Remember and Inspire.

I just received word that two of my recent paintings made it into the FAV15% in the BoldBrush competition. These are the paintings that FASO, my website developer, and FineArtViews staff picked as their favorites. Though my pieces did not win any cash awards, this distinction shows that my work caught the attention of some folks who see thousands of paintings every month. That's pretty big in my book. You can view all of their favorites at https://faso.com/boldbrush/fav15/249  

Long ago, I discovered that art competitions net benefits far beyond the cash awards or the warm-fuzzy feeling one gets from winning. It pushes a person to re-evaluate where they are and envision where they could be. This is as true for artists as it is for athletes or restaurant owners. 

A restaurant owner, for example is content to produce standard fare when it is the only one in town. I can attest to this, having grown up in a small town, married someone from a small town, and having explored numerous local small towns when we've gone on day trip dates. When there are several establishments to choose from, though, each one is forced to distinguish itself in some way that will attract and keep the attention of patrons. They have to have either great prices or some fabulous menu item no one else has. Our favorite go-to place when we lived in Minneapolis, The Hamburger Joint, I think,  featured the most decadent chocolate cake I've ever had...before or since. We so enjoyed the nostalgic atmosphere with its high-back wood booths, big framed posters of baseball greats like Kirby Puckett, and their huge burgers and amazing dessert choices. Though there were several other chain restaurants around that offered standard meat and potatoes, I never saw their parking lots packed like my favorite. Those restaurants seemed content with their small band of faithful regulars. This one kept pushing the envelope, and thus they kept us coming back for more.

Hungry yet?

The point? Last spring when I began competing beyond my local artist's group, I pushed myself harder than I ever had before and produced three pieces in one month that have been winning competitions ever since. This has resulted in more eyes on my work. That in turn has resulted in more commissions and more opportunities to compete. 

So whatever you do for a living, push always to be better at it. Find someone in your field who you admire and learn from them. Wow your audience with your skill, or efficiency, or compassion, or anything else that is worthy of improvement. You may find that although some may grumble that you're making them look bad (ignore those), others will see you and begin to improve as well.