You may already be a non-winner

Back in February, I thought I'd try my luck at entering the Applied Arts magazine photo/illustration awards. There is no 1 winner, just a bunch of winners they select and publish in an issue of their magazine. Of course, you have to pay to enter and I thought why not? It was my first time entering any illustration contest and I had a feeling that maybe, just maybe, I could actually and quite possibly perhaps probably win! The prize is just being published and you get a few copies of the magazine to send to your friends and associates. Winners would be announced in April and guess what? It's April and I received an e-mail.

I didn't win :(

Unfortunately your work was not selected by this years panel (who were quite tough), and hope that you will try again, as each year there is a new panel of senior creatives with a fresh outcome.

Right. I don't know if I will try again next year. Maybe. But I won't enter two paintings. Just the 1. It costs $50 to enter and I have the feeling that priority is given to those who already made a name for themselves in the design industry so they can show what kind of talent reads their magazine. Just a thought. Not that I'm angry or anything. Really, I'm not! Just a little sad. Now I can't advertise myself as 'award winning' :(

Anyhoo, no big loss (except I'm out $107-- I had to pay taxes, too). I'm curious to see the winning selections and learning from it. The judges are apparently senior art directors or whatever and I can't really assume my work will appeal to all of them. Even if the selection is pretty tough (whatever).

If you want to see the artwork I submitted, you can see one of them on my portfolio site at http://www.superspud.com/studio. It's the first work you see when you enter the gallery (the yellow painting). The other piece I sent is not on my portoflio-- but it's displayed here on the left for all to see and say "THOSE PAINTINGS DID NOT WIN AT LEAST MISS CONGENIALITY??? WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TO?".