Cancelled opportunities, persistence and the unseen road of an artist
Recently I received the news that an exhibition I had been due to take part in later this year had been cancelled.
The decision was completely understandable. Sometimes things happen behind the scenes that make continuing impossible, and organisers have to make difficult choices.
But even when the reasons make sense, it doesn’t completely remove the feeling of disappointment — a feeling that sits at the heart of rejection as an artist.
As artists, we spend so much of our time working in isolation — painting, refining ideas, trying to move things forward — that opportunities to show work publicly become important markers along the way. So when one of those opportunities disappears, even for valid reasons, it can feel like the ground shifts slightly beneath your feet.
It also serves as a quiet reminder of something every artist eventually learns:
The road is rarely clear.
The Invisible Road
One of the strangest aspects of pursuing a life in art is that there is no visible path.
There’s no clear ladder to climb. No guaranteed sequence of steps that lead from one stage of a career to the next.
Instead, the journey often feels uncertain.
Applications go unanswered.
Opportunities fall through.
Exhibitions are cancelled.
Plans change without warning.
From the outside, the art world can appear exciting and full of momentum. And sometimes it is.
But beneath that surface sits a quieter reality.
Rejection as an artist isn’t the exception — it’s part of the process.
Learning to Live With Rejection
Every artist experiences rejection in some form — it’s an unavoidable part of rejection as an artist.
It might come as a declined exhibition proposal, an unsuccessful application, or simply silence after putting work out into the world.
It’s rarely personal, even though it can feel that way.
More often than not, decisions are shaped by factors far beyond the work itself — space, timing, curatorial direction, or circumstances you’ll never even see.
Understanding that doesn’t remove the disappointment, but it does help place it.
Because the real shift isn’t in avoiding rejection.
It’s in continuing despite it.
The Work Continues
One of the few things an artist can truly control is the work itself.
The studio remains.
The canvas remains.
The next painting still waits to be made.
When something external falls away — an exhibition, an opportunity, a plan — the work becomes the constant.
For me, that means returning to the studio and continuing to explore the space between abstraction and portraiture, searching for that moment where a face begins to emerge through colour and structure.
That process doesn’t depend on external validation.
And in many ways, it’s the thing that keeps everything else moving.
Luck Needs to See You Working
A friend once said something to me that has stayed ever since:
“Luck needs to see you working.”
At first, it sounded almost throwaway. But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense.
Opportunities rarely appear when we’re waiting for them.
They tend to appear while we’re already moving — painting, experimenting, improving, continuing.
In that sense, persistence isn’t about forcing outcomes.
It’s about staying in motion long enough for something to find you.
The Other Side of Uncertainty
The uncertainty of this path brings setbacks.
But it also brings something else.
Possibility.
Because when nothing is fixed, nothing is closed either.
A cancelled exhibition might lead to a different opportunity.
An unexpected conversation might open a new door.
A painting that struggles at first might become something stronger than expected.
The same uncertainty that creates frustration also creates space.
And that space matters.
Continuing Anyway
In the end, perhaps the most important thing is simply to continue.
Continue painting.
Continue exploring.
Continue developing the work.
For me, that means returning — again and again — to the quiet challenge of building abstract portraits, searching for the balance between structure and emotion.
That moment where something begins to resolve.
Some days it feels clear.
Other days it doesn’t.
But either way, the work continues.
Because if the road ahead can’t be seen, the only real option is to keep walking it.
And keep painting.
Explore the Work
If you’d like to see how these ideas translate into finished pieces, you can explore my latest paintings here.
