I'm still buzzing over the win in the Fashion Fever competition at the CHA Craft SuperShow. I, for one, did not expect to win. I've been sewing for years, but I'm mostly self-taught (my family did show me how to sew by hand, but that's pretty much it). I consider myself a jewelry designer, even though I have been known to make chainmaille clothing. I was mostly looking for a challenge since I've devoted myself to scaring the holy heck out of myself, and I walked away with a trip to LA in January for the 2011 CHA SuperShow. Not bad for two days work.
The lesson I learned is this: apply to everything.
Aside from jury fees, you have nothing to lose. Heck, it was basically free for me to enter Fashion Fever, I just had to pay for the postage of mailing the photos of my bead embroidered Tiamat dress to Michigan. Sure, if you're sensitive, it can be painful if you apply to something and aren't accepted. But let me tell you, I have applied to countless shows, countless exhibitions and countless competitions and been rejected from countless shows, countless exhibitions and countless competitions. From going through the process over and over again, I've built up a callous. And, from applying to everything that I think I'm remotely qualified for, there are enough successes to make the rejections seem irrelevant.
If you never put yourself out there, no one will ever know who you are or care about what you're doing. If you have a passion for something, you have to let the world know, and putting an application in the mail (or in an email) is one of the easiest ways to share your work with people.
Enough preaching. I have a show to prepare for. I'll be at the Evanston Lakeshore Art Festival this weekend. I'll have loads of new jewelry. Come check it out!
Vanessa Walilko
Aluminum chain mail jewelry
That's great preaching! You're right and more people should realize it...apply to everything! In every non-metaphorical and metaphorical sense of the word.
ReplyDelete(I'm really behind on catching up on blogs....apologies)