What a wonderful thing to be doing. A tiny follow-up from the world of literary journals, in case it's useful for artists as well — there was a study a bunch of years back showing a gender divide in trying again at a particular publication after being rejected once. Women who had a piece turned down by a journal tended to never submit there again, while men in similar circumstances tended to keep sending in new pieces, making men more likely to be published there in the long run. The moral for all was, don't make an initial rejection reason not to try again.
That's so interesting Maria! I've heard there are similar stats in job applications - that when women see they don't fulfill every single one of the criteria they're more likely to count themselves out and not even apply.
Hadn't heard that, but it doesn't surprise me. I think that the culture around how rigid the formal criteria are varies from country to country, so I won't make any wholesale recommendations here, but just to say that in a North American context, that's likely a potential loss. I didn't meet all of the listed criteria for a wonderful job I held for a long time; I wrote a cover letter explaining adjacent skills, and those turned out to be just what they needed.
Another one that I've seen written about/heard from journalists: that women experts are more likely to refer them to someone _more_ expert, and men less likely to do so, with the result that overall fewer women are quoted in their pieces. That was a while ago, so it may be less true now, but it might be relevant in this context so am passing it along.
Sam and all connected artists although I am not an artist (professional, amateur or aspiring) I enjoy having the privilege of viewing all including finger painting, toddler, youth, pet....you catch the drift...and thus I follow your website. I appreciate your great efforts to encourage all to share their work, and to never underestimate their abilities - I hope they accept your generous offer and support and risk rejection - it enables us to grow in so many ways! Thank you Sam for your attitude ... Christine
Hi Sam - apologies for a miss from the Raft this afternoon. I got home from a trip south last night (taking in the Cumbria Wool Gathering 😉) and today has seriously got away from me. I still can't get into the chat link even with today's one which gives a kind of a page not accessible error. Could you check your end as I am a paid subscriber? Or is it an Apple blip, perhaps?
Hi Linda, no worries - I hope you can make it along next week! I;ve had a look and yes you're a pad subscriber. I think it might be the app on your phone or tablet, as I just checked on my iphone and I can't see it on there either! I can see it on my laptop fine. It's probably because my iphone is really old (I mean REALLY old) and I can't install the latest version on the app. You could try deleting and reinstalling the app as it might let you download the more recent version if your Iphone or Ipad is a bit newer than mine?
As a writer, a piece of advice I value is to aim for 100 rejections a year, which gives me incentive to keep sending things out to literary magazines, I mean what's the worst that can happen? Admittedly the stakes would be higher if i were applying for a major award.
As a writer who has participated in the Iowa Writers Festival I too have been given the same advice - a 100 rejections - successful writers leading workshops and giving lectures - have brought rolls of rejections they have received over the years trusting that the visual impact will encourage us. I still struggle but I know my father was right when he reminded me ("nothing ventured nothing gained!") as women we often sabotage ourselves!
I got Rubin's book last week from Amazon. My wife immediately put it on her reading list. Recommend it to everyone! Men do dominate the art world. Unfairly. I own quite a lot of original art (really), and I have to admit, have only a few works by women. There was a Korean TV series years ago that ran for over 50 episodes., "Yi San" set in 1700s Joseon Dynasty Korea. The female lead was a woman who loved pictorial art and was extraordinarily talented from childhood. Because she was a woman however she could never hope to rise above the level of a male artist's assistant. She eventually fled to China where female artists were taken more seriously, later she returned to Korea and tried to change things, but the male dominated system was too entrenched..
And on the art: happy to see these images. Thought of the earlier ones recently while seeing an exhibition of extraordinary giant nature-based woodcuts by the Swiss painter Franz Gertsch. https://louisiana.dk/en/exhibition/franz-gertsch/
The images on the link don’t do justice to the nature woodcuts. In the wall text for that part of the exhibition, he is paraphrased: ”every incision in the wooden plate corresponds to a second of his life, as he put it.”
