"They like me, they really like me!"

I think it was Sally Field who went crazy when she won her first Oscar and in one of Hollywood's most honest moments, admitted how much recognition from her peers meant.   If we are truly honest with ourselves we all like to be recognized.  In art, I personally try to stay away from it.  I by know means mean that I don't like it or seek it out.  I just know for myself if I paint to "be recognized" by my peers or by some other entity my work will suffer.  I will be chasing some unattainable goal of being the next Picasso or something.  That is just my personality...I tend to be obsessive.

Having said that, being a painter is a pretty damn hard thing.  You struggle finding motifs, struggle with the actually painting itself, struggle finding buyers, struggle marketing yourself, and then you see all the other talented painters out there and you think, "man I wish I could paint like that!". 

So when I got an email a month ago or so about being recognized with a "Honorable Mention"
 I was ecstatic.  I had entered the Cumberland Society of Painters National Juried Show.  It included several painters that I highly admire and to have one of my paintings recognized amongst them meant a lot.  It meant that despite all the self doubt and frustration a painter can have, my work was making strides and making strides in life is really all one can hope for.