A Juror's Perspective About Wildflower Show - Cowgirl Artists of America

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Megan Wimberley

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Hi.

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Welcome to Cowgirl Artists of America's Podcast, a podcast

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dedicated to cowgirl artists.

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I'm your host, Megan Wimberley, and today we talk with Lisa Stu from Art of

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the West Magazine about her experiences being a juror for the Wildflower Show.

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I know that when I've gotten the opportunity to listen to the experience

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of jurors on the other side of the art show has been really helpful for me.

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I hope that you enjoy this episode and find it useful.

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Okay.

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I am here with Lisa Staudohar from Art of the West Magazine, and she was

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one of our jurors in the Wild Flowers Exhibition, so thank you for being here.

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Lisa.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:00:39

Happy to be here.

Megan Wimberley: 00:00:40

You just flew in from Minneapolis?

Megan Wimberley: 00:00:44

Yeah, to Fort Worth.

Megan Wimberley: 00:00:45

She's Lisa's here also for the Cowgirl Gathering because the Art of the West

Megan Wimberley: 00:00:50

Magazine has sponsored some of our prizes, and so she's coming down to

Megan Wimberley: 00:00:54

see the work and we're so excited that.

Megan Wimberley: 00:00:56

Have you here this year, and thank you for the generous

Megan Wimberley: 00:00:59

support and prizes for our show.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:01:01

Of course.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:01:02

Happy to do it.

Megan Wimberley: 00:01:03

So we wanted to give artists who applied to wildflowers a

Megan Wimberley: 00:01:09

little bit of a behind the scenes look about what goes into the jury process.

Megan Wimberley: 00:01:14

Can.

Megan Wimberley: 00:01:15

Get a little upset or disappointed or really have their confidence affected

Megan Wimberley: 00:01:21

when they don't get into a show.

Megan Wimberley: 00:01:22

And those of us who have been on the backend understand that

Megan Wimberley: 00:01:25

it's not quite so cut and dry.

Megan Wimberley: 00:01:27

And so I think it's a good idea to give artists an idea of that backend.

Megan Wimberley: 00:01:31

So thank you for offering to do that from your perspective.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:01:34

Of course, of course.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:01:35

Yes.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:01:35

And this is my humble perspective.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:01:38

But, and this was a little bit different from other shows, so I'll

Lisa Staudohar: 00:01:42

give some examples from this show.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:01:43

And then maybe things that take place at other shows and all of them, first

Lisa Staudohar: 00:01:51

of all to get in is, is a big deal.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:01:54

And then, you know, to win the prizes are a big deal.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:01:57

And some people are even just disappointed if they don't win first

Lisa Staudohar: 00:02:01

or second place or something like that.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:02:03

And it's really in the beholder of.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:02:08

The judge, so the next show could have completely different judges,

Lisa Staudohar: 00:02:13

completely different perspective, and a completely different set of.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:02:19

People who get in and also end up winning prizes if there's prizes to be won.

Megan Wimberley: 00:02:24

Yeah, I, you know, because I entered my work so I couldn't

Megan Wimberley: 00:02:27

see who scored the work, how George was the only one who had access to that.

Megan Wimberley: 00:02:31

But I could see how artwork fared in the show and it was really

Megan Wimberley: 00:02:35

interesting to me because some of my favorite artists, That are my personal

Megan Wimberley: 00:02:40

favorites, who I think are fantastic.

Megan Wimberley: 00:02:41

Did not score very well in this show.

Megan Wimberley: 00:02:43

And I thought that that was really interesting.

Megan Wimberley: 00:02:45

And I did share that with people on Instagram because I think it's

Megan Wimberley: 00:02:48

such an important thing because had I been a juror in, in this show,

Megan Wimberley: 00:02:52

they would've scored really well.

