Organ Players and Storytellers

I frequently submit work to juried exhibitions solely on the basis of the jurors. By submitting my work I am guaranteed to have my art seen, studied, and debated by a respected handful of art-world professionals, and that to me is worth the price of admission. Even if they hate it.

I submitted two pieces to the Oregon State Fair because the powerhouse jury consisted of Tom Cramer, Jack Portland, and Rod Pulliam.

They ended up choosing one of my pieces to exhibit in the fair. Icing on the cake! But the icing is the really good stuff, not just a bunch of Crisco and sugar. Check out what they said about the pieces they chose:

“The works that we chose for this exhibit have the following characteristics in common:

They show sincerity and a sense of focus. The work exhibits a strong connection between the artist and his subject matter. How the artist portrays the subject matter lets you know how he feels.

They exhibit an instant hit of content followed by a residual slow stream of information. The artwork reveals more over time.

They reflect a regional “Oregonian” sensibility. They are influenced by and connect to the place and people around us

They are resolved and to the point. Good editing choices make for tight focused work.

They are intentionally participatory, requiring the viewer to bring something to the interaction. On balance, if technique or subject matter is overworked, then substance/content suffers.”

Holy crap! Are you kidding me? These five points articulate precisely why I paint. If I could have written a decent artist statement to this point, it would have looked exactly like that. I am thrilled and energized to know that my work was recognized as having achieved these objectives, by these jurors.

We work in our little studios or basements or garages or wherever, mostly alone with our ideas and dreams, and we often wonder if what we do is hitting the mark. We look for validation through exhibitions, press, remarks from fellow artists, sales, wherever we can find it. Today, I got mine. Thank you, jurors.