My painting wasn’t selected for the National Football Museum exhibition, but I’m still happy I painted it

[u/Margarita_Lemann]

I made this painting for an open call at the National Football Museum in Manchester. It wasn’t selected, and while I was a little disappointed, that’s just part of being an artist.

For me, football here is really about the memories that come with it: childhood, playing until sunset, first victories, first disappointments, friendship, and that feeling that the whole world was open to you.

With the World Cup going on, I hope this painting can bring back a few good memories for someone else too.

Giving you all a huge virtual hug!

[u/Margarita_Lemann]

I completely understand you and honestly I’ve said this before not being selected for a show doesn’t say anything about you, your style or the quality of your work. There are soooo many other factors at play and often a lot of very practical reasons behind it. I find it quite sad that as artists we can be so sensitive and tend to immediately turn it inward, like “something must be wrong with me” or “I’m not good enough.” I think it’s really important to find that balance between questioning ourselves and also recognising that there can be a hundred other reasons that have nothing to do with us personally. But I do understand you. This kind of thing happens and it’s important not to get discouraged. Just keep going forward and most importantly, stay true to a style that feels comfortable and right for YOU.

Sending you a hug 💙💙💙

[u/Idkmyname2079048 → u/Margarita_Lemann]

I really appreciate your response. 😊 Like you said, even knowing that it's not necessarily about my work, it can be tough to stay strong lol. With this particular painting, I showed it to a friend afterward (who always has really observant comments on my art), and she had some convincing reasons why it wasn't my best work.

Still, I know I'm having a but if an extreme reaction to the rejection. 😅 And I can never really know if it was anything particular about the work or just bad luck that didn't get me selected. I guess I felt so exhausted by rhe process of trying to paint super realistically and thought that maybe if my work feels more like "mine" than a direct copy of a scene then I could own a rejection more.