Megan Wimberley: 00:02:54

Whereas for this particular set of jurors, it just wasn't what appealed to them.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:02:58

Right, and I've seen that too in other shows as well where,

Lisa Staudohar: 00:03:03

you know, you've got super talented artists and they don't get in a show.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:03:07

And I'm always surprised when I hear from artists who call me and talk to

Lisa Staudohar: 00:03:12

me like, I didn't get in this show.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:03:14

And you know it, it's surprising, but it's all very subjective and the art is so

Lisa Staudohar: 00:03:21

beautiful and it's really worthwhile to.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:03:25

Just keep working really hard at what you do and know that what you,

Lisa Staudohar: 00:03:30

you are doing is your best work.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:03:33

And if you are happy with your work, it will be seen.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:03:36

Whether it is a piece that sells, whether it gets in a show, whether

Lisa Staudohar: 00:03:41

it wins a show, eventually, you know, if it's what you are most proud

Lisa Staudohar: 00:03:45

about and you're giving it your best effort, you know you will be rewarded.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:03:53

And it just doesn't happen every time.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:03:55

So it's very frustrating.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:03:57

I'm sure it's very frustrating to judge because there's so much good work and if

Lisa Staudohar: 00:04:02

there's a number cut off, thank goodness.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:04:05

Like I couldn't see how the scores contemplated and which pieces that

Lisa Staudohar: 00:04:11

I really, truly love did or didn't get in based on the fact that it was,

Lisa Staudohar: 00:04:15

you know, a few of us that put in in our scores for the competition.

Megan Wimberley: 00:04:21

Yeah, for sure.

Megan Wimberley: 00:04:22

So with a group of jurors, it is interesting cuz George

Megan Wimberley: 00:04:25

and I have talked about that.

Megan Wimberley: 00:04:26

Um, Georgia went over at Western Gallery who hosted this show this year.

Megan Wimberley: 00:04:30

He and I talked about how when you have multiple jurors, sometimes.

Megan Wimberley: 00:04:35

If they have very differing perspectives, it's almost like the scores get brought

Megan Wimberley: 00:04:39

more to the center and so maybe had a particular juror been the only one,

Megan Wimberley: 00:04:44

something that would've just stolen the show actually was reduced in

Megan Wimberley: 00:04:49

its score because the other jurors scores were competing against it.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:04:53

Exactly.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:04:54

I mean, in their heart they could, one person may love.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:04:58

Bright color and contemporary, more certain types of brush strokes or, you

Lisa Staudohar: 00:05:03

know, certain mediums better than others.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:05:05

And so they're gravitating towards that and their score will reflect that.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:05:10

And if another juror was judging it, it'd be completely different

Lisa Staudohar: 00:05:15

because they may be more traditional in the base, so, or you know,

Lisa Staudohar: 00:05:20

drawn more towards something else.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:05:22

So that it's really hard because.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:05:25

I just really want artists to know that if keep doing it and also any

Lisa Staudohar: 00:05:33

comments or good comments, whether it's constructive criticism or you know, we

Lisa Staudohar: 00:05:40

all get a high when somebody tells us they love our work and what they love about

Lisa Staudohar: 00:05:44

the work, but it's also nice to hear.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:05:46

You know, what could I have done better for the next one?

Lisa Staudohar: 00:05:49

I talked to artists all the time, and some of them who I think are, you

Lisa Staudohar: 00:05:54

know, at the peak, they're, they're the top, top right in my opinion.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:05:59

And.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:06:00

They're still out trying to get help from other artists to better their craft.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:06:07

Or they may be starting to dabble in some other medium or you know, so, or they

Lisa Staudohar: 00:06:14

may feel like they lost their edge for a moment and how can they get that back?

Lisa Staudohar: 00:06:20

So, really, It doesn't matter how good you are, you're always still

Lisa Staudohar: 00:06:25

striving for that next level.

Megan Wimberley: 00:06:27

Yeah, for sure.

Megan Wimberley: 00:06:28

And you're always like, It's really good to be confident and to not lose

Megan Wimberley: 00:06:33

your confidence and to keep going, but to never get to the point where

Megan Wimberley: 00:06:36

you just feel entitled to something because you know, just because you've

Megan Wimberley: 00:06:40

gotten in a show before doesn't mean you're gonna get into it the next year.

Megan Wimberley: 00:06:44

And just because you are at the top of your game doesn't mean you're gonna

Megan Wimberley: 00:06:47

get into every show or every gallery.

Megan Wimberley: 00:06:49

That's just not how it works.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:06:51

Or if your images get in and you've always sold out

Lisa Staudohar: 00:06:55

and all of a sudden, You saw nothing.

