Cowgirl Artists of America spoke with juror, Lisa Staudohar from Art of the West Magazine about her experiences being a juror for the Wildflower Show. Make sure to follow Art of the West on Instagram @artofthewestmagazine

And, don't miss an incredible opportunity to participate in the upcoming workshop "Cottonwood Ranch Equine Photography Experience" by Cowgirls with Cameras in August Month. This workshop is led by Phyllis Burette (@phyllisburchettphoto), Cara Taylor Swift (@fasthorsephotography), and Kim Beer (@kimberlybeer)

To learn more about the workshop visit https://cowgirlswithcameras.com/events

Find us on Instagram at @cowgirlartistsofamerica and join our waitlist at cowgirlartistsofamerica.org

IG: @cowgirlartistsofamerica

Megan Wimberley

Hi.

Welcome to Cowgirl Artists of America's Podcast, a podcast

dedicated to cowgirl artists.

I'm your host, Megan Wimberley, and today we talk with Lisa Stu from Art of

the West Magazine about her experiences being a juror for the Wildflower Show.

I know that when I've gotten the opportunity to listen to the experience

of jurors on the other side of the art show has been really helpful for me.

I hope that you enjoy this episode and find it useful.

Okay.

I am here with Lisa Staudohar from Art of the West Magazine, and she was

one of our jurors in the Wild Flowers Exhibition, so thank you for being here.

Lisa.

Happy to be here.

You just flew in from Minneapolis?

Yeah, to Fort Worth.

She's Lisa's here also for the Cowgirl Gathering because the Art of the West

Magazine has sponsored some of our prizes, and so she's coming down to

see the work and we're so excited that.

Have you here this year, and thank you for the generous

support and prizes for our show.

Of course.

Happy to do it.

So we wanted to give artists who applied to wildflowers a

little bit of a behind the scenes look about what goes into the jury process.

Can.

Get a little upset or disappointed or really have their confidence affected

when they don't get into a show.

And those of us who have been on the backend understand that

it's not quite so cut and dry.

And so I think it's a good idea to give artists an idea of that backend.

So thank you for offering to do that from your perspective.

Of course, of course.

Yes.

And this is my humble perspective.

But, and this was a little bit different from other shows, so I'll

give some examples from this show.

And then maybe things that take place at other shows and all of them, first

of all to get in is, is a big deal.

And then, you know, to win the prizes are a big deal.

And some people are even just disappointed if they don't win first

or second place or something like that.

And it's really in the beholder of.

The judge, so the next show could have completely different judges,

completely different perspective, and a completely different set of.

People who get in and also end up winning prizes if there's prizes to be won.

Yeah, I, you know, because I entered my work so I couldn't

see who scored the work, how George was the only one who had access to that.

But I could see how artwork fared in the show and it was really

interesting to me because some of my favorite artists, That are my personal

favorites, who I think are fantastic.

Did not score very well in this show.

And I thought that that was really interesting.

And I did share that with people on Instagram because I think it's

such an important thing because had I been a juror in, in this show,

they would've scored really well.

Whereas for this particular set of jurors, it just wasn't what appealed to them.

Right, and I've seen that too in other shows as well where,

you know, you've got super talented artists and they don't get in a show.

And I'm always surprised when I hear from artists who call me and talk to

me like, I didn't get in this show.

And you know it, it's surprising, but it's all very subjective and the art is so

beautiful and it's really worthwhile to.

Just keep working really hard at what you do and know that what you,

you are doing is your best work.

And if you are happy with your work, it will be seen.

Whether it is a piece that sells, whether it gets in a show, whether

it wins a show, eventually, you know, if it's what you are most proud

about and you're giving it your best effort, you know you will be rewarded.

And it just doesn't happen every time.

So it's very frustrating.

I'm sure it's very frustrating to judge because there's so much good work and if

there's a number cut off, thank goodness.

Like I couldn't see how the scores contemplated and which pieces that

I really, truly love did or didn't get in based on the fact that it was,

you know, a few of us that put in in our scores for the competition.

Yeah, for sure.

So with a group of jurors, it is interesting cuz George

and I have talked about that.

Um, Georgia went over at Western Gallery who hosted this show this year.

He and I talked about how when you have multiple jurors, sometimes.

