In the judging class I took at national seminar in September I learned a lot of things. Some of the things I learned were actually things I relearned and had known for a long time. But those things bear repeating.
In the judging class there were sixteen of us. There were three or four candidates for the judging program. There were two of us who were certified teachers and taking classes for enrichment (part of our mandate as nationally certified teachers). And the rest were a mixture of people just checking out the judging program to see if that is the way they wanted to go, and people who wanted to know what the judges know in order to increase their chances at being juried into shows and winning ribbons. In fact the majority of the students were there to learn the magic spell to win over judges.
It's a very clever strategy to take the judging class and to learn the magic spell. If you all creep closer, I will tell you the secret that may eventually win over the judges. That's it--closer still. This is a very secret big secret. I learned this secret from years of associating with judges and listening to their shop talk. I learned by torturing my friend Carole Rinard (who is a very big judge indeed) until she finally told me.
Okay, I am kidding there is no big secret and I did torture Carole by boring her to tears, but she didn't cave in. I do have a couple of hints however.
"Derwentwater"
A detail of the second-place winner in the embroidery division.
Hand-dyed fabric with the unique Hardanger lace on the inside.
One year I entered two pieces in the embroidery division of the Albuquerque Fiber Art Fiesta. One was a piece of blackwork and one was Hardanger. Because the way the judging categories were set up, those two pieces competed against one another in original counted work. I was very pleased to see that the blackwork had won a first and the Hardanger had taken the second. And the judge's comment about the Hardanger? She said that the Hardanger may have won the first, but there was a cat hair on it. Well, I just had to laugh. Jasmine the cat had struck again. The moral to this story? Keep your work clean and pristine.
I have judged in county fairs and for the Society or Creative Anachronism--fairly low level stuff where my one judging talent helps out--I can help people will poor embroidery skills. If a piece comes in dirty, smelly, scuffed. needing ironing, a judge won't look at it.
Watch out for your framing. If the frame is crooked to the piece, it totally brings down the scores because it is unattractive, no matter how magnificent the stitching is. If the frame comes too close to the subject or leaves too much space around the piece, this is a no-no. If the frame is too gaudy and overwhelms the artwork, this is not good at all. In fact a tendency among stitchers who have their work framed by professional framers is that the frame is overpowering. Framers make their livelihood selling frames and mats, and the labor that goes into framing and matting. I personally do all my own framing and so am responsible for the whole piece--not just the goodies in the center.
"Arabesque"
A detail of the first-place winner in the embroidery division.
All the blackwork patterns in this were designed from Arabic calligraphy.
From the collection of Albie Peterson Merrill.
Give the judges something new to look at. If you are in a show with a commercial piece that you stitched your fingers to the bone for and there are three other identical pieces (except for the framing of course), a judge is apt to overlook them all. But the piece that is different may get a second gander. This is also true of original work. If your original work looks like a commercial piece, it may be overlooked. But if it has a life of its own, if it is fresh and an eye-catcher, it has a very good chance. Put your personality in your work!
Make sure your work fits into the theme of the show. If the show is about orchids, don't put in a daisy. Read the instructions to the show carefully to see exactly what is required. The judges of the show will have been instructed to reject any work not following the theme. No matter how magnificent your work, it will not be accepted. On the other hand if you can do something unique within the boundaries of the show, by all means do it.
What if you have done all of the above and you still do not get into shows. Then we are back to basics. Remember way back when I first started doing this blog in July? I talked about the way to get to Carnegie Hall. That may be applicable here. Practice, practice, practice. Work hard to hone your skills and get everything right. Ask a judge (look them up on the EGA website for one in your area) to look at your work and give her opinion. For a few dollars you might gain some insight as to what you need to do to improve. Also take more classes in creativity and originality. Take classes outside your area of expertise in embroidery to broaden your personal scope.
The best thing you can do for me is to totally ignore this advice, please. I really don't need anymore competition who knows the magic charm for getting into shows. So please, please ignore it.
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