Sad news at Mystic...
 

So, I went to the reception last night with my wife and daughter real excited. It took about three hours with traffic and getting around an accident to get there. As soon as we get there, I plan to go to my piece to take pictures. The president of the CAFA greets me and congratulates me. I proceed to my pastel 'tracey in blue' and start taking pictures.

I tell my wife that I wish they had a sign saying it was 'best of show' to include it in the photo. The president passes by a couple of times, kinda confused that I'm still in the same room. My daughter asks to see the other piece that I entered, and I ask her to wait. My wife decides to take her. My wife comes back and tells me "Your pastel didn't win".

The first thing that comes to mind is that I didn't win anything and it was all a big mistake. She then tells me "Your drawing won". I'm shocked.

"What?!"

"Your drawing won 'best of show'" I tell her that's impossible, I assume she's kidding. I go out and look and yeah, my drawing won 'best of show'. I don't know what to say, I'm numb for a bit. "That can't be."

I talk to the president and tell him about my surprise. I told him that I thought it was my pastel piece this whole time. I even told the model who posed for it. He tells me he was a bit surprised also. The judges were two women over sixty, very set in their ways. He says there were many powerful pieces, but they decided on something very calm. They don't intend on inviting the judges again. Obviously, the president and staff don't feel it should'nt have won either and was disappointed with the decision.

I did'nt get it. I would have been willing to accept 'best drawing'. It was'nt the most technical or detailed, but I felt it spoke more than the other drawings. Although there were many fine pieces and few that could have taken 'best of show' depending on the judges, I would have been happy to win with the pastel piece and not feel guilty about it.

I'm sure just about everyone there saw my drawing and thought "This won 'best of show'?" I kept thinking that myself. I felt miserable and almost embarrassed accepting the award when I was called. I wanted to leave immediately, but my wife told me to stay a bit. Three people congratulated me, but everyone swarmed around the guy that the association thought should have won.

My wife tried consoling me by saying how incredible the drawing is, but it's never gonna help. I like the drawing, don't get me wrong, but it's no winner among other good work. I thought my pastel was better, I even got a nice frame for it! The only way I'm going to feel good about it, is after I receive my new full set of Unisons with the prize money. Que lastima.

I'm going to post pictures from the reception, I regret not taking more pictures because I was upset. Real stupid of me.

Man, that's a lotta whining. Thanks for listening. BTW, here's the winner.

Don

:

Best , Allan

Jimmie last time I looked in the dictionary "best in show" did not mean the best art work with applied color!

This is a very deserving drawing, and now you can think about how much more fun it will be to keep doing even greater pastels since you didn't get the big prize on the first one out!

I am very proud of you and I bet your family is too!

As for the other guy, heck he's likely been there a godzillion amount of years and bakes everyone cookies for the holidays!

Still a standing O!

I understand what you mean, but you are wrong!
That's a lovely drawing! It's not a common or ordinary drawing, the best thing in my opinion is the expression you captured.
Be happy and enjoy the moment, you deserve it!

Thanks guys, I'm still gonna feel crummy for a while but thanks. :)

Without seeing the pastel, and for what it's worth, I think this is a terrific drawing. It's in the nature of what I call a "golden problem."

John C.

Jimmie--

Don't worry about it. Competitions are odd events in any case. I've juried a few, and I can tell you that the process that determines how everything shakes down is very capricious, even under tightly controlled circumstances. I know that sometimes if I had gone to lunch and juried the show an hour later, I might have gotten a different result when picking winners. Often, you just go with your gut at the time.

So I just figure that if I'm juried into a very solid show with great work overall, it means my piece is great too, and beyond that, the awards are just the luck of the draw. It's great if you get one, but it doesn't diminish your work if you don't.

That said, the DRAWING is a fabulous piece too. I just think you overlooked this fact in your excitement around having fought a battle with the pastel and won. You have nothing to apologize for.

And if you were made to feel undeserving by the crowd there, shame on them, not you. It's their bad manners, not yours.

Nobody on this forum is blowing smoke at you...you should believe you're a terrific talent even when there's no one in the room but you. That's all that matters in the end.

Oh my! I love that story as it illustrates (pun intended) what an incredible master of all you really are. Double congratulations. The panel just had too much good stuff from you. They were dizzy with the choices.

I had something like this happen to me once upon a time. I thought I had lost weight after being on this huge diet---only to discover I hadn't really lost weight at all but I did get taller! I didn't get new pastels out of the deal but I was shocked.

Que bueno, friend! Enjoy those new pastels!

Hey Jimmie--
For the record that drawing of yours is a powerful piece in its own right. Presumably the women who were chosen to jury the competition were qualified to do so. . . that they saw power in your work that was lost on the President... doesn't make the work itself any less powerful. Different people connect with different things. Regardless of his personal opinion, I think the president's remarks to you were out of line (not to mention less than gracious)! The reaction of the crowd at the opening is a poor guage... you were from out of town, an outsider, who knows what the relationships may have been among the other attendees there?

You should feel good about what a beautiful drawing it is and realize that it's not the medium, or the color, that gives impact to your work.

Congratulations on your win Jimmie!
(it's something to feel good about, not second guess. :cool: )