If they have very differing perspectives, it's almost like the scores get brought

more to the center and so maybe had a particular juror been the only one,

something that would've just stolen the show actually was reduced in

its score because the other jurors scores were competing against it.

Exactly.

I mean, in their heart they could, one person may love.

Bright color and contemporary, more certain types of brush strokes or, you

know, certain mediums better than others.

And so they're gravitating towards that and their score will reflect that.

And if another juror was judging it, it'd be completely different

because they may be more traditional in the base, so, or you know,

drawn more towards something else.

So that it's really hard because.

I just really want artists to know that if keep doing it and also any

comments or good comments, whether it's constructive criticism or you know, we

all get a high when somebody tells us they love our work and what they love about

the work, but it's also nice to hear.

You know, what could I have done better for the next one?

I talked to artists all the time, and some of them who I think are, you

know, at the peak, they're, they're the top, top right in my opinion.

And.

They're still out trying to get help from other artists to better their craft.

Or they may be starting to dabble in some other medium or you know, so, or they

may feel like they lost their edge for a moment and how can they get that back?

So, really, It doesn't matter how good you are, you're always still

striving for that next level.

Yeah, for sure.

And you're always like, It's really good to be confident and to not lose

your confidence and to keep going, but to never get to the point where

you just feel entitled to something because you know, just because you've

gotten in a show before doesn't mean you're gonna get into it the next year.

And just because you are at the top of your game doesn't mean you're gonna

get into every show or every gallery.

That's just not how it works.

Or if your images get in and you've always sold out

and all of a sudden, You saw nothing.

Mm-hmm.

That happened to an artist that I met this year

and she just said, wow, I'm gonna have a piece of humble pie here.

Yeah.

This, I, now I, she goes, actually I'm learning from this because I

know how other artists feel now.

Yeah.

Because my pieces in the past have sold.

Yeah.

And so that, you know, was an eye-opener to me too,

that even people we may consider are.

Always selling everything.

Aren't always selling everything.

Yeah.

You know?

Yeah.

A lot of it's luck having the right collectors there when they're purchasing.

You know, how people feel about the economy.

I mean, for art, arts are the first ones that get hit.

If people start feeling iffy about it, the art is the first thing to take a hit.

And so yeah, there's just so many things that.

Go into that for you, what were some things that really, like pieces

that maybe really stuck out to you?

What were the types of, or what were things?

Well, and first I wanna talk about, you talked about how some

jurors may be more drawn to a certain style or a certain media.

And we do with, with all of our shows that we've done so far, we have done this.

And not that we would do it every time, cuz sometimes curatorial decisions

are important, but to try to minimize some of that, we do give our jurors

guidelines of, you may have a preference for traditional work, but you're judging

the contemporary work on its own merit.

Merit.

Correct.

Correct.

Yeah.

Because we believe that all of that work is really valid for our

history of our culture and for what, what we're trying to portray.

So we do that.

But was there a piece that really stuck out in your mind as one of the

pieces that you just really loved?

Well, it kind of went by category, and

I honestly, I can't name the piece off the top of my head, but

I, and it was a while back, but I do recall there were two or three pieces

that I thought, gosh, if I had to pick between these, I don't know if I could.

You know, so I guess they were my top three in what was submitted.

I think in hindsight, I would've broken it into categories, so I

would've liked to have picked my top photography, my top sculpture, you

know, kind of broken it out that way.

Oil so that each of those categories, Get the best scores that they can get.

Mm-hmm.

Instead of putting them all up against each other.

Mm-hmm.

I, I really think, you know, that would

be my advice for another show

mm-hmm.

Is to maybe categorize them so that they're all represented.

I mean, they were all represented, but it would've been a lot easier

to, for me to see all the sculpture.

Mm-hmm.

And not be judging sculpture against paintings.

Yeah.

And, and photography,

which that can be hard too, because sometimes you only have

one photographer or one sculptor, so it's kind of complex on the back end for

setting it up, but it can be really hard to score those things against each other.

When you're looking at what, what is your, your favorite or what really

stands out, do you remember like what one of your favorite pieces looked like?

Well, I remember in the photography category, in

my mind there were, and that's something, you know, we are starting

to really pay attention to more.

And as Art of the West, that's a fine art.

Mm-hmm.

A lot of people don't always, you know, put

that in the same category.

