout of the Artists Submission Policy for the John Pence Gallery in California. I had contacted them in regards to an exhibition they were collecting art for titled, “The Nude.”
The bottom half of the page is full of my handwritten notes. I had e-mailed an inquiry and during my follow-up call, I was told that they had checked out my work online and my paintings were “too contemporary” and they had no need of sculpture. This was January 20, 2003.
I include here some of the works that they might have seen. I still have these, having rarely exhibited them as I kept creating newer and newer images. I must say that finding this paper made me laugh, for I rarely get labeled as “TOO contemporary.” Hindsight and much experience give me a better understanding of where I was at the time. These artworks all sell for $300 or less. They were all done from 3-hour life drawing sessions in Austin, Texas.
This is a primo example of an emerging artist who was simply not ready to be exhibited in a gallery. There is nothing particularly horrid in the work, it is just too early in my development and also, the prices are way too low for a gallery to even bother with, certainly not a gallery of the reputation and clientele of the John Pence Gallery. Anyway, I think their response is a keeper for my files . . . and maybe someday, I will again hear the criticism that my work is “too contemporary.”
If you would like to see more of my early paintings, visit these pages on my site:
- 1996-1997 Figurative Oil Paintings
- 1996-2000 Figurative Oil Paintings
- 1999-2001 Figurative Oil Paintings
- 2001-2002 Figurative Oil Paintings
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Oh – I recently submitted an entry of two painting to an online self-portrait competition. I could really use your support - please vote (once each day is possible) to help me win the $2500 CASH People's Choice Award:
http://Kellyborsheim.see.me/aw2011
In the upper right hand corner, click on the star you want to vote for (left star is 1, a low rating, while the star on the right is a 5-star highest rating).
Thank you so much!
