I was pleased to receive this morning an email stating that I had won 6th Place in the Contemporary Art Gallery Online Figurative Painting Competition for my painting "Local Plumbers".   I had entered this competition some time ago and didn't really remember when the winners would be announced.  The award doesn't carry any monetary value, but does include a certificate I printed out.  The real value in the award is that I can now display and attempt to sell up to 10 of my paintings in their online art gallery.  There's a lot of up front data I need to compile before that happens, so I'm beginning to work on that.  As hard as it is to get your artwork out there in front of the public, I am thankful for any way I can do that.