Megan Wimberley: 00:06:57

Mm-hmm.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:06:57

That happened to an artist that I met this year

Lisa Staudohar: 00:07:01

and she just said, wow, I'm gonna have a piece of humble pie here.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:07:05

Yeah.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:07:06

This, I, now I, she goes, actually I'm learning from this because I

Lisa Staudohar: 00:07:09

know how other artists feel now.

Megan Wimberley: 00:07:12

Yeah.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:07:12

Because my pieces in the past have sold.

Megan Wimberley: 00:07:15

Yeah.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:07:16

And so that, you know, was an eye-opener to me too,

Lisa Staudohar: 00:07:20

that even people we may consider are.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:07:25

Always selling everything.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:07:26

Aren't always selling everything.

Megan Wimberley: 00:07:28

Yeah.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:07:29

You know?

Megan Wimberley: 00:07:29

Yeah.

Megan Wimberley: 00:07:29

A lot of it's luck having the right collectors there when they're purchasing.

Megan Wimberley: 00:07:34

You know, how people feel about the economy.

Megan Wimberley: 00:07:36

I mean, for art, arts are the first ones that get hit.

Megan Wimberley: 00:07:39

If people start feeling iffy about it, the art is the first thing to take a hit.

Megan Wimberley: 00:07:44

And so yeah, there's just so many things that.

Megan Wimberley: 00:07:47

Go into that for you, what were some things that really, like pieces

Megan Wimberley: 00:07:52

that maybe really stuck out to you?

Megan Wimberley: 00:07:54

What were the types of, or what were things?

Megan Wimberley: 00:07:56

Well, and first I wanna talk about, you talked about how some

Megan Wimberley: 00:07:58

jurors may be more drawn to a certain style or a certain media.

Megan Wimberley: 00:08:03

And we do with, with all of our shows that we've done so far, we have done this.

Megan Wimberley: 00:08:08

And not that we would do it every time, cuz sometimes curatorial decisions

Megan Wimberley: 00:08:11

are important, but to try to minimize some of that, we do give our jurors

Megan Wimberley: 00:08:15

guidelines of, you may have a preference for traditional work, but you're judging

Megan Wimberley: 00:08:20

the contemporary work on its own merit.

Megan Wimberley: 00:08:22

Merit.

Megan Wimberley: 00:08:22

Correct.

Megan Wimberley: 00:08:22

Correct.

Megan Wimberley: 00:08:23

Yeah.

Megan Wimberley: 00:08:23

Because we believe that all of that work is really valid for our

Megan Wimberley: 00:08:28

history of our culture and for what, what we're trying to portray.

Megan Wimberley: 00:08:32

So we do that.

Megan Wimberley: 00:08:33

But was there a piece that really stuck out in your mind as one of the

Megan Wimberley: 00:08:37

pieces that you just really loved?

Megan Wimberley: 00:08:41

Well, it kind of went by category, and

Lisa Staudohar: 00:08:43

I honestly, I can't name the piece off the top of my head, but

Lisa Staudohar: 00:08:47

I, and it was a while back, but I do recall there were two or three pieces

Lisa Staudohar: 00:08:52

that I thought, gosh, if I had to pick between these, I don't know if I could.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:08:58

You know, so I guess they were my top three in what was submitted.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:09:04

I think in hindsight, I would've broken it into categories, so I

Lisa Staudohar: 00:09:10

would've liked to have picked my top photography, my top sculpture, you

Lisa Staudohar: 00:09:16

know, kind of broken it out that way.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:09:19

Oil so that each of those categories, Get the best scores that they can get.

Megan Wimberley: 00:09:27

Mm-hmm.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:09:28

Instead of putting them all up against each other.

Megan Wimberley: 00:09:31

Mm-hmm.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:09:31

I, I really think, you know, that would

Lisa Staudohar: 00:09:33

be my advice for another show

Megan Wimberley: 00:09:35

mm-hmm.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:09:36

Is to maybe categorize them so that they're all represented.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:09:41

I mean, they were all represented, but it would've been a lot easier

Lisa Staudohar: 00:09:45

to, for me to see all the sculpture.

