A reminder to follow your gut, and relish your deviation from the status quo.

I have a love-hate relationship with big art institutions, but today I’m leaning into being surprised at how open they can be to the new and the different. Not to detract from the value of open challenge, there are often unseen forces working to navigate refreshment from within.

Before submitting work for an Open Call annual exhibition, it's good practice to look at past iterations of the show, and work out what (if any) of your work might fit the bill.

My submissions are often motivated by wanting to put a 'cat amongst the pigeons' - that was the spirit of my successful entry 'Judgement' to the Royal Portrait Society last year.

Something I really like about the ethos of the Society of WildLife Artists is their inclination towards direct observation rather than reference photos. Whilst I work from both (see my blogs on working from life and photos) I agree it's best to have had actual air, not just a lens, between yourself and your subject. 

Doing my routine pre-submission stalking of the SWLA annual juried exhibition 'The Natural Eye' I noticed the large number of (beautiful) bird art, plus the ever-popular hares and foxes. Here’s a lovely unstuffy presentation of the work to expect if you visit the show:

Personally I’m as much of a sucker for easy-drinking as the next person, but I felt birds etc were already very well represented. As a fan of the under-dog, and of art that gives you a physical reaction (be that goose-bumps or a churn of the stomach) I felt the impulse to do something very different.

To my surprise and delight this approach seems to have worked - instead of a cat amongst the pigeons, it’s molluscs amongst the gulls. The SWLA 60th annual juried exhibition 'The Natural Eye' will include my first ever hat trick! I was particularly chuffed, because a) members of the society are entitled to show work, resulting in very limited wall space for non-members (like me) to compete over, b) this was the first time I'd entered 3 related works into an open call, as I’d noticed they like to hang groups of similar pieces, c) I usually submit oils rather than drawings, and d) I know some really great artists who didn't make it into the show.

It's always a roll of the dice - getting into such shows is as much about the curators’ overall vision as quality of work. I'm getting more thick-skinned about dealing with rejections, but they are undeniably made more tolerable by the occasional jackpot. 

Exhibition Details:

Location: The Mall Galleries, London (situated at the Trafalgar Square end of The Mall)

Private View: Wednesday 1 November 2023, 2-8pm. Official opening and prize announcements at 3pm.

Open to the public: Thursday 2 November, 11am–5pm

Closes: Saturday 11 November, 5pm

If you would be interested in joining me at the Private View, please don’t hesitate to join my newsletter where I will be providing more information, and potentially inviting subscribers to attend (subject to availability).

So, artists, what are your top tips for getting in to open calls?!