WINNER WINNER PICTURE DINNER

365 Days of Thanksliving — Day 317

That’s an odd name for a title, wouldn’t you agree? Bear with me as I try to be a bit silly.

Last night, my friend Linda called me with breaking news: one of my photo submissions to the local juried art show earned an Honorable Mention, along with a cash prize. (Linda won, too!) Seriously, how fun is that? All I could think was, “Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner.” (Thanks to Guy Fieri and Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives for that one).

My art? Really? I won a prize? What a thrill. I’ve never won anything like that before. Honestly, I’m just tickled pink. Here’s the backstory:

When we moved to Comfrey in 2024, the congregation encouraged me to enter the Clay County (Iowa) Fair’s photo competition. Being new and not really grasping the prestige of it all, I passed on the opportunity. The following year, knowing I’d passed on it the first time around, even more people encouraged me to enter, bringing me entry sheets and flyers. (I have artwork covering my office walls, so a lot of folks have seen my art).

I gave the idea serious thought, but then I just never got around to it. Honestly, I was a bit intimidated by the notion, feeling insecure and thinking I’m no professional. Sure, it’s fun to hang my own work on my walls, but in a big setting like that? Anyway, for the second time, I chickened out.

A few weeks later, Linda came into my office and encouraged me, telling me about a local, juried art show and insisting I really should enter my work. She said people would love it. To me, that sounded much more doable. For whatever reason, I wasn’t intimidated by a smaller showing.

Going off Linda’s encouragement, I ordered two compositions from BayPhoto out in Cali, both printed on exhibit-ready, semi-gloss metal surfaces. The prints arrived on the very last day of submission, and with just an hour to spare, I rushed to Springfield to submit my work.

At the gallery’s opening night, I overheard numerous people gushing about how much they loved the prints. Lots of them commented on how different they were, being printed on metal and all. People truly loved them, but the judge? Not so much. But that was okay. It was a learning experience, and truly more for fun than anything else.

Because I had so much fun, I entered the juried art show again this year. Like last year, I submitted two landscape, astrophotography shots—new compositions from this summer and fall. This year I opted for traditional printing and framing, but with a slight twist. The prints are 12x12 squares, sitting beneath polar-white double-thick matting and gallery glass, blocked into 16x16 satin-white wooden frames—very non-traditional for astro shots. The judge must’ve liked them enough to give them an Honorable Mention (essentially 5th place).

Tonight, Danielle and I went to the gallery to see everyone’s work. It was fun to see my photographs hanging beside so many talented artists. There was this one painting that just blew me away... like, dude, whoa! In my mind, it should’ve won, but it didn’t earn even an honorable mention. Art truly is in the eye of the beholder.

Anywho, tonight I’m incredibly grateful for all my friends’ encouragement to enter these compositions, especially Linda. She, along with many others, have truly been great cheerleaders. Now, I can’t wait till next year. I’m already thinking of new compositions... something different, perhaps.