Megan Wimberley: 00:09:49

Mm-hmm.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:09:50

And not be judging sculpture against paintings.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:09:53

Yeah.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:09:54

And, and photography,

Megan Wimberley: 00:09:55

which that can be hard too, because sometimes you only have

Megan Wimberley: 00:09:57

one photographer or one sculptor, so it's kind of complex on the back end for

Megan Wimberley: 00:10:02

setting it up, but it can be really hard to score those things against each other.

Megan Wimberley: 00:10:07

When you're looking at what, what is your, your favorite or what really

Megan Wimberley: 00:10:12

stands out, do you remember like what one of your favorite pieces looked like?

Lisa Staudohar: 00:10:17

Well, I remember in the photography category, in

Lisa Staudohar: 00:10:20

my mind there were, and that's something, you know, we are starting

Lisa Staudohar: 00:10:25

to really pay attention to more.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:10:27

And as Art of the West, that's a fine art.

Megan Wimberley: 00:10:31

Mm-hmm.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:10:31

A lot of people don't always, you know, put

Lisa Staudohar: 00:10:35

that in the same category.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:10:36

It's a gift to be able to,

Megan Wimberley: 00:10:37

mm-hmm.

Megan Wimberley: 00:10:38

Yeah, it's hard.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:10:39

These images, it's not easy and it's very difficult.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:10:42

So I remember there were a couple pieces that I just.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:10:47

It kind of blew me away.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:10:48

Like how did they capture that on film?

Megan Wimberley: 00:10:51

Mm-hmm.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:10:51

That's incredible.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:10:52

And I think for, that's a really hard question for me because there were

Lisa Staudohar: 00:10:56

pieces that, you know, me personally, you know, as you look through, you go,

Lisa Staudohar: 00:11:01

that's what I want, hanging on my wall,

Megan Wimberley: 00:11:03

Uhhuh.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:11:03

And then you look and you go, that's a really great piece because.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:11:08

I can see how difficult that was.

Megan Wimberley: 00:11:11

Mm-hmm.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:11:12

And certain pieces, lighting is always really important

Lisa Staudohar: 00:11:15

to me to get true, true lighting and, you know, anatomy of the animals and

Lisa Staudohar: 00:11:23

people, their hands, how do they look?

Lisa Staudohar: 00:11:26

You know, that type of thing.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:11:27

Those are things I'm looking at, like, is that what it

Lisa Staudohar: 00:11:31

really looks like or is it not?

Lisa Staudohar: 00:11:33

If it's off, you know, if a nose is wrong on a horse, It kind of throws the

Lisa Staudohar: 00:11:39

whole image off, even if it's well done.

Megan Wimberley: 00:11:41

Mm-hmm.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:11:42

For sure.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:11:42

Sure.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:11:43

I can't narrow down into one piece.

Megan Wimberley: 00:11:45

Yeah.

Megan Wimberley: 00:11:46

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So you're really drawn to the way an artist portrays light, it sounds like.

Megan Wimberley: 00:13:09

And then anatomical accuracy is something that really sticks out to you.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:13:13

Right.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:13:13

And even in contemporary, where some of that may not be, you know, it may

Lisa Staudohar: 00:13:18

not look like a, a photograph painting.

Megan Wimberley: 00:13:21

Mm-hmm.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:13:22

But the anatomy still has to make sense.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:13:25

Right.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:13:25

Unless it's abstract.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:13:26

Yeah.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:13:27

That's a different thing.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:13:28

But if, if they're still trying to, you know, create a piece.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:13:33

That looks, I mean, you know, it's a buffalo, you know

Lisa Staudohar: 00:13:37

what a buffalo looks like.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:13:39

And yes, it's abstract, but it really has that wonderful feature.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:13:44

Mm-hmm.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:13:44

And ties in the color and the lighting and the way the animal's looking.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:13:48

You know,

Megan Wimberley: 00:13:49

You can't use abstract or contemporary work as a way to get around.

Megan Wimberley: 00:13:58

Bad anatomy.

Megan Wimberley: 00:13:59

I mean, there are ways to, you know, like right, there are ways to like elongate.

Megan Wimberley: 00:14:05

I mean, the thing that's popping into my head, which is totally not Western,

Megan Wimberley: 00:14:08

but Salvador d, you know, those horses and the elephants with the really

Megan Wimberley: 00:14:12

long legs, and he did it on purpose.

