Central Washington Artists' Exhibition

Last week I found out that one of my sculptures was accepted to the 62nd annual Central Washington Artists' Exhibition at Larson Gallery this year.

my piece "untitled" for CWAE 2017

I was surprised by which piece that was selected for the exhibition this year. I entered three pieces, but I really had my mind set on one of them, the first large piece that I've finished in two years. I finished this piece just before the entries were due for CWAE this year. I like the piece, it worked out how I planned. I'm happy with the spinning blue parts on the bottom, and I'm fairly happy with the pictures of the piece. 

my sadly rejected new work

In completing the application, I decided to toss in a couple of small pieces just because they were ready. Besides the big piece, I had finished maybe 3 or 4 small sculptures and I have a few in various states of epoxying on the floor in my studio. I didn't think the small pieces were likely to get in, but one of them did. It is a pretty small sculpture, one that required no brain power whatsoever from me in the making, because I've made this kind of sculpture numerous times before.

"Petal/Pedal" was in CWAE 2016

I'm not sure what to think about which sculpture got in and which didn't. The juror could have been influenced by color, shape, size, title, or any number of factors. Maybe she doesn't like complex forms, but she does like complex color and texture. Maybe she likes yellow better than green.

this pod was in CWAE 2016

Certain types of galleries and art fairs that I've shown in over the years have preferred smaller, more affordable sculpture, especially sculpture that does something (like a fountain or a lidded box), but that seems unlikely to influence a juror's decision. On the other hand, last year I had four entries accepted and they were all small. Each year there is a different juror, so this year's juror presumably didn't have the same criteria as last year's.

this lidded set was in CWAE 2016

The possibility remains that I have overlooked a significant flaw in my newest large sculpture or a significant quality in the new small one. As the maker of the work, sometimes it is hard to see the works objectively. As I review the image in this blog post, my favorites are the top two, both finished this year.

my other (silly) new sculpture

I've avoided mentioning the other new sculpture that I entered in this show. This one's a bit silly, really. I've been working on this one for over a year as well, but the attachment angle and finished surface changed from the original plan. I had intended to attach a bicycle break handle, as I ended up doing, but I intended to attach it facing the other way. I intended to attach another piece on the end of the metal handle, but that didn't get done. I ended up changing the handle orientation because I liked how the handle echoed the angle and line of the body of the sculpture. But everything about this sculpture is a bit silly. The surface is unusual for me, the handle is just plain odd. Sometimes I want to try something, as I did here, but I'm not sure if I want to defend what I tried once it's done.

both of these sculptures were in CWAE 2014

If you'd like to see my new little sculpture, this year's Central Washington Artists' Exhibition opens at Larson Gallery on November 4 with a reception from 3-5pm. The exhibition continues through December 2, 2017. Larson Gallery is open Tuesday - Friday 10am - 5pm and Saturdays 1pm - 5pm.