Sunday, January 1, 2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR AND A NICE SURPRISE!
























Tim, the fuzzy ones and I would like to wish everyone an incredibly happy, safe and prosperous New Year. And don't worry -- maybe the Mayans ran out of space and the calendar continues past 2012 on another rock somewhere. Either way, I'm not gonna stress nor am I packin' my stuff...just yet.

Now onto some really nice news and a lovely way to start the New Year!

A few days ago I was notified by a colleague that I was up for a Making A Mark Award! The blog -- in which artist and writer Katherine Tyrrell draws and writes about art for artists and art lovers -- is number 3 in the top 25 art blogs in the UK! I was very excited by this news and equally shocked, as I make it practice not to enter competitions. Admittedly, this practice is based solely on my rather distressing inability to accept rejection of any kind like an emotionally mature adult. Kidding...sort of.

I then received an email from David J. Teter, a phenomanal artist that I admire greatly, apologizing for not contacting me before nominating my painting. He had been under the impression that I would be notified by Katherine. So, rejection issues aside, I was thankful for David's nomination and hopped on over to "Making A Mark" and found that "Alvin the Ant" was nominated for Best Picture of the Year (Nature) on an Art Blog in 2011! This, as you might well imagine, made me very happy indeed.

However, as I read through the nomination requirements, I found that Katherine had specified in the rules that entries should not have been overly reliant on a photograph not taken by the artist, so I contacted her to let her know I depend on others photos for my "Bug Narratives." Alas, while I have contemplated searching for, catching and trying to pose the little critters I paint, the absence of a high end close-up camera made the venture an impossibility (not to mention the trouble I imagine I might have with some overly-stimulated and arrogant arachnid!) So I came to the conclusion that relying on photos from generous collectors, fans and semi-inexpensive stock photos as reference for my "bug narrratives" would be my best option.

Happily, after giving it some thought, Katherine decided that if the votes dictated a win that she would let it stand! Yes!

Thank you David so very much for nominating me, thank you everyone who voted for Alvin the Ant and thank you so very much Katherine for allowing my painting to remain in the competition. And, I got to experience this wonderful feeling without the angst of entering anything!!  How very nice indeed!

23 comments:

  1. Congratulations!!! I voted for you:)) Happy New Year to your crew wishing you the best in 2012!!

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  2. Wowee! Congratulations to you and Alvin the ant!
    Look at him!!!
    Of course it would be nominated- you painted it spectacturly!
    How exciting, and we are so happy for you!
    We wish all of a New Year filled with wonders, love and peace!
    love
    tweedles

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  3. Congratulations Suzanne! Alvin and you are very deserving of the award.
    He is certainly a spectacular little guy. An awesome painting indeed. It was also a treat to read your story about how it unfolded.

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  4. Congratulations! What a wonderful way to start out the new year!
    xo

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  5. Congratulations Suzanne! A well deserved award and a great way to start the new year.

    Happy New Year!

    Sue

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  6. Could not be happier for you Suzanne!!! I was so thrilled when I saw you were nominated and of course I voted for you!! :)))) And all without the angst, ahhhh, now that's something to celebrate.

    A great start to a new year. And I really admire how you dealt with this Suz, you are one classy dame. :D

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  7. Congratulations, Suzanne, you deserve it!
    And happy New Year!

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  8. wishing you all the best in the new year Suz and congratulations! This is recognition for all your hard work and for a wonderful painting! I couldn't have wished for a better person to have this:)

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  10. Congratulations Suzanne - very much deserved recognition.

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  11. Well done! So great to get recognition especially as you weren't expecting it. Your talent deserves recognition and your humble self too, then you just might start believing in yourself as we do!

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  12. I'm rooting for you, Suz! And I don't deal with rejection well either. LOL

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  13. Congratulations Suzanne, you work is wonderful and so deserving of awards. Happy New Year to you and Tim and those adorable pugs.

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  14. Suzanne,
    Your'e welcome, don't forget to thank yourself, it is well deserved.
    No matter what the source you still must have the skill, experience and unique vision to pull it off.

    And Kudos to Katherine at Making a Mark for her common sense judgement to relax the rule and allow the votes to stand.

    David-

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  15. This is very exciting! Congrats my friend and HNY!

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  16. You really deserve it! You should be SO proud! I don't know any other Artist who can make a bug look so cute! :0)

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  17. THANK YOU ALL SO VERY MUCH FOR THESE WONDERFUL WORDS. i am very grateful for the award and for everyone who voted for me and for stopping by my blog.

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  18. Congratulations suzanne !!! brilliant news ..i read the post on Making A Mark yesterday ..so happy for you .

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  19. I proudly share your excitement. I am proud of you my friend. Well deserved.

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  20. Wonderful, wonderful and more wonderful! You and Alvin deserve this recognition and I am so happy for you both!

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  21. You know I thought I posted a comment on this post! I have a habit (bad) of zipping away from the screen as soon as I hit 'submit' and sometimes have been shocked to find I aborted the comment!

    Congratulations - you SO deserve to be put forth, and voted in! Your work rocks, and it's not like you copy your subjects in situ, you place them in another realm, you seriously don't think DaVinci, Titian, Monet, - any of them wouldn't do the same??? Big YAY for you!

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  22. Congratulations, Suzanne! Well deserved! I'm so excited for you.

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  23. Tim, the fuzzy ones and I would like to wish everyone an incredibly happy, safe and prosperous New Year. And don't worry -- maybe the Mayans ran out of space and the calendar continues past 2012 on another rock somewhere. Either way, I'm not gonna stress nor am I packin' my stuff...just yet.
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Your visits to my blog and the comments you leave here are an integral part of my creative process. They are helpful, supportive and well, let's face it, they feel really good! If I don't thank you personally, please allow me to thank you in advance for taking the time to stop by and leave your thoughts, they mean so much!