What a wonderful thing to be doing. A tiny follow-up from the world of literary journals, in case it's useful for artists as well — there was a study a bunch of years back showing a gender divide in trying again at a particular publication after being rejected once. Women who had a piece turned down by a journal tended to never submit there again, while men in similar circumstances tended to keep sending in new pieces, making men more likely to be published there in the long run. The moral for all was, don't make an initial rejection reason not to try again.
That's so interesting Maria! I've heard there are similar stats in job applications - that when women see they don't fulfill every single one of the criteria they're more likely to count themselves out and not even apply.
Hadn't heard that, but it doesn't surprise me. I think that the culture around how rigid the formal criteria are varies from country to country, so I won't make any wholesale recommendations here, but just to say that in a North American context, that's likely a potential loss. I didn't meet all of the listed criteria for a wonderful job I held for a long time; I wrote a cover letter explaining adjacent skills, and those turned out to be just what they needed.
Another one that I've seen written about/heard from journalists: that women experts are more likely to refer them to someone _more_ expert, and men less likely to do so, with the result that overall fewer women are quoted in their pieces. That was a while ago, so it may be less true now, but it might be relevant in this context so am passing it along.
Thank you, yes, all relevant!
Sam and all connected artists although I am not an artist (professional, amateur or aspiring) I enjoy having the privilege of viewing all including finger painting, toddler, youth, pet....you catch the drift...and thus I follow your website. I appreciate your great efforts to encourage all to share their work, and to never underestimate their abilities - I hope they accept your generous offer and support and risk rejection - it enables us to grow in so many ways! Thank you Sam for your attitude ... Christine
Thank you so much for your warm wishes Christine!
Hi Sam - apologies for a miss from the Raft this afternoon. I got home from a trip south last night (taking in the Cumbria Wool Gathering 😉) and today has seriously got away from me. I still can't get into the chat link even with today's one which gives a kind of a page not accessible error. Could you check your end as I am a paid subscriber? Or is it an Apple blip, perhaps?
Hi Linda, no worries - I hope you can make it along next week! I;ve had a look and yes you're a pad subscriber. I think it might be the app on your phone or tablet, as I just checked on my iphone and I can't see it on there either! I can see it on my laptop fine. It's probably because my iphone is really old (I mean REALLY old) and I can't install the latest version on the app. You could try deleting and reinstalling the app as it might let you download the more recent version if your Iphone or Ipad is a bit newer than mine?
As a writer, a piece of advice I value is to aim for 100 rejections a year, which gives me incentive to keep sending things out to literary magazines, I mean what's the worst that can happen? Admittedly the stakes would be higher if i were applying for a major award.
As a writer who has participated in the Iowa Writers Festival I too have been given the same advice - a 100 rejections - successful writers leading workshops and giving lectures - have brought rolls of rejections they have received over the years trusting that the visual impact will encourage us. I still struggle but I know my father was right when he reminded me ("nothing ventured nothing gained!") as women we often sabotage ourselves!
I got Rubin's book last week from Amazon. My wife immediately put it on her reading list. Recommend it to everyone! Men do dominate the art world. Unfairly. I own quite a lot of original art (really), and I have to admit, have only a few works by women. There was a Korean TV series years ago that ran for over 50 episodes., "Yi San" set in 1700s Joseon Dynasty Korea. The female lead was a woman who loved pictorial art and was extraordinarily talented from childhood. Because she was a woman however she could never hope to rise above the level of a male artist's assistant. She eventually fled to China where female artists were taken more seriously, later she returned to Korea and tried to change things, but the male dominated system was too entrenched..
And on the art: happy to see these images. Thought of the earlier ones recently while seeing an exhibition of extraordinary giant nature-based woodcuts by the Swiss painter Franz Gertsch. https://louisiana.dk/en/exhibition/franz-gertsch/
The images on the link don’t do justice to the nature woodcuts. In the wall text for that part of the exhibition, he is paraphrased: ”every incision in the wooden plate corresponds to a second of his life, as he put it.”