It is always, always scary to “put yourself out there” as a creative. Our reaction to art is so incredibly personal and biased. A single artwork can be adored, loathed and totally overlooked by various people (and this can be said of any form of art -- fine art, performance art, poetry, music...). To me, it helps to remember that, even though I pour my heart and soul into my work, my work is not me. Critique of my work is not critique of me, and it is not a reflection of my worth (as an artist OR as a human being).
Putting yourself out there doesn’t always come with immediate applause — often, it comes with silence, rejection, or self-doubt. But each act of courage lays another stepping stone on our journey. Every time you dare to share your work, you build resilience, deepen your craft and carve a path forward. Recognition, when it comes, is just a momentary sparkle compared to the lasting inner-change that bravery brings.
So whether you're standing at the very beginning or somewhere further along, take the chance. Send in the application. Enter the competition. Hang the painting. Post the story. If you don't, it's a certainty that nothing will ever come of it, right?
Put yourself out there as a challenge to do something difficult; to push yourself to be brave; to take a leap of faith. Perhaps faith in yourself, above all else…
I put myself out there, and my frolicking leopards did amazing things: It earned a Highly Commended in the recent Watermedia International 2025, hosted by Watercolour Art SA, and also made it to the Top 5 finalists in the Africa Wildlife Artist of the Year competition, hosted by Fine Art Gallery in Namibia.
I'm blown away. Humbled. Happy. If I didn't scrape together the courage to put myself out there (and believe me -- it took years of scraping together, and years of overlooked artworks), things would be very different today... More importantly, I would be very different.
The vote for the Public Choice Award in the Africa Wildlife Artist of the Year is now OPEN! Show your support to conservation (this exhibition has already raised over N$80 000 for the Pangolin Conservation and Research Foundation!) and the arts, and go vote for your favourite artist (brave souls that PUT THEMSELVES OUT THERE) -- you could win some serious cash!!
See more of my photo-realistic wildlife art in my online shop:
