Did you know that artists who unsuccessfully entered in previous years, have gone on to WIN the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize? Each year is a brand new art prize, a new jury panel, and a new chance to win! The 2021 Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize is now open for entries – so what are you waiting for?

Every year, our Editor-in-Chief Danijela Krha Purssey – who curates each issue of Beautiful Bizarre Magazine – sees every single artwork entered. This is a wonderful opportunity not only to be in the draw to win the Grand Prize of US$10,000 cash. You also get the chance to get on Danijela and the Beautiful Bizarre Magazine team’s radar!

Below, we have listed some of the previous entrants who have gone on to win in a later year. We got in touch to chat with each and find out more about why they re-entered to try again, and understand how they felt about the opportunity.

Kristine and Colin Poole

Previous years entries include:

Winning piece: 1st Prize Winner of the Yasha Young Projects Sculpture Award 2020

Kristine Poole: There are many reasons to re-enter contests, even after having not been selected previously. Having judged many art competitions ourselves, we know that numerous factors influence the final results. Usually, each year features a new jury which will, of course, result in different preferences and outcomes. Just because one year we may have been less successful doesn’t mean we won’t do better the next, so we enter contests frequently. 

Even if your work is not selected as a finalist, in entering a contest, you still gain exposure. It becomes a part of marketing and promoting what you do. By the time the jury process is complete, you’ll have several more people become familiar with your work who may not have been previously. We’ve been a part of various jury panels where there wasn’t the majority needed to have a particular entry selected for inclusion, but several of the judges were really moved by those pieces. That in itself can lead to opportunities down the road.

Competitions are a great way to keep you moving forward with your work, setting goals and continually challenging yourself to new and greater levels of technical and creative mastery. Contests are an opportunity to look at your work critically and assess what you think is the strongest. If you get in, it provides great exposure and promotion. Your work will be associated with the level of work of other artists in the competition.

In the case of the BB Art Prize specifically, we feel very strongly that Beautiful Bizarre Magazine contributes hugely to the global art community and we want to do what we can to encourage that drive and energy. Part of championing the work of Beautiful Bizarre is to participate in the Art Prize competition each year.

When we finally won, we were ecstatic! It felt like finally arriving on a very big stage after years of being the roadies. The first year we entered a collaborative sculpture and were selected as sculpture finalists. The second year, one of Colin’s sculptures was selected as a finalist. Third time’s the charm? *Wink*

We were, of course, absolutely gob-smacked to be selected as winners in the sculpture category. The Beautiful Bizarre global art community is populated with an enormous array of crazy talented artists from all provinces of the creative rainbow. To have our work selected for recognition in this group is an incredible honor. If we had quit entering after the first (or second) time, we would never have experienced this success.

Then, when we learned the details of all we’d won, we were blown away. From the beautiful hand blown glass award to the the social media advertising package and the feature interviews, the significant financial prize and the sponsor gifts, and, best of all, a year’s subscription to Beautiful Bizarre – seriously… we are still on cloud nine! 

Please do be sure to submit the best quality images of your work that you can provide: Make sure to have good lighting, use the best camera you have access to, be sure it’s in focus, color correct to match the original work, photograph 2D work straight on (not on an angle), don’t include random things in the background (try to avoid including the fireplace you’ve leaned your work up against in the photograph).

If you’re a sculptor, photograph your works on a neutral, non-distracting background (no wrinkled sheets or craft store fake fronds) or photograph it in an environment that genuinely showcases your work most effectively. These images will be used for publication, so it’s very important that they are high quality and the better your picture, the more likely the jury will be able to see how awesome your work is!

It’s hard not to take it personally when your work isn’t selected in a contest. Sometimes it’s just that on that day, someone else’s work happened to resonate more for that particular set of judges. You’ll never know when that day will be your day unless you keep trying.

Heidi Taillefer

Previous year’s entry:

Winning piece: 1st Prize Winner of the INPRNT Traditional Art Award 2020

Heidi: “I’m quite used to having to try several times to achieve something with my art. I think the style I have needs to grow on people and that can take time, so it takes repeated efforts. But I also thought that the magazine is perfect for my work, and I just needed to get the right imagery in in front of the right judges.

I decided to really invest in myself and so I actually submitted 10 images the second time around in the hopes that I would be selected in some capacity, it was a full on head first dive into the contest which I was really hopeful I had a chance with.

When I finally won? I was thrilled! But I still couldn’t quite believe that I won 1st prize for the Traditional Art Award. I had thought that it was quite a sizable investment to submit 10 images and I resigned myself to that being part of the expense of being an artist, so I was thrilled that it paid off in the end.

Persistence is so important in anything, I always think of the story of the guy crawling through the desert for ages, who gives up just a mile before he could finally reach a town over the horizon, and I don’t want to be that guy!

I really tried to submit works that were a good reflection of the majority of my work. I think my previous submission was of an image that had won me best in show in another show juried by Ron English (it was a “symmetrical” style) , also I was approached by a major American gallery who wanted to show that style, which was a bit different from my usual work. So I was counting on the previous popularity of that image, but then I learned that I would need to really put myself out there and give it all I had, without resting on my laurels. I usually think that I’m only as good as my last success but I let that slip, so it was like I needed to humble myself and really try as if I hadn’t had that previous success.

My advice is to keep trying, and not just submit one image, as I did the first time. Cast a wide net with the best of what you have. It is such a worthwhile investment which is necessary as an artist. And, the magazine is such a great magazine with such good recognition that it’s really worth the investment.

Art is like a diesel engine, in both production and in terms of career, it can start slow then speed up fast all of a sudden, so it’s important to keep adding fuel to that engine.

Mothmeister: 2019 entries

Winning entry: 3rd Prize Winner of iCanvas Photography Award 2020

Mothmeister: “As an artist you want to feed your hungry mind as you would feed your stomach. Hence, why we always had a weak spot for the inspiring platform of Beautiful Bizarre Magazine.

Many of our muses crossed our path through BBM, resulting in collaborations with artists from all over the world.

The first time we entered the Beautiful Bizarre Magazine Art Prize, we ended up as one of the finalists, which was a huge compliment knowing how many talented artists entered their work. There was no prize at that time, but the huge exposure we got was very valuable as well.

This is why we gave it another try, and with success this time as we won 3rd prize! That came not only with even more exposure, but also with an exhibition at Modern Eden Gallery in San Francisco and an in-depth interview with BBM. We didn’t really change our approach. Just worked our magic as an artist. You’re only as good as your last work. 

There’s no magic spell to unlock this door to Beautiful Bizarre Magazine. You have to touch people’s hearts to get in. And spark emotions…

No need to create a new artwork

Even better, you don’t need to submit a new artwork. We want to see what you feel is the best in your portfolio, whether this is an old or new piece. You are welcome to even enter the same work that you have submitted before – each year, entries are seen with fresh eyes. This is a brand new chance to win and share in many of the cash and prizes that we have available!

Remember there are four Award categories, so if you work in any style and any of these mediums you can enter: Traditional Art [pencil, charcoal, pastels, ink, oils, acrylic, watercolour, mixed media, etc.], Sculpture [all materials], Digital Art, and Photography [digital or analogue]. You can find more details on the FAQs and Entry Criteria pages of the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize website.

2021 Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize Award Categories

• RAYMAR Traditional Art Award
• INPRNT Photography Award
• iCanvas Digital Art Award
• Yasha Young Projects Sculpture Award

Entries close: Midnight 17 July 2021 [Sydney Australia Time]

Entry fee is US$40 to cover administrative costs. Enter the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize today!