[Woodcarver] Judging shows.

[Ivan Whillock Studio]

> love your comments.... soo motivational. lets get creative and be
original.
> many thanks
>
> maricha
I joke that, when Moses came down from the mountain, the tablets he brought
with him had pretty limited space,  enough room for only ten items.
Therefore, the commandments could only cover the really serious stuff.
There was no
mention of wood carving in any one of them.

Competitions can be fun and very instructional, not to set some universal
standard, but simply to see what judges (and your fellow carvers) think of
your work.  Going in, we know that the judges are not infallible
but we respect their opinions because  we selected them.  We also
know that a different judge will have different tastes, but that's the
nature of art.  Not everybody grooves on the same things.  All together, in
the process of using a variety of judges through various shows, most styles
of carving will have their day.

If your work did not win a blue ribbon, it doesn't mean that you produce
junk, it simply means that on that particular day the judge liked something
else better. (When he orders a meal in a restaurant, he can't choose every
item, but  that doesn't mean everything else on the menu is garbage.)  Maybe
not winning is even a good sign:  many of history's greatest artists
couldn't even get their work accepted in some of the major competitions of
their time.

Loosen it up, have fun!  For kicks, recruit  a jury of non-carvers and see
how members of the general public would rate the carvings.  That's who
you're selling to! Give the ribbons to a group of kids and see what they
would pin them on and why.  Their tastes are uncluttered with adult
expectations. Make the spouses of the carvers into judges for one show--see
what they think--don't let them pick their spouse's work--if they can
recognize it.  We know it's subjective, so go with it!

Reading through some judging criteria, it sounds like we're judging good
furniture instead of art.  Tight joints, smooth finish, clean cuts.  When I
try to apply similar criteria to the sister arts, I'm judging a painting on
whether the entire canvas is covered, whether there are any brush hairs
clinging to the surface, how neatly the paint has been applied, and whether
it has the proper "finish."  My instincts tell me that's not the measure of
great art!

Emil Janel had broken, choppy cuts, gaps in the paint, and often even one
side of
the face was carved in deeper than the other.  But his carvings were
expressive, ALIVE!  Did he make clean cuts? Nah. Smooth finish? Nope. Neat
paint job?  No way.  Tight laminations?  Are you kidding?

Okay, I'm not saying that carvings should NOT have clean cuts, etc.  They
can if that's what the carver is after (some great paintings are really well
crafted, too), but that ain't the criteria that makes it "art!"

 Ivan Whillock Studio
122 NE 1st Avenue
Faribault, MN 55021
Visit my website at
 http://www.whillock.com
Visit my Picturetrail album at
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?username=ivancarve