Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
This week, I received my first rejection from a major art exhibition — and discovered I wasn't nearly as prepared for it as I thought.
Since deciding to step away from teaching and focus fully on my life as a professional artist, I've promised myself that I will stop hiding my work. That means entering exhibitions and art competitions, aiming higher than feels comfortable, and inevitably facing rejection along the way.
But knowing that intellectually and experiencing it are two very different things.
In this artist diary, I share my immediate reaction to being rejected from the Women in Art Prize, the doubts it brought up about my paintings and my new direction, and what happened when I went back into the studio afterwards.
I also return to something Steve Martin once said: “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” Rather than spending my energy worrying about whether other people approve of my work, what would happen if I put that energy into becoming a better artist?
So I'm back in the studio — painting, drawing, experimenting with old family photographs, exploring memory and the past, and even making a rather joyful little painting of my childhood dog.
I'm beginning to realise that rejection isn't evidence that I'm on the wrong path. If I stop being rejected, it probably means I've stopped taking risks.
This is an honest look at rejection, self-doubt and resilience in the life of a working artist — and at what happens when you decide to keep going anyway.
Join my weekly artist's newsletter at louisefletcherart.com/newsletter-artists.
You can also find me:
On Facebook at facebook.com/louisefletcherart
On Instagram at instagram.com/louisefletcher_art
And on my podcast at: louisefletcherart.com/for-artists/podcast
This week, I received my first rejection from a major art exhibition — and discovered I wasn't nearly as prepared for it as I thought.
Since deciding to step away from teaching and focus fully on my life as a professional artist, I've promised myself that I will stop hiding my work. That means entering exhibitions and art competitions, aiming higher than feels comfortable, and inevitably facing rejection along the way.
But knowing that intellectually and experiencing it are two very different things.
In this artist diary, I share my immediate reaction to being rejected from the Women in Art Prize, the doubts it brought up about my paintings and my new direction, and what happened when I went back into the studio afterwards.
I also return to something Steve Martin once said: “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” Rather than spending my energy worrying about whether other people approve of my work, what would happen if I put that energy into becoming a better artist?
So I'm back in the studio — painting, drawing, experimenting with old family photographs, exploring memory and the past, and even making a rather joyful little painting of my childhood dog.
I'm beginning to realise that rejection isn't evidence that I'm on the wrong path. If I stop being rejected, it probably means I've stopped taking risks.
This is an honest look at rejection, self-doubt and resilience in the life of a working artist — and at what happens when you decide to keep going anyway.
Join my weekly artist's newsletter at louisefletcherart.com/newsletter-artists.
You can also find me:
On Facebook at facebook.com/louisefletcherart
On Instagram at instagram.com/louisefletcher_art
And on my podcast at: louisefletcherart.com/for-artists/podcast
