Bath Society of Artists: 105th Exhibition 2010

Last weekend I took my mosaic “Bella’s Secret” to the submission day for the Bath Society of Artists summer exhibition. I imagine it is a similar set up to the RA exhibition in London except there was not a mile long queue outside the doors!

I had taken the park and ride bus and had the heavy mosaic strapped to a sack truck. On reaching the Victoria Art Gallery I went in (no queue) to the first counter. The man had a quick look at it and checked my paper work, then took my work to the next counter in the next room where there was 4 people checking each piece of work for the required fixings and frames.  They seemed quite excited by the work, saying “wow” and “did you make this?”  and one man asked my daughter if she was Bella!

I don’t think this was an indication of whether the work would get in or not as I guessed they were not the judges! But it was nice that it appeared to generate some interest.

Last week the postcard dropped through the letterbox. It was the postcard to tell me whether my mosaic “Bella’s Secret” was accepted or rejected in the prestigious Bath Society of Artists summer exhibition.

On the back it was stamped in large red letters the word ” ACCEPTED” . I did a little dance and whooped for joy!

I was also a little surprised because it was a mosaic and quite often mosaic art has a hard time being accepted  in the fine art establishment.  Maybe if it isn’t purely decorative and has something to say , there is more chance of acceptance.

The beauty of mosaic is that it doesn’t need to be just craft or just fine art it can be both. I like to sit on both fences and dabble my feet in the waters of both traditions. I am never fully immersed in either tradition and sometimes if (for instance) I am making a patio floor or an outdoor mural I am in neither tradition, perhaps I am an “outsider” or a  “folk artist” or a “community artist”.

I like wearing many different hats, it is what makes mosaic art so interesting and diverse.

Anyway …….back to the tale….

Last night I went to the preview of the exhibition and couldn’t believe how many people were there and  how many works of art were hanging on the walls. It was hot and steamy like a jungle! There were so many people I couldn’t really see the art. I will have to go back at a quite time and have a closer look.

We just found a space to get this picture although the camera  started to steam up, so it is not a great shot!