Okay, so 200 plus works did not all make the cut for the 35-40 slots available, myself included. The reality of the selective process. Somedays we win, somedays we even have buyers, yes!

Personally I was awed by the response to the New River Art show. What a wealth of talent we have in our community. I am proud to be a part of it. There are so many creative voices that need to be heard and seen. We are all united in our passion to make art.

Jennifer Lovejoy

Having assisted some 'big name' jurors and having done the job myself, I know judging a show is not what some might think.

Works can be declined for numerous reasons: some are practical (like space needed,) some are regrettable (like a poor quality photo,) and some are personal (choosing on two different days can yield two different lists - so jurors go through entries many times over as many days as they can.

Leslye Bloom, PhD ATC

Although I do not typically photograph people, I fell in love with the British couple in 'Garden Gothic' and apparently others have as well. The juror for the 2007 Roanoke City selected it as one of 28 pieces out of 206 entries.

One of 26 works chosen by two jurors from a field of 96, it has just won 'Best in Show - at the 2007 Seasons of Color Juried Exhibition, Lewisburg,WV. So, jurying is all a matter of taste.

Susan V. Lockwood

This is one of my favorite paintings – a combination of subject matter from my travels in the wine country of Germany and France, and a fun mixture of media. It turned out pretty well, I thought, and so I sent slides or digital images of it around to some local shows.

It wasn’t chosen, not for any show this year. It was “reee-jected”. I put it away for a while. I have since pulled it out and evaluated it. I listed things that the judges might not have liked. I kept returning to the fact that I still like it. I remember the story told to me years ago by a more experienced artist. She said that one year she had forgotten to prepare her entry for the Virginia Watercolor Society until it was too late to take slides of new work. She remembered the slide of the painting she’d entered the year before – which had been rejected – took it, filled out the entry form and sent it in. The juror of that show accepted the painting! It was not just accepted, but given a prize! So, this friend advised, never take a judge’s rejection of your painting to be the final word.

So, next year, I’ll re-evaluate this painting when I’m deciding what to enter in a show. Is it still one of my best? If I think so, you may yet see it in a show, and it may even be chosen for an award!

Lee Penny Baker

In fact, such a salon is a regular adjunct of the Senior Show at McDaniel College. See her additional comments, to the right.