There were many qualified applicants, unfortunately…

I wrote this post in 2016 and it still applies today. In this week alone I’ve applied for 3 things and been rejected from 2 others so I thought I’d revisit this post from the archives… enjoy!

The start of many a rejection letter…no need to read the rest.

Rejection is hard for everyone but when you are an independent artist, you apply for a lot of things; grants, residencies, teaching opportunities, exhibitions, projects proposals. So by default, you get A LOT of rejection letters. I don’t keep an actual count, but I’d estimate that I’ve received at least 40 since the beginning of this year and I haven’t even heard back from all the things I’ve applied for.

Sometimes you get more than one per week and it’s hard to not let self doubt creep in. Especially when a lot of your time goes into researching, custom formatting photos for each application and not to mention the $15 -$25 application fees can really add up. But as artists, we force ourselves not to wallow in it and we drag our asses back out to the studio and keep making art.

There were many qualified applicants, unfortunately... | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

Kim Liao recently wrote an article called “Why You Should Aim for 100 Rejections A Year”, which discusses the idea of embracing rejection as a goal. The more that you ‘collect’ rejection letters, the more you are applying for, the more practice you get at applying for things, the less you invest in caring about the rejection itself and the odds are you will actually get accepted to a few things too.

While I’ve been rejected from 40+ opportunities to date this year, I’ve also been accepted to at least 10, some of them really amazing, potentially career changing opportunities. The pile of rejection letters next to those few acceptance letters only makes those acceptances even more sweet.

Commissioned Work…

I’m currently working on a few commissioned pieces, and it occurred to me that you may not even think to ask about having a piece commissioned. I always have work available in my online shop but if you see something that you love but you want it a little bigger, smaller, or a different color or (the worst!) when a series you had your eye on sells out before you added it to your cart. If this happens, drop me an email and I’d be happy to work with you to create a custom sculpture for your home, garden or office. There’s even a form in the online shop to help you start the process.

onward and upward…

In the rollercoaster of emotions that has been the past two weeks, losing our dog Indigo was the hardest but there has also been a number of really good and exciting things happening as well. I was invited to a site visit and meeting with the Art in State Buildings program at the University of Florida – Gainesville campus as one of two finalists for a permanent public art project in their Career Connections Center building. It was fantastic to meet with the staff and students, hear their thoughts on how they feel about working in their brand new LEED certified center and to see their reactions to my work samples. They are specifically looking for art that exudes biophilia – the human connection to nature, and I’m pretty sure that I can provide them with that! Over the next few months, I’ll be working on a final proposal for their central stairwell, will present everything to the committee in April in person and then fingers crossed. Either way, the process of preparing and presenting my work in this format will be a great experience.

While I was in Florida for this meeting, I took the opportunity to reconnect with dear friends who I hadn’t seen in person in 6 or so years. The irony was that they were both experiencing their own recent and profound loss and so our visit was a blend of hysterical laughter, consoling hugs, walking through gardens, tears, swimming with manatees, surviving the hundreds of well intentioned “I’m so sorry” comments and completing the challenging and mundane tasks that follow the loss of loved ones. It’s hard to feel good and bad all at the same time, but I think that laughing while we cry is how we make it through. These are a few images from my trip that remind me of the beauty in the world, the amazingness of nature and how lucky we are to be connected to it.

Indigo

After nearly 12 inseparable years, last week, I lost my studio mate, hiking buddy and all around partner in crime. Indigo came into our lives as a fluffy four month old rescue puppy and we were in love from day one. In her short life, she camped & hiked all over the west coast in the sun, rain, snow & hail, road tripped through Baja where she was often mistaken as our pet lobo and was the greeting committee for hundreds of students and visitors that came through our studio. We are heartbroken and will dearly miss our adventurous and independent girl. It won’t be the same without you Indyboo.

