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Help SWLA submission. (1 Viewer)

nickderry

C'est pas ma faute, je suis anglais.
I need some help people! I've decided that this year I'm finally going to get round to submitting some work to the Society of Wildlife Artists' exhibition , trouble is, I can't decide what to submit. It's going to cost a bomb too, getting the pictures sent from France to my parents, getting them framed and then taken down to London (and back if unlucky) and submission fees etc, so, I want to submit something that has a good chance of being accepted.
If there's anything in my gallery that sticks out then please let me know!

cheers, Nick
 
I've always thought your work would be very well received there Nick. I'll PM you my personal favs (wouldn't wish to influence anyone else's choices). I submitted a piece last year (for the first time since 1993) - big red 'NO!' - thank you very much.
I've decided my work is just too "safe" for the adjudicators - whereas your work definitely pushes a few barriers.
I'll be in touch - good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Eeeep! If I was on the selections committee I'd be putting your work in all the time. They scare me these people who decide what's good and what's not.
 
I certainly think it would be worth making the effort judging by the standards you have set yourself lately, the skypointing herons is a must for me but I think the artist knows best. Over to you, give us a shortlist of what you are happy with then ask again perhaps.
 
Agree with Tim totally. I've never submitted anything because I don't think any of my stuff would be well received at all. As Tim says, way too safe. Your work should get in no problem, if there's any justice! I also agree that the expense is horrendous (I think it's a damn cheek quite honestly). SWLA seem to like stuff which is 'Art that features wildlife' as opposed to what most people regard as 'wildlife art' and your work is definately Art with a capital A.

I'll go along with Tim's idea and PM you with my favourites, tinged with what I think would suit SWLA. I go to the exhibition several times every year so I think I might have some idea, I'll have a think.

Very best of luck anyway!

Woody
 
I think the new herons is definitely in for me too. Though I regret working on large scale pics recently, framing is going to cost an arm and a leg, especially as I'll be on the dole all summer!
 
I think the new herons is definitely in for me too. Though I regret working on large scale pics recently, framing is going to cost an arm and a leg, especially as I'll be on the dole all summer!

OK, I've already said that the skypointing herons is my personal fave so I guess there'd de no prizes for guessing that would be one of my choices!

Woody:t:
 
Every previous time I've been down to London for arty things (when Birdwatch Magazine had their artist of the year award open to all and not just to those selected by the SWLA - bad move Birdwatch!!) I've always ended up causing trouble. The one time I actually won something, the doormen wouldn't let me in as I was wearing a lime green t shirt and an orange fleece (I was a rebellious 16 year old, or more precisely, couldn't be bothered buying nice clothes), my Dad's suggestion that the doorman 'go p*ss off' didn't help things either. Another time, I took my unsold picture off the wall and went home with it when it was time to go! I didn't realise I was supposed to leave it. Another time I got tutted at for replenishing my own glass at the buffet - I'm sorry, in those days getting drunk was a big part of my budget (it's cheaper now I'm in France!) and I managed to save a few quid there.
I've got to say, I've never really liked the snobby attitudes I sometimes meet at these sort of things, luckily they're a minority, I just think art should be down to earth and accessible to all.

(wish this cold would clear up so I can actually stop spending all my tme ranting online!)
 
Sometimes Art is just another word for Pretentious ... it's more than a little silly, how it's determined who's work is 'good' and who's isn't. I recall an article I read about a year ago about a woman whose painting had been selected for some big award or another. The journalist went on and on about how this piece symbolized a woman's place in a male-dominated society and about expressing female sexuality and ... yadda ... yadda. The part of the article that I found most delightfully amusing was the photo they ran of this piece. It was a red canvas. That's it.

I really can't relate at all to this idea that art is only about pushing forward, about finding something new and unique and 'never been done before.' It seems completely at odds with what art is supposed to be about -- personal expression. I do agree that the wildlife art genre has more than its fair share of tired subjects, but I can't condemn anyone for being driven to create something that they feel strongly about. Art has historically been about the commonalities between people, about expressing something and having someone else understand it. Who was it that let the elitists hijack art?

But I'll stop ranting now. Nick, you can have your thread back. ;)
 
Sometimes Art is just another word for Pretentious ... it's more than a little silly, how it's determined who's work is 'good' and who's isn't. I recall an article I read about a year ago about a woman whose painting had been selected for some big award or another. The journalist went on and on about how this piece symbolized a woman's place in a male-dominated society and about expressing female sexuality and ... yadda ... yadda. The part of the article that I found most delightfully amusing was the photo they ran of this piece. It was a red canvas. That's it.

I really can't relate at all to this idea that art is only about pushing forward, about finding something new and unique and 'never been done before.' It seems completely at odds with what art is supposed to be about -- personal expression. I do agree that the wildlife art genre has more than its fair share of tired subjects, but I can't condemn anyone for being driven to create something that they feel strongly about. Art has historically been about the commonalities between people, about expressing something and having someone else understand it. Who was it that let the elitists hijack art?

But I'll stop ranting now. Nick, you can have your thread back. ;)

Well said indeed!

Woody
 
A big thank you for all that have put in their suggestions, you're all excellent and picked different pictures! Including some I'd forgotten about. Two came up more than once - the new herons, and the pintails and wigeon on the Dyfi, so they're in, now just got to 'find faults' with the others to whittle them down, it doesn't help I'm working on another one that I may want to put in. Why are they all so big? Framing is going to cost a bomb, the last time I exhibited I just blu-tacked them to a wall!

Once again, thanks for the input, I feel more confused than ever, but am very glad to be so!
 
So here's the selection, these five and the purple herons, it's so difficult selecting work with there being so much to choose from! In the end I think I just chose those that stuck out from a distance. Thanks for all the input in choosing these, just keep my fingers crossed that they accept some of them now (and that I can afford the framing!)
 

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Superb selection, hope you get the success your work deserves. Make sure you keep the thread updated step by step.
 
Hi - I know I'm ressurrecting a thread that's old so don't feel obliged to respond.

I'm just curious as to how you found the whole experience, Nick? It's a goal I have - to submit work at some point. Was it really expensive and fraught sending your work in? Don't know if they have a lot of specifcations - framing, labelling, packing etc., and whether you found any of them confusing. Did you bother to insure the work? And how do feel about the effort now, whether it was worth it or not?
 
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Well, it was an effort choosing, of the five pictures above, the last three got selected and the first two were passed around twice, the other one was refused straight off. It was nice to have the work displayed, and it was rewarding in that I won a prize and sold one (which covered costs, just about!) The thing I didn't like about it was how much it felt like an exclusive club, nearly all the work was by members, (some of it woud have certainly been rejected had it come from non-members). You can get all the info regarding submissions off the SWLA website, they do have a lot of specifications, but I did find them to be quite helpful, so top marks to them there. I didn't bother insuring the pieces, would have sent the cost spiralling! All in all, I'm glad I did it, will be submitting in the future, but it didn't really lead anywhere, once the exhibition was closed, that was it.
 
Nick - these things are so subjective... my favorite from the group you posted is the pintails. I've never seen it before and my jaw just dropped when I saw it. Fantastic piece. I'll have a look in your gallery though and give you my vote. That pintail painting may be hard to beat.
 
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