Judging and Competition

You may know that today is the Big Reveal over at the Use the Muse contest.
This years muse!

Scarlett Lanson has put together a great concept. A beading competition that includes everyone having the same muse, and a timeline which makes it doable. There are several categories you can compete in, including one in Beadweaving. This is the Fourth Use the Muse and I felt both honor and trepidation at being asked to be the guest judge in the beadweaving category.

I've judged a number of competitions in my beady career and it is a weighty task. Those of us who take the time to enter put so much our ourselves into our pieces and it's very personal. I honor every single person who puts their work into a competition. I think there are many motivations, pushing ourselves beyond our usual boundaries, participating in the excitement, developing a piece that we're proud of and wanting to share, the prizes.....recognition, skill building, it's all good.

I can tell you the task is always difficult. I look at pieces and I take notes on my impressions, then I go back and review and review, looking at detail, composition, coloration, design aesthetic, technical skill, attention to detail, overall cohesiveness, scale, relative visual weight of the components, as well as competition guidelines and judging criteria. It usally ends up being nuance that separates the entries. Some small bit of finessing that differentiates a piece.

My point is, and I did have one, the job is difficult, I take it seriously and I thought there were many many amazing entries. So if you took the time to enter, job well done! Revel in your success and enjoy your beautiful piece.

And the winners are! It turns out this time that the winning pieces were both in the Beadweaving category.

Laurel Boyle - The Jewel in the Lotus Grand Prize Winner



Martina Nagele - Woodland Steampunk First Prize Beadweaving Category



You may read my comments about these two winning here