Megan Wimberley: 00:14:13

And that's probably not gonna appeal to a lot of people listening, but he did

Megan Wimberley: 00:14:17

it on purpose in a way that made sense.

Megan Wimberley: 00:14:19

And actually, you know, Alexa Nell.

Megan Wimberley: 00:14:22

Lexi Nell, who's at this show right now.

Megan Wimberley: 00:14:24

At the cowgirl gathering, she has very abstract horses.

Megan Wimberley: 00:14:26

Right.

Megan Wimberley: 00:14:26

But she's done the shape well and the color well.

Megan Wimberley: 00:14:31

And you can't do that and just be like, ah, I'm just being a free for like,

Megan Wimberley: 00:14:35

no, the composition has to be there.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:14:38

Right.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:14:38

And the intent, it's really the intent.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:14:41

If you can feel the intent of the artist.

Megan Wimberley: 00:14:45

Mm-hmm.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:14:46

That's a good painting.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:14:47

Right?

Lisa Staudohar: 00:14:47

I mean, Dolly, he's got a, there's an intent Yeah.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:14:50

To why he painted how he painted.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:14:53

And you feel that whether you are drawn to contemporary, you,

Lisa Staudohar: 00:14:58

you know, that's a good piece.

Megan Wimberley: 00:15:00

Mm-hmm.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:15:00

And, you know his style.

Megan Wimberley: 00:15:02

Yeah.

Megan Wimberley: 00:15:02

The execution, the intent, and then the execution of the intent.

Megan Wimberley: 00:15:06

Yeah.

Megan Wimberley: 00:15:06

Correct.

Megan Wimberley: 00:15:06

And, and for that, that has to come out.

Megan Wimberley: 00:15:08

Mm-hmm.

Megan Wimberley: 00:15:08

It has to be translated onto that mm-hmm.

Megan Wimberley: 00:15:10

Into that media.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:15:12

So if you're trying to do a painting that is, Very real to life.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:15:18

It's the same thing.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:15:19

Mm-hmm.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:15:19

If you're not quite carrying it up, then you can, you can

Lisa Staudohar: 00:15:24

read that uhhuh, you know?

Lisa Staudohar: 00:15:26

Yeah.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:15:26

And, and different mediums do different things, so.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:15:30

It's a tough job judging.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:15:32

It is.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:15:33

It really is.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:15:34

Yeah.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:15:34

And so my advice is to keep doing what you're doing and like I said,

Lisa Staudohar: 00:15:42

if you're happy with your work and you're feeling like it's really, I.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:15:45

That's the, that's the piece and Yep.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:15:48

It really turned out the way I wanted it to turn out.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:15:51

Then you've got your piece.

Megan Wimberley: 00:15:52

Mm-hmm.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:15:53

If, if something's in your gut is telling you it's

Lisa Staudohar: 00:15:55

not quite there, or you're standing back and you're going, Hmm.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:15:59

Are you reflected in a mirror and you're not seeing what you see

Lisa Staudohar: 00:16:03

when you look at it while you're painting, then it might need tweaking.

Megan Wimberley: 00:16:08

Mm-hmm.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:16:09

There might be something about it that, you know,

Lisa Staudohar: 00:16:13

Because a judge will see that.

Megan Wimberley: 00:16:15

Yeah.

Megan Wimberley: 00:16:15

And whenever you do have that piece that you know is that piece, when it

Megan Wimberley: 00:16:19

doesn't get in, you know it's still good.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:16:21

Mm-hmm.

Megan Wimberley: 00:16:22

There are absolutely.

Megan Wimberley: 00:16:26

Right.

Megan Wimberley: 00:16:27

And some, and then also, you know, it's interesting always on the

Megan Wimberley: 00:16:30

cause with cga A, we're always really focused on educating people.

Megan Wimberley: 00:16:34

And it is very interesting because you don't know what you don't

Megan Wimberley: 00:16:37

know when you don't know when.

Megan Wimberley: 00:16:39

And what I mean is like when I first started painting with my bright

Megan Wimberley: 00:16:42

colors and I would go to shows and maybe that when it felt very good

Megan Wimberley: 00:16:45

or I applied for women artists of the West when I was first starting.

