Down, but not out.

It's been a frustrating few days.

I was mentioning a while ago that I had applied to an assortment of annuals and exhibits, etc. Waiting for the responses was hard, but actually getting responses has proven to be much harder. Let's just say that they have been less than desirable so far. It's never easy to get rejection. I admit, I had a mini pity party. A little black rain cloud sat firmly over my head on Friday night. I may or may not have though or said "why am I doing this?", "I'm never going to be good enough", and "I should just give up". Silly of me, really. As much as I would like to blame the world for my misgivings I know deep down that it's all in my control to make sure that the next time I send out an application the response is yes. So, I turned my frown upside down and got the out the paints. 

Copyright Claire Manning

 I'm starting small with completing another Christmas present. This one is for my dear friend Em (Not to be confused with sister Em). As disappointed as I was, I felt much better with brush in hand. 

Copyright Claire Manning

 The more that I work at it, the better I will become and it will bring in the work that I want. There is no room for self doubt in the art world and so I will not hold any. There are lots of projects in my queue and I am looking forward to tackling them and showing the results. Here's a sneak peek at another present that I'm working on. Can you guess what it is?

Copyright Claire Manning

 Onward and upward, I say.