It's a gift to be able to,

mm-hmm.

Yeah, it's hard.

These images, it's not easy and it's very difficult.

So I remember there were a couple pieces that I just.

It kind of blew me away.

Like how did they capture that on film?

Mm-hmm.

That's incredible.

And I think for, that's a really hard question for me because there were

pieces that, you know, me personally, you know, as you look through, you go,

that's what I want, hanging on my wall,

Uhhuh.

And then you look and you go, that's a really great piece because.

I can see how difficult that was.

Mm-hmm.

And certain pieces, lighting is always really important

to me to get true, true lighting and, you know, anatomy of the animals and

people, their hands, how do they look?

You know, that type of thing.

Those are things I'm looking at, like, is that what it

really looks like or is it not?

If it's off, you know, if a nose is wrong on a horse, It kind of throws the

whole image off, even if it's well done.

Mm-hmm.

For sure.

Sure.

I can't narrow down into one piece.

Yeah.

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So you're really drawn to the way an artist portrays light, it sounds like.

And then anatomical accuracy is something that really sticks out to you.

Right.

And even in contemporary, where some of that may not be, you know, it may

not look like a, a photograph painting.

Mm-hmm.

But the anatomy still has to make sense.

Right.

Unless it's abstract.

Yeah.

That's a different thing.

But if, if they're still trying to, you know, create a piece.

That looks, I mean, you know, it's a buffalo, you know

what a buffalo looks like.

And yes, it's abstract, but it really has that wonderful feature.

Mm-hmm.

And ties in the color and the lighting and the way the animal's looking.

You know,

You can't use abstract or contemporary work as a way to get around.

Bad anatomy.

I mean, there are ways to, you know, like right, there are ways to like elongate.

I mean, the thing that's popping into my head, which is totally not Western,

but Salvador d, you know, those horses and the elephants with the really

long legs, and he did it on purpose.

And that's probably not gonna appeal to a lot of people listening, but he did

it on purpose in a way that made sense.

And actually, you know, Alexa Nell.

Lexi Nell, who's at this show right now.

At the cowgirl gathering, she has very abstract horses.

Right.

But she's done the shape well and the color well.

And you can't do that and just be like, ah, I'm just being a free for like,

no, the composition has to be there.

Right.

And the intent, it's really the intent.

If you can feel the intent of the artist.

Mm-hmm.

That's a good painting.

Right?

I mean, Dolly, he's got a, there's an intent Yeah.

To why he painted how he painted.

And you feel that whether you are drawn to contemporary, you,

you know, that's a good piece.

Mm-hmm.

And, you know his style.

Yeah.

The execution, the intent, and then the execution of the intent.

Yeah.

Correct.

And, and for that, that has to come out.

Mm-hmm.

It has to be translated onto that mm-hmm.

Into that media.

So if you're trying to do a painting that is, Very real to life.

It's the same thing.

Mm-hmm.

If you're not quite carrying it up, then you can, you can

read that uhhuh, you know?

Yeah.

And, and different mediums do different things, so.

It's a tough job judging.

It is.

It really is.

Yeah.

And so my advice is to keep doing what you're doing and like I said,

if you're happy with your work and you're feeling like it's really, I.

That's the, that's the piece and Yep.

It really turned out the way I wanted it to turn out.

Then you've got your piece.

Mm-hmm.

If, if something's in your gut is telling you it's

not quite there, or you're standing back and you're going, Hmm.

Are you reflected in a mirror and you're not seeing what you see

when you look at it while you're painting, then it might need tweaking.

Mm-hmm.

There might be something about it that, you know,

Because a judge will see that.

Yeah.

And whenever you do have that piece that you know is that piece, when it

doesn't get in, you know it's still good.

Mm-hmm.

There are absolutely.

Right.

And some, and then also, you know, it's interesting always on the

cause with cga A, we're always really focused on educating people.

And it is very interesting because you don't know what you don't

know when you don't know when.

And what I mean is like when I first started painting with my bright

colors and I would go to shows and maybe that when it felt very good

or I applied for women artists of the West when I was first starting.

And I didn't get in.

And at the time I remember being disappointed and thinking, why

didn't I get in And my work's good.

And now I look back at that and it was an important stage in my progress.

Like I had to go through that.

I did not deserve to get in, even though I thought I did at that moment.