Megan Wimberley: 00:16:49

And I didn't get in.

Megan Wimberley: 00:16:51

And at the time I remember being disappointed and thinking, why

Megan Wimberley: 00:16:53

didn't I get in And my work's good.

Megan Wimberley: 00:16:55

And now I look back at that and it was an important stage in my progress.

Megan Wimberley: 00:16:59

Like I had to go through that.

Megan Wimberley: 00:17:01

I did not deserve to get in, even though I thought I did at that moment.

Megan Wimberley: 00:17:05

And I applied to Women to the West three times before I got in.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:17:08

Mm-hmm.

Megan Wimberley: 00:17:09

And you can't just.

Megan Wimberley: 00:17:11

The whenever, even when you're feeling confident about what you're doing,

Megan Wimberley: 00:17:15

there's still always room to hone your skills or to consider your composition.

Megan Wimberley: 00:17:21

There's always something to learn.

Megan Wimberley: 00:17:23

And so sometimes there's this like fine balance from the artist side of

Megan Wimberley: 00:17:28

like, when do you take that feedback?

Megan Wimberley: 00:17:30

You know?

Megan Wimberley: 00:17:30

And so sometimes when you have that piece and you know, it's

Megan Wimberley: 00:17:32

that piece, It doesn't matter.

Megan Wimberley: 00:17:34

Somebody could come up to you and be like, that is a piece of junk.

Megan Wimberley: 00:17:37

And you'd be like, okay, it's not for you.

Megan Wimberley: 00:17:38

And it doesn't bother you at all because you know you're confident that that

Megan Wimberley: 00:17:42

piece is exactly what you were going for.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:17:44

Mm-hmm.

Megan Wimberley: 00:17:45

But there's other times whenever.

Megan Wimberley: 00:17:47

We don't get into something and, and there's constructive criticism and, and

Megan Wimberley: 00:17:52

CGA does try to often give feedback to artists when we can, like with signature

Megan Wimberley: 00:17:57

member and stuff, what the jury sees.

Megan Wimberley: 00:18:00

And it doesn't mean the work isn't good.

Megan Wimberley: 00:18:01

Mm-hmm.

Megan Wimberley: 00:18:02

Signature member is very hard to get into.

Megan Wimberley: 00:18:04

Mm-hmm.

Megan Wimberley: 00:18:05

It doesn't mean that the work isn't good, but maybe there's some fine tuning or

Megan Wimberley: 00:18:08

maybe you aren't there yet, maybe you still are more at that intermediate level.

Megan Wimberley: 00:18:12

And this is a really, really high level to get into.

Megan Wimberley: 00:18:16

And so, It's not like there's a hard, fast rule, but there is a

Megan Wimberley: 00:18:19

time for you to feel confident in your work no matter what people say.

Megan Wimberley: 00:18:23

And then there's a time also to be able to say, oh, I can improve this and I can take

Megan Wimberley: 00:18:28

this feedback and I can learn from it.

Megan Wimberley: 00:18:30

Is there anything that you think that we haven't talked

Megan Wimberley: 00:18:33

about from this side of things?

Lisa Staudohar: 00:18:35

No, I, I think we've kind of.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:18:38

In my opinion covered, at least how I approached it, other jurors, how

Lisa Staudohar: 00:18:43

they've approached either when they're jurying a, a show where they're trying

Lisa Staudohar: 00:18:49

to find the, the top, top pieces within the show once they have been

Lisa Staudohar: 00:18:54

selected or just to get in a show.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:18:58

I mean, I think, I think we've kind of covered that.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:19:02

It's, it is very personal.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:19:03

Yeah.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:19:04

So know that.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:19:06

That's why shows rotate who they have jurying.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:19:09

Mm-hmm.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:19:10

Because it really changes the outlook it does of the show.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:19:15

Yeah, it changes it a lot.

Megan Wimberley: 00:19:16

I think the one thing I wanna wanna add to this

Megan Wimberley: 00:19:19

from the educational side, what's really important, there are two

Megan Wimberley: 00:19:23

things that are really important, and the first is that you don't stop.

Megan Wimberley: 00:19:25

Because we have seen artists get kind of like get so, uh, their self-esteem

Megan Wimberley: 00:19:30

is affected so much that they stop painting and that is, Tragic.

