Many Voices

Here is the painting from the little sketch clue I posted last week.

Yesterday I attended the SCBWI New England conference. Each year there is a poster contest for illustrators and this year's theme was "many voices". To my surprise (and of course delight!) my poster was selected for honorable mention! Thank you NESCBWI and judges for this honor!

Here's the funny thing.

Earlier in the day, Floyd Cooper gave an amazing key note speech. He showed slides of his work, talked about becoming an illustrator, and gave a demo of his subtractive technique. He was hilarious, real, poignant, and inspiring.

One anecdote resonated with me. He talked about meeting deadlines. "It's important for an artist to meet those deadlines," he said, "but that UPS guy comes SO early!" He showed a slide of a painting he had to submit that wasn't finished. This painting was published unfinished and then went on to win an award! It hung in a gallery--unfinished.

That story gave me relief. I was relieved that I was not the only one who worries about meeting deadlines and feels that they come too early. I worked til the wee hours on my poster, still felt like it wasn't finished, and had to submit it anyway. I was not very happy with the result and had a hard time seeing it among the other submissions. There were so many things I wanted to "fix."

Hearing about Floyd Cooper's painting winning an award even though he couldn't finish it, gave me comfort. We only need do the best we can within a time frame. Even though I was sometimes distraught, I did have fun with my idea and felt love in doing this.

His story and receiving an award was a reminder for me. Love can be seen (experienced) beyond the so-called flaws.