AAW October 2011 Contest - The Results!
Here is the email John Lucas sent me regarding the judging!
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It was a very tough decision. I applied numbers to each for originality, form, surface decoration and turning details. I thought I would just look over and pick one or two but they were all done so nicely that I had to come up with a more detailed way of arriving at a solution. That left me with one winner and 2 tied and 4 that were very very close behind. The 2 tied pieces had to boil down to which made me feel the best. All of them were fun to look at and I’m sure would be fun to own. Congratulations to all who entered. I love to see turnings, by anyone at any level. Even if you don’t think your turnings are up to the top it’s still fun for us to see. We learn from your work and even more fun is watching you grow and your skills improve over the years. So anytime you see a club or forum contest make a piece and enter. It’s not about winning it’s about having fun and expanding your horizons.
Ed McDonnell is the winner. His ornament had a great ball shape. The top finial is well thought out and adds a bit of detail. The twisted bottom finial adds a little blacksmithing detail of the twisted metal to help with the copper illusion. The carving is very well done and sanding through the patina to bring out the copper was the final added touch.
2nd place goes to Curtis Fuller. I liked the designs of the finials and the way they work together. The ball shape is very pleasing and is somewhat echoed in the finial details. The segmenting adds the final touch.
3rd place goes to ww Lewis. His Chatterwork Christmas tree was very original and very well done. The touch of gold around the ends of the branches and gold cross really set if off.
Mike Gibson had 2 hand bells. The first one was excellent. The red bell really stands out and the shape of the bell is perfect. The second one had a better handle and I liked the natural edge.
Bernie Hryrtzak had 2 entries The red ornament had a very good shape with nice flowing lines. The marbleizing was excellent and I’m sure would look great hanging on the tree. The darker one I found very interesting but the upper and lower shapes competed with each other. The marbleizing I found very interesting on this one as well.
Curtis Fuller’s angel was very nice. I love the stave segmented skirt. The shape of the head being more human shaped than ball shaped that we traditionally see was interesting.
John Beaver’s ornament got high rankings on the creativity side. I love pieces that have the How’d he do that feel and this one qualifies. The finial looked like an upside down building and I think if it had been hung the other way it would have had a completely different feel. Sort of lighthouse on a rock.
Vic Johnson had 3 entries that all rated up there. I liked the blue one the best. If the turned details had been a little more crisp and flowing that one would have been a real contender. I could see some thought went into how the upper and lower finials worked together and I really liked the beaded detail.
Marten Van Der Sanden Had a fun piece with the cedar bark left on. Although the finial details are nice they were just a little too large for the ball shape and the shape of the cedar ball wasn’t quite right. Someone once told me it’s either a perfect ball or really noticeably not a ball. When it’s somewhere close it doesn’t work. This goes for all for types of turnings.
Scott Hackler had 2 excellent pieces although the red piece came so close. The finial is without a doubt the best finial of the bunch. The pierced details really work and had good contrast with the red ball. The only reason it wasn’t in first place was what I mentioned above. The ball just wasn’t quite there. Maybe it was the photo and maybe it really is round but it didn’t appear to be and that bothered me. If the top finial had the same attention to form and detail as the bottom it would have definitely helped put it in the winning category. The flowing lines on that bottom finial had me picking it for the winner until I started really looking closely at other details.
Roger Meeker made me laugh. I grew up with the Jetson’s. I also turn miniatures so I was intriqued by the furniture inside. I think if Rosie the robot maid had been inside it would have been a much tougher decision.
Nate Davey had a beautiful ornament. Excellent finial on the bottom and the ball good but not perfect. It is so hard to get those ornament balls on the money.
Robert and Mary Davis also had a winner. It’s one of those that made the choice really tough. The lack of turning details hurt it but then that’s a tough decision. The artist needs a good landscape to paint on and it would have been obscured by too much detail in the wood. I like that the bottom and top finials work together and lend themselves to the painted bead detail. I love the tin soldier and the painted details are very well done. All in all a great ornament that made my decision that much tougher.
Mark Damron created an ornament with very unusual use of materials. I thought the choice of ebony to accentuate the lines in the spalting made a very nice transition to the aluminum. I also liked the how the aluminum helps you flow into the acrylic. The acrylic is turned and polished very well.
Hal had one of the best angels I’ve seen. I loved the piercing on the skirt and especially the crown. If the wings had the same attention to detail this might have been the winner.
Joe Greiner is obviously thinking and planning when he designed this ornament. A little more turning skill and we are going to see some great things. Keep it up Joe.
Thanks to everyone who posted an entry. Remember, similar to what John said, these contests are really designed to take you out of your comfort zone and encourage you to try something different. Congratulations to the winner!
And many thanks to John - this was a particularly difficult judging, and he definitely stepped up to the plate!
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