Kicking off the new year slowly…

2018 was a crazy busy year filled with travel and art adventures and I loved every minute of it but I’m intentionally starting off 2019 a little slower. Taking a few days to rest up, get my body on the correct time zone and be thoughtful about what is to come this year. The first things I did on the first day of the year was take a morning mile long swim in a 52 degree ocean- freezing but exhilarating- followed by a hike with family and friends. Not a bad way to start off my promise to spend as much time as possible outdoors! That said, I do have quite a few art adventures in the works already…

Kicking off the new year slowly... | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

First exhibit of the new year will be at Pajaro Valley Gallery for Take-Aways, Art-to-Go! in Watsonville where I’ll have small works for sale and I’ve collaborated with sculptor Jamie Abbott to make sculptural necklaces – they are so fun! Be sure to check out this exhibit when it opens January 23rd.

Larger work is getting shipped off in a few weeks to Cebera Gallery in Kansas City which is a pretty exciting line up of ceramic artists to join the ranks of. AND, I’ll also be headed to Florida towards the end of the month for a site visit on a potentially big public art project- fingers crossed for that one! So with all of that planned just for this month, a few days of taking it easy feels like a good choice. Hope you are all easing into the new year as well too!

happy happy, merry merry

It’s hard to believe that we are at the tail end of a very long and busy year but I just wanted to take the time to thank everyone for their support and positivity throughout the year. I really couldn’t of done it without you! To wrap up this past year…

happy happy, merry merry | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture
photo credit: Crystal Birns

…I had my first solo museum exhibit, my work was included in 16 shows, I participated in 2 different month long residencies, traveled to 5 new countries, and I installed a permanent piece of public art internationally for the first time – it was a pretty epic year to say the least! And as a bonus personal goal I’m particularly proud of,  I got yelled at (twice!) by a customs agent because my passport was too full of stamps. Next year’s plans already bring the promise of more exhibits, residencies, collaborations, more art making and travel (including a new passport!) – and I can’t wait! 

I always say it takes a village to raise and artist and I’m so grateful to call you all my village. Thank you for your continued support! 

Until 2019… happy happy & merry merry!

-j 

It Snowed on the Umbels!

It Snowed on the Umbels! | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

I was sent these pictures of my bright red Umbel Installation this morning after a proper snowfall in Mariestad Sweden. I love, love, love seeing them with with little piles of snow contrasting the red glaze. They remind me of the red winter berries on all of the shrubs. Happy Winter!!

The Umbels Are Up!

It’s hard to believe in just a few short months; an application, turned into an acception, a sketch turned into a sculpture and now, I have a permanent public art installation in Mariestad Sweden. I’m so grateful for everyone who had a hand in making this happen. And I really look forward to seeing how this installation will change over the seasons. I’ve been trying to imagine the snow cover first, and then the green leaves coming back to the trees in the background of the sculptures and eventually to 12′ tall hops plants that will be planted and flank the Umbel flowers on either side- lots to look forward too! More pics coming to the installation page soon!

The Umbels Are Up! | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

Greetings from Sweden!

After a very long journey, I arrived in the lovely town of Mariestad of the shorefront of Lake Vänern. The hours of sunlight are very limited here this time of year and the drizzly weather makes for fabulously moody skies. I spent the first few days getting over the worst of the jet lag by getting a lay of the land, walking through the nature reserves and watching the locals prepare for the upcoming holiday season. The location for my artwork will be in the Universitetsparken where the University of Gothenburg holds their horticulture program. It seems like the perfect place for my Umbels to reside.

Greetings from Sweden | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

My time in Sweden has not just been spent staring off at scenic vistas, in my few days here so far I’ve unpacked my crate (everything survived- yay!), I have most of the flowers attached to the metal structures, the location of the Umbels has been selected, so the holes for the bases were dug and lighting placement was also chosen. The next few days involve sanding down the connection point of epoxy between the ceramic and the metal so that it’s a smooth transition between the structure and the flowers and  then painting the transition to match. There’s also a few interviews with the local news who are interested in my crazy sputnik looking flowers and then it’s looking like Friday morning will be the official final placement. I really can’t say enough about the kommun (municipality) of Mariestad that has answered every question, solved every hiccup in the process at every turn and been so compliant to the artists choice in how steps are taken. I think I’ve been very spoiled here with this amazing public art committee. Final installation pics are coming soon!

Greetings from Sweden | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture