Friday Foto Frenzy

Some of you may have known, (or not have known ... since the process happened so quickly), Doug's photos were selected to be in the show/gallery at CSUN. He submitted three works together as one piece, titled, Forgotten Landscapes. We thought it was great that his pics were selected by the jury to be in the art show. There were 370 art pieces submitted, and only 99 were selected for the show. (Doug's being one of them!) :) So the fam - Doug's fam and my mom - went down friday night for the opening night of the show! It was fun to see all the different pieces of art work, and most importantly, to see my hubby's work being displayed! :) While we were there, it was time for the award ceremony ... totally not expecting Doug's name to be called, but at the same time we thought, "hey, if his name is called, we better be there" - so, we all headed back into the gallery to see/hear the awards.

At the award ceremony, the big wigs gave a brief history of the show, (an annual event at CSUN since 1958), the process of the pieces being selected, (a jury selects the work based on their criteria - all types of art are accepted - paintings, graphics, ceramics, photos, etc.), and finally they explained the awards ... 4 honorable mentions, third place, second place, first place, and best of show. They also went on to explain that this would be the first year of a new award, titled, Dean's Purchase - where the Dean of the Art's Program will buy one piece, display it in the his office for one year, and then, after that, it will be displayed in other locations on the CSUN campus. So for the awards ...

... just to remind you ... Doug and I were just happy that his art work was selected to be in the show ... the two of us were thrilled with just that accomplishment ... this was first time Doug submitted work for a show, and the first time his work was selected ... we're already thinking that was great ... but then the awards come ... and God blesses us (and surprises us) with even more than we ever expected ...

Doug took the First Place Award!

WHAT?!? :)

Doug took FIRST Place! When they were reading the names, (from honoarable mention to the best of show), I was expecting to hear names that I did not know, so when they said Doug Adrian, in my head I thought, "hey I know that name ... that's my hubby!" so I cheered really loud! And Doug was completely shocked and speechless. But it doesn't end there ...

Doug also received the Dean's Purchase Award too!
(that means the school bought his photos!) :)

God really, truly blessed us with this! After the award ceremony, a number of people were waiting for him, to talk to him about his pics, to take his pic next to his pics, to interview him, etc. It was truly an amazing night ... I just stood back and watched him talk to all the fancy people in suits! :) and thought in my head, that's my hubby everyone wants to talk to, thank You God for this small victory and shock to us all! ;)

After the last few months, being discouraged with his work situation, the long haul for school, not knowing if this is really the path God wants us to take, etc. ... after Friday night, we were encouraged and feel like this is truly the path God wants us on (for the meantime, anyway). ;) Doug could not have won those awards on his own, it was God Who directed him to take those pics, to submit them, etc. God deserves all the glory in this excitement in our lives! ;)

Doug is currently working on getting his pics together for the Master's program. The critique is Friday, the 9th (I believe), so he has to select his work, and get it down to the printers all by Tuesday. We are thoroughly excited, and we look forward to seeing how God uses this event in our lives.

I just wanted to share our joy with you. :)

(Our deepest apologies to any one that feels left out because you we're invited to the opening night of his first gallery ... but we really didn't think it was a big deal (until his name was called.) :) We do have pics ... on his mom's phone ... so we'll need one of our techy friends to help us download them to the computer. I know, I know ... he's a photographer at an event, with no camera ... craziness ... but, hey, at least there are now phones with cameras in them! ;)