Last week I wrote about challenges and the sense of accomplishment when you complete one. This past spring I challenged myself to submit a few of my carvings to the Vesterheim National Norwegian-American Folk Art Exhibition in Decorah, Iowa.
Even though I'd never submitted any of my works for exhibition or competitions before, I thought it would be fun to participate in this one because of my Norwegian heritage. The submissions were going to be judged with the possibility of earning ribbons, so I was curious to see what criteria would be focused on by the judges. I hadn't carved any of my submissions with the intent
of having them judged.
Recordings of the judges comments were made available after the results were announced which helped in understanding the different judges' comments. Based on the comments I received my impression was this year's judges seemed to place more emphasis on technical, error-free carving than the artistry, but the comments were still positive, and constructive.
Given the technical emphasis, it wasn't too surprising that the carving where I focused the most on the technical details had the best reviews out of my submissions. It ended up receiving a white ribbon (Blue ribbons were the highest, Red, and then White), while another submission received an honorable mention.
I was thrilled to receive a ribbon because my objective was to just submit my carvings and share them in the exhibit. I've written about the value in sharing your carvings with others, so I wanted to put that into practice myself!
What experiences have you had with exhibits/competitions?
Our carving club, Geppetto’s, Parkersburg, WV, put together a quilt last Fall. (see photo) We decided to do another this year with a theme of “patriotism”. Here is my contribution to the effort. Basswood. Sealed with a shellac sealer and soon to be finished with a satin polyurethane spray finish. I lightly sand the sealer
coat.
Fred E.
Thanks for sharing your carving club's quilt from last year and this year's contributions! I really like the variety of your carvings - positive, negative, and free form. Great to see that chip carving will be well-represented again in this year's project