Megan Wimberley: 00:19:34

We've literally hired a life coach before to teach our members how

Megan Wimberley: 00:19:37

to deal with rejection because it is tragic when an artist stops

Megan Wimberley: 00:19:41

painting cuz they got a rejection.

Megan Wimberley: 00:19:42

I had a year, and this was like a couple years ago, where I'm still

Megan Wimberley: 00:19:45

really confident about my work and I did not get into a single thing.

Megan Wimberley: 00:19:49

And if I would've let that affect me, I would've had.

Megan Wimberley: 00:19:52

Most, most successful year I had.

Megan Wimberley: 00:19:54

And so you just, it's not personal.

Megan Wimberley: 00:19:56

And every artist you know who is big has had more rejections than

Megan Wimberley: 00:19:59

you can possibly imagine, right?

Megan Wimberley: 00:20:01

And the second thing that I think is really important is that you have got

Megan Wimberley: 00:20:04

to remain professional because when you don't get in and you like throw a fit

Megan Wimberley: 00:20:09

in public, or you start badmouthing the organization or the organizers or the

Megan Wimberley: 00:20:13

show or whatever it is, Ultimately it comes back looking really bad on you.

Megan Wimberley: 00:20:18

And it affects, you know, if uh, somebody has an art show and an artist,

Megan Wimberley: 00:20:23

you know, actually unprofessional, they're gonna remember that.

Megan Wimberley: 00:20:25

And it can affect, it just affects your reputation and you don't

Megan Wimberley: 00:20:29

want the reputation of that artist that's just super negative or always

Megan Wimberley: 00:20:34

complaining or, or, or entitled, you know, because again, you're not

Megan Wimberley: 00:20:38

gonna get into every single show.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:20:40

Right.

Megan Wimberley: 00:20:41

And it's, and to the other artists who get in being gracious

Megan Wimberley: 00:20:44

to them, you know, because we're all a big community and, and just, you know,

Megan Wimberley: 00:20:48

being a, a positive member of, of our, of our C for c g a of our community, but

Megan Wimberley: 00:20:54

also like just a, as the community at large, you know, with the other artists

Megan Wimberley: 00:20:59

and it's such a small community and, and just remember that every single thing

Megan Wimberley: 00:21:04

that you do affects your reputation.

Megan Wimberley: 00:21:06

And how can you, Make sure that you're all, you're the

Megan Wimberley: 00:21:09

artist that people think of.

Megan Wimberley: 00:21:10

That artist is pro.

Megan Wimberley: 00:21:12

You want to be the pro artist.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:21:14

Correct.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:21:15

Right.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:21:15

That's well said.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:21:16

I agree.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:21:18

Yeah.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:21:19

So well, we're both saying thank you to each other.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:21:23

Thanks for having me.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:21:24

Yeah.

Lisa Staudohar: 00:21:24

Well thank you for waiting to me at the show tomorrow.

Megan Wimberley: 00:21:27

Yeah, and, and a huge, huge thank you to Art

Megan Wimberley: 00:21:30

of the West Magazine, first of all, for putting together such a

Megan Wimberley: 00:21:33

wonderful magazine that has so many beautiful things we get to look at.

Megan Wimberley: 00:21:37

And, uh, such a great job with promoting artisan shows, but also for the support

Megan Wimberley: 00:21:40

of CGA and our shows and the support of any other art show that y'all do because

Megan Wimberley: 00:21:45

you do a lot for the art community and.

Megan Wimberley: 00:21:47

It's, it's important and, and I appreciate it personally.

Megan Wimberley: 00:21:50

Thank you.

Megan Wimberley: 00:21:50

It's a pleasure.

Megan Wimberley: 00:21:51

I hope you enjoyed today's episode with Lisa Staudohar talking about

Megan Wimberley: 00:21:55

what it's like to be a juror.

Megan Wimberley: 00:21:56

I hope this episode gave you more insight and leaves you with more

Megan Wimberley: 00:21:59

enthusiasm applying for your next show.

Megan Wimberley: 00:22:01

Remember, there are lots of ways to stay in touch with C G A.

Megan Wimberley: 00:22:04

One of the best ones is to follow us on Instagram at Cowgirl Artists of America.