EXHIBIT RBSA...
As creatives we all have doubts! I’ve spoken a lot about ‘Imposter Syndrome’ and how, in some cases, it can hold us back from the life that we want. It happens to all of us, and one of the best ways to combat that nasty voice of doubt in your head is to take action. More doing and less thinking! (Thinking vs Doing). So, when the voice inside my head started piping up again recently, that’s exactly what I did. Less thinking and more doing, and I’m so glad I did! As maybe here is some evidence that I’m not quite the imposter I thought. I present ‘Exhibit RBSA’ to the court…
That’s right! One of my pieces was accepted into an exhibition! An open call from the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists Gallery (RBSA) and is now on display as I write this. And it all happened because I did more ‘Doing’ and less ‘Thinking’.
I’ve been talking about this concept for a while now. So, when an email notification pinged on my computer from the RBSA Newsletter (Shows the importance of newsletters! Sign up to the CNL Newsletter below) for an open call to submit work to their upcoming exhibition, I went for it! More doing and less thinking! Despite the niggling doubts that, as I said, crept in, I did it anyway.
ROYAL BIRMINGHAM SOCIETY OF ARTISTS GALLERY EXHIBITION.
Established in the 1800s, the RBSA is an artist-led organisation that supports artists and promotes engagement with the visual arts through a range of exhibitions, events, and workshops. It’s a pivotal gallery for Birmingham, with a prestigious background in all aspects of the arts, so I was over the moon when I got the notification to say that my work had been accepted.
Having based my career so far solely on commercial photography, it's a great honour to have been accepted into the exhibition for some of my art-based work. It also goes some way to chipping away at that Imposter Syndrome that can creep in while I’m on this Creative Nowhere Land art journey.
MELANCHOLIA III
The image selected by the curators of the show is part of the ‘Melancholia’ series. You can read more about the project in the blog post of the same name by clicking the link above. The image, Melancholia III, shows a white rose dripping in black paint, intended to be symbolistic of ‘Black Bile’. It's a long story! So you might be better off reading the blog haha. But, put simply, the image is a reminder of the beauty we can find in the midst of the sadness and struggles we all sometimes go through in life. It’s a definite reminder to me when I look at the image. I was feeling those heavy issues of struggle and sadness when I created the series. To see one of them now included in the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists gallery, alongside so many other talented artists, is truly humbling, and a testament to just doing, over thinking sometimes.
JUST DO IT!
I would encourage you to do the same. Sometimes you have to just take a chance. I genuinely didn’t think my work would be accepted when I responded to the open call from the RBSA. But it was! And I loved the whole process. From the incredible job that the Framers Gallery in Wolverhampton did on the printing and framing of the piece, through to the opening night of the exhibition. Where I got to meet a whole host of wonderful artists and encouraging art lovers. Everything about the process was inspiring and instilled in me the want to do more. So, if you’re an artist or creative of any sort, I would urge you to take a chance and submit some work to one of the many open-call exhibitions that exist, or perhaps get a group of you together and put on your own show. You never know what might happen and what opportunities might arise from it.
A huge thank you to the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists for the opportunity to exhibit. I hope that this is the first of many more that I can be a part of. Please go and visit and support the gallery via the links provided and, if you’re in the area, pop in and check out the work.
Thanks for reading and always supporting my Creative Nowhere Land journey. If you haven’t already then please consider signing up for the newsletter as it’s the first place to stay up to date on all things Creative Nowhere Land. There are lots more exciting things to come in 2023. So, until next time…