My Artwork Was Too Good?
Anonymous Smitten Wildcard #454 · General
So there was this art show at my local gallery a few weeks ago. I had been working on these landscapes for months, painting every little detail with such care, trying to capture the light and colors just right. My best friend, Lisa, who's also an artist but in a totally different style, helped me prep everything. She even suggested that we should try a bit of guerrilla marketing by leaving some postcards at coffee shops around town. I figured it was worth a shot since my show wasn't getting much buzz otherwise. The day of the opening came, and I was so nervous, what if no one showed up? Or worse, what if people hated my work? I had spent so many hours staring at those paintings that I felt like every little flaw stood out to me now. But when people started arriving, things took a weird turn. Lisa was there too, taking photos of everyone admiring her own pieces (she paints these big abstracts with lots of movement). But then she walked over to my corner and started talking about them as if they were hers! She said things like 'Oh wow, this is amazing,' pointing at one of the landscapes while people nearby nodded in agreement. I froze. Was I imagining it? Or did Lisa actually say that about her own work pretending it was mine? A few others joined our little group, and as more compliments poured out for my paintings, I began to feel uneasy. The longer this went on, the less sure I became of what was happening. Eventually, someone suggested a wine-and-paint session at one of those studio places, using my work as inspiration! I just wanted to crawl under a rock. Sure, it's flattering that people seemed to appreciate my stuff, but something about how Lisa and others were acting made me feel like maybe they weren't being entirely genuine with their praise. I didn't call anyone out on it during the event; I felt too confused and embarrassed. But ever since then, every time I look at those paintings hanging in the gallery, I wonder, did people really mean all that? Or was there some kind of prank or misunderstanding going down without me even noticing?