My First Art Exhibition

Last week I had the pleasure of presenting one of my recent oil paintings 'Italian Summer' at my local museum as part of their Open Art Exhibition!

I still can't believe I was so lucky to be a part of this. It was one of those moments where I thought 'maybe I could actually do this for real!'

After starting my art account in September 2025, I never expected to get to a place like this so fast! And by no means am I at peak confidence but I'm so proud of myself for taking the initial steps of getting my work out there in a world of rejection, hate and critique. It can be hard to showcase something so dear and special to you in the fear that the response you get is not what you expect. But I am so glad that I was brave enough to put my work out there.

I actually submitted 2 pieces of art with only 1 making the final cut - and that's okay! It was almost like a mini rejection and good for me to have some exposure therapy which actually didn't bother me at all. I'm not sure if that was because I was simply accepting of the fact or because the other painting made it and that numbed the rejection? I guess that's something we'll find out if I do this again and BOTH get rejected.

No but seriously, let this be your sign to just expose yourself (metaphorically lol). Whatever it is you are pursuing, you need to show it off. There's the modern saying of 'don't chase, attract' but I don't believe that to be true in the creative world. It is SO competitive out here and your best chance to get people to find you is to consistently show yourself off. Reach out to people, galleries, art shops. Post every day on social media (progress videos, timelapses, tutorials, carousel photos etc). Get your friends and family to share your posts. Paint in public. I'm not even saying you need to show yourself, but you HAVE to show your work. Once again, play the part and expose yourself!

Thanks for reading :)