And I applied to Women to the West three times before I got in.

Mm-hmm.

And you can't just.

The whenever, even when you're feeling confident about what you're doing,

there's still always room to hone your skills or to consider your composition.

There's always something to learn.

And so sometimes there's this like fine balance from the artist side of

like, when do you take that feedback?

You know?

And so sometimes when you have that piece and you know, it's

that piece, It doesn't matter.

Somebody could come up to you and be like, that is a piece of junk.

And you'd be like, okay, it's not for you.

And it doesn't bother you at all because you know you're confident that that

piece is exactly what you were going for.

Mm-hmm.

But there's other times whenever.

We don't get into something and, and there's constructive criticism and, and

CGA does try to often give feedback to artists when we can, like with signature

member and stuff, what the jury sees.

And it doesn't mean the work isn't good.

Mm-hmm.

Signature member is very hard to get into.

Mm-hmm.

It doesn't mean that the work isn't good, but maybe there's some fine tuning or

maybe you aren't there yet, maybe you still are more at that intermediate level.

And this is a really, really high level to get into.

And so, It's not like there's a hard, fast rule, but there is a

time for you to feel confident in your work no matter what people say.

And then there's a time also to be able to say, oh, I can improve this and I can take

this feedback and I can learn from it.

Is there anything that you think that we haven't talked

about from this side of things?

No, I, I think we've kind of.

In my opinion covered, at least how I approached it, other jurors, how

they've approached either when they're jurying a, a show where they're trying

to find the, the top, top pieces within the show once they have been

selected or just to get in a show.

I mean, I think, I think we've kind of covered that.

It's, it is very personal.

Yeah.

So know that.

That's why shows rotate who they have jurying.

Mm-hmm.

Because it really changes the outlook it does of the show.

Yeah, it changes it a lot.

I think the one thing I wanna wanna add to this

from the educational side, what's really important, there are two

things that are really important, and the first is that you don't stop.

Because we have seen artists get kind of like get so, uh, their self-esteem

is affected so much that they stop painting and that is, Tragic.

We've literally hired a life coach before to teach our members how

to deal with rejection because it is tragic when an artist stops

painting cuz they got a rejection.

I had a year, and this was like a couple years ago, where I'm still

really confident about my work and I did not get into a single thing.

And if I would've let that affect me, I would've had.

Most, most successful year I had.

And so you just, it's not personal.

And every artist you know who is big has had more rejections than

you can possibly imagine, right?

And the second thing that I think is really important is that you have got

to remain professional because when you don't get in and you like throw a fit

in public, or you start badmouthing the organization or the organizers or the

show or whatever it is, Ultimately it comes back looking really bad on you.

And it affects, you know, if uh, somebody has an art show and an artist,

you know, actually unprofessional, they're gonna remember that.

And it can affect, it just affects your reputation and you don't

want the reputation of that artist that's just super negative or always

complaining or, or, or entitled, you know, because again, you're not

gonna get into every single show.

Right.

And it's, and to the other artists who get in being gracious

to them, you know, because we're all a big community and, and just, you know,

being a, a positive member of, of our, of our C for c g a of our community, but

also like just a, as the community at large, you know, with the other artists

and it's such a small community and, and just remember that every single thing

that you do affects your reputation.

And how can you, Make sure that you're all, you're the

artist that people think of.

That artist is pro.

You want to be the pro artist.

Correct.

Right.

That's well said.

I agree.

Yeah.

So well, we're both saying thank you to each other.

Thanks for having me.

Yeah.

Well thank you for waiting to me at the show tomorrow.

Yeah, and, and a huge, huge thank you to Art

of the West Magazine, first of all, for putting together such a

wonderful magazine that has so many beautiful things we get to look at.

And, uh, such a great job with promoting artisan shows, but also for the support

of CGA and our shows and the support of any other art show that y'all do because

you do a lot for the art community and.

It's, it's important and, and I appreciate it personally.

Thank you.

It's a pleasure.

I hope you enjoyed today's episode with Lisa Staudohar talking about

what it's like to be a juror.

I hope this episode gave you more insight and leaves you with more

enthusiasm applying for your next show.

Remember, there are lots of ways to stay in touch with C G A.

One of the best ones is to follow us on Instagram at Cowgirl Artists of America.