Judith Defends Her "Pride and Prejudice" Cover

So here I am on the other side! To keep this note concise, I’ll make a list (since we all know I could talk forever about my work!)

1) I had a great time. Even the biggest cynics wouldn’t begrudge an ole badass a good time now would they?

2) I had read all of Jane Austen, twice, before going on the show. Pride and Prejudice is high on my list of favorite literature. Just another psychic phenomenon, I mean, coincidence.

3) My not liking the challenge to do a book cover doesn't mean I didn't knock myself out for 12 hours. Contrary to "throwing in the towel," I was racing around in trial and error as furiously as anyone. And after not liking what I'd done (I’m not that crazy!) I dared to wipe it all out at midnight! (Whoops, maybe I am?) But, like after a knock down, before the bell rings, I knew I had exactly one hour to work in the morning! After a hysterical flurry of after-hour-art-play-thinking at the kitchen table, (you had to be there) I managed to channel Jane Austen and finish my piece to the second. My "talking-head" dissing the challenge was not done lounging on the couch snubbing my nose. SO, I may have been less a believer in their game at that point, but my response was more to turn the tables than to leave the table.

4) The whole Jane-Austen-wrote-backwards story: (do you know that one yet?) OY, ok: AFTER I GOT SENT HOME I read a New York Times article that Austen actually wrote backwards in letters to her niece. To me this isn’t just an interesting anecdote, nor does it imply that I’m psychic (though I do read those whacky Tarot Cards). All I do know is that it happened and it’s so close to what I really believe can happen in the "fine art" making zone. It is something like leaving our habitual levels of consciousness...blah blah. And if it weren’t for that possibility, or my faith in it, I surely would not devote my entire life to it! Now that doesn’t make the piece good, but it does affirm the mystery of art making for me. Whereas the Bravo show may have its own honorable mission to DE-mystify art for the public, I, for one, am actually in it FOR the mystery.

5) As for being caricatured as "crazy," if it’s based on the fact that I live an "insanely" prioritized and goal-oriented life, all focused on my art making, (and I must add, reaping rewards for my efforts) then, well, so be it! In that one clip I was telling Miles we were gonna butt heads because we’re both intense, but alas, we don’t both know how to posture for the camera. Go Miles!

6) Let me close with an interesting quote by Ken Johnson, an art critic for the New York Times, which he posted on his Facebook page the morning after my exit: "What should have happened is this: the judges should have said, 'This was a trick challenge: we wanted to separate out who is a real artist from those who are really designers or illustrators.' By refusing to accept the premise of the assignment, by insisting on her own integrity AS AN ARTIST, Judith wins! Hah! Everyone else go home. Game over."