Back in Black

To quote the classic AC/DC:
Back in black
I hit the sack
I've been too long
I'm glad to be back  
Yes I'm, let loose
From the noose
That's kept me hanging about
I keep looking at the sky
'Cause it's gettin' me high  
Forget the herse 'cause 
I'll never die
I got nine lives
Cat's eyes
Usin' every one of them and running wild"

Ok, that might not exactly describe me or what I've been up to, but I am back in Portland.  I've had 6.5 weeks of adventure.  And as the German expat I met on the dock told me, sometimes adventure is difficult.  But totally worth it.

But now I'm back in the "reality" of unemployment ( year one, month 1, day 29) and I really need to make some real life decisions.  {side note: I can NOT believe how fast time has flown by!}

And before you ask, yes, I have been applying for jobs in my field, yes, I did apply for jobs while I was away.  Yes I did apply for an awesome job this morning.  The autoresponse I recieved said this:

**We regret that due to the high volume of applications we receive, we currently only contact applicants who are highly qualified and most closely match our job requirements. Again, thank you for submitting your application.**

 

While away I taught English as a second language for part of my trip.  I absolutely loved it.  Prior to that I did indeed apply for the Peace Corp to teach English, but that application process takes at least 1 year.  That also would not really solve the problem of this house.   This house has become a burden.  Every month I make my mortgage payment I wonder if it should be the last month.  I can't sell it, as the value has dropped 50K+ below what I owe.  I can't rent the entire house to cover the monthly payment.  So I've moved into the garage and have rented out the two bedrooms.  I share the garage with one of my roommates bike repair shop, the washer, dryer, furnace, freezer, hot water tank and kitty littler boxes.  It's interesting.  :) 

 

Where am I going with this?  I wish I knew! I guess I just wanted to say hello and to let you know I did not get eaten by a puma while away.  Tomorrow and Sunday I will be selling prints at BikeCraft and need to get ready!  

 

I leave you with this photo from my trip! 

Yes, I was trying to pry this Spider Monkey off of my, while it was biting. No broken skin thank the kitties!

Rejection.

How do you handle rejection?  Is personal rejection different than professional rejection? If so do you react differently?
In my case it's artistic rejection, and I do not like it. Today I received my very nicely written rejection email from The American Academy in Rome.  It went something like this:
Dear Serena Van Vranken,

Thank you for your application for a Rome Prize fellowship. When the jury met recently, they carefully considered your application materials. I am writing to inform you, on behalf of the American Academy in Rome, that the jury did not recommend you for a fellowship in Visual Arts.

Academy juries change every year, and a previous application in no way compromises your chances of winning a future fellowship. We hope that you will consider applying again, as many Rome Prize Fellows have applied more than once before being selected.


I guess I was more delusional than I imagined, as I am really disappointed. And was secretly putting off making some decisions until I heard from them. Now what? 


The AAR gets hundreds of applicants each year.  most of the winners are professors or are pretty far along in their careers but I was still hoping. It was a sort of tough application - you must have all the usual stuff plus an essay outlining your project.  Basically my project was painting the modern Roman in ancient Rome.  I'm intrigued by how old the city is and how modern man functions with in it.  I was excited to paint ancient architecture with the everyday modern men and woman interacting with it. Guess I'll start thinking about a stronger concept for a project!  


I haven't talked too much about my oil painting on this blog. Some of you may not even know I'm an oil painter.  Here are the photos I sent for the application process.  http://serena-van-vranken.artistwebsites.com/
I hope you'll take a moment to check them out!  I apologize that I'm not able to post any photos from the computer I'm working on at this time.

Thanks for listening to me whine.  Sweet dreams.

ps. It occurs to me, now that I am posting this publicly, that for me embarrassment follows rejection. But I'm sharing it anyway.  As this is what I've promised this blog is about.  Trials and tribulations.