HI everyone….Sorry but today I’m venting and venting…….so to begin….. I joined this women’s group. It’s not the first I’ve ever Joined. The last one was to promote entrepreneurship between women and network. That was an absolute blah……what I saw instead were women who said they would meet with you so you can share about your business but the meetings either never happened or you never got any business. There were also a lot of cliques and it was like a social butterfly club, so of course I stopped going.

This second women’s association is about promoting art. Sounded great and I felt I could learn from these more experienced ladies and the association will help market my art. Then eventually with experience built I would become a more involved member and play my part….so I took part in 3 events. The first was ….what can I say….nothing came out of that event nor the second. Met a few nice women, but no sales, didn’t really learn anything and all I realised is that they were a bit disorganised. But I gave it another chance.

They recently had an art exhibition and indicated that you can submit 3-4 pieces and the committee would approve the pieces that would be shown and it cost $300.00 to defer expenses. I submitted 4 pieces. So you can understand my disappointment when, after inviting 3 friends, we attended to find that only one of my pieces was up and it was the smallest piece I submitted. Now don’t get me wrong…don’t think.…Are you jealous?…..like a friend commented to me when I complained about it.

Some friend……seems that friend doesn’t really know me…..No….what got my goat is why ask us to submit 3-4 pieces and only one is up when you see almost everyone else has 2 and 3 pieces up. Wouldn’t it have been fairer to at least put up 2 pieces for everyone and not do 3 for some? This really upset me. It was disappointing and I’m sorry….it stinks of unfairness. One artist whose piece was below mine (she only got one put up as well) indicated she too was disappointed that only one of her pieces was featured but she is just grateful to be in the exhibition.

GRATEFUL!!!!!………….NOOOOOOO!!!! I’m not grateful. If you had told me that I was only getting one piece up at a cost of $300 (to defer expenses) then I would have said no thanks, I have a better chance of getting something sold when I pay the same amount for a table in a Fair or Upmarket. (They kinda owe me $2000). But as I say in life….you live and you learn. I’m not one to continue doing something that gives me no value or enjoyment. I tried it and it doesn’t work for me. I seek out, work hard to find or make my own opportunities. This association will work for some not for me.….so… NEXT!!??…….Lol

Do women really help each other? I have to wonder sometimes. This is why…

woman in the red hat-UNFINISHED.jpg — Woman in the Red Hat

The Beauty of a woman in a hat. Art is everything.

I’m not mean so I won’t mention names or place pictures so anyone can Identify who or what or where I’m talking about. That’s not the point of my vent. The point is I find I continuously encounter women’s groups and instead of helping each other the women are competitive, cliquey, and sometimes petty. We can be evil as well. Not all women’s groups are like that but I’m still to encounter one where it operates such that all members feel like they’ve come home…..if you know what I mean.. Where there is a strong allegiance to helping each other.

Maybe helping people has to happen one person at a time versus in groups because like a classroom there are some who get lost in the crowd, get forgotten, get ignored, get left out and its a difficult thing to know how each person is feeling when activities or events are occurring. Being understanding and thoughtful is a lot of work when you have to consider the feelings of 20 or more people in the club. So maybe I’ll stop joining these associations unless there is a balance of men and women. Maybe that will be different.

Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!. I feel much better. Although my friends will be surprised that I haven’t gotten over this issue yet, so much so that I had to write about it. It really, really pissed me off, but I’m moving on and like I said I’m working at building my……no I don’t want to use that word….braaand….ugh…..that word is so overused, we need to get another one. Let me rephrase…I am working at building my image/design/value/trademark…..pick whichever floats your boat….to get my artwork more visible. let’s see how that goes.

So bye for now, check you next week. Stay safe, be good, Love you guys. OH Just ending with a piece I just finished. Saw a pic somewhere and changed it up a bit.