On Wednesday the Westland gallery launched their 2020 square foot art show and sale and I had 3 pieces submitted. This is the biggest square foot show they have ever had and they have over 700 pieces.
Since the show is so big, we needed to make some decisions about which of our pieces we would prioritize to show. We picked our top 2 which would be shown and one would be set aside to be shown later to replace one of the pieces that may sell.
When I chose my pieces, that was how I looked at them. Which pieces did I think were most likely to be sold? So I asked that a certain piece I titled "Reflections" be set aside because I had higher hopes for my other two pieces. It was not that I did not value the piece I titled "Reflections," I guess I felt that it had less potential.
I need to tell you a bit more about this piece. "Reflections" is a piece inspired by the story of the ugly duckling. The baby bird was actually a cygnet and somehow got grouped with baby ducklings. He did not look like the rest of the ducklings and he looked down on himself. As he grew, he did not realize how beautiful he actually was until he came across another swan and admired how beautiful he was. The other swan pointed out that he was just as beautiful and it was not until he really looked at his reflection that his perspective changed.
Often we look at our own reflections and we have a distorted view of what we see, which is what inspired me to create the reflection with broken mirror pieces. Even as the viewer looks at the pieces, you also see what you want to see, and it may be just as distorted as the broken glass.
So here we are, back to selecting the top three pieces of artwork. I took an "ugly duckling" view and placed it last, but even without it being displayed, it sold. That means that someone had to ask to see it and saw the value in it even though I may not have valued it as much.
I see such a beautiful irony in that.
I cannot help but appreciate seeing the story amplified even in the sale of a piece of artwork.