No need to finish that particular sentence. We’ve all heard the saying bandied around by well-meaning friends and relatives on those occasions when what at first appeared to be an end of the world, unmitigated disaster turned out to harbour just the tiniest glimmer of a positive outcome. Born from the very human, desperate need to make light of a bad situation and in the absence of any sage advice to share, the assurance that it has all been somehow worth the previous trauma comes across as a glib idiom indeed. A conversational filler, if you like. But these expressions exist for a reason and this one certainly proves its worth when it comes to the current ‘REJECTS’ exhibition on Portobello Road in West London, which I am inordinately proud to be part of this week.

As we all know, rejection is a part of life, and none more so I expect than for those in the creative industries where one person’s trash is another’s treasure (I’ll stop soon, I promise). Heaven knows I faced enough back in the days when I was writing novels. Truth is, it never actually loses its ability to sting but the wounds become evermore superficial with each knockback, sometimes to the point where you gear yourself up for the ‘no’, only to be floored by a ‘yes’. (There’s even a saying doing the rounds on some aspirational social media feeds at the moment that successful people have failed more times than failures ever have. And there is certainly some truth to that.) And so it was with REJECTS.

Having been foolish enough to allow myself to be mesmerised by yet another creative endeavour, I finally accepted that putting my work forward for selection in a few well-chosen artist opportunities is a non-negotiable if I’m to make any headway in achieving wider exposure for my work. And so I, along with roughly 18,000 others, took the plunge this year with The Royal Academy’s famous Summer Exhibition. A lofty ambition I admit, considering they only accept approximately 1500 works. But I figured, got to be in it to win it, right?

In the face of such fierce competition it came as no surprise then when this year I was not selected – but it didn’t mean it didn’t sting of course. But then along came the ‘REJECTS’ exhibition, with their metaphoric tweezers to remove the barb by accepting that very piece the RA rejected for their show this week (18-28 June at Art Friend Gallery, 82D Portobello Road, London W11 2QD). And having seen the company ‘Under Pressure: Corpora’ is keeping, I really couldn’t be prouder. There’s something about being considered a reject and being shown on the Portobello Road in Notting Hill, that ticks all the boxes for me and might be all the motivation I need to push through the RA pain barrier once again next year, if only to be in with another chance at being accepted into this wonderful club. If you’re in town, do make the effort to drop in and see some of the fantastic rejected works on display.

So you see, underneath the pessimistic exterior even I’m an optimist (and a dreadful romantic) at heart. There’s hope for us all.

P.S. Some of you will be seeing this for the first time as a subscriber – if so, welcome! I hope you’ll stay with me on this journey. If you have yet to subscribe and would like to have these posts delivered direct to your inbox along with news of new products and discounts, please do click the ‘Subscribe’ button which you should see on this page. As anyone will tell you, I’m not the most extroverted of artists so I promise you won’t be bombarded!