In brief

[altivo]

No ribbons for the woven entries, but I didn't expect any. I do have the judge's comments in hand now. She thought the fringe was too uneven on the shawl, and I'll have to look at it again, as that can be adjusted. The woven hand towel she objected to the texture produced by the textured yarn I used. Well, too bad. I use that yarn because I like the texture it produces. She's a color expert, and it shows. She obviously preferred bright flashy colors to anything with natural tones. Oddly enough, she wanted me to use a darker weft in the shawl to "subdue" the contrast though. All this stuff is a matter of taste and I don't feel bad because my tastes don't coincide with hers.

Tomorrow I have work in the morning and then I'm gallery sitting in the afternoon, which is traditionally my slot: first day the show is open, afternoon shift. Usually it's very quiet on a Thursday afternoon, so that's fine.

Knock me over with a pegasus feather, Gary decided today to join the weavers' guild. The reason? I told him about a short workshop that will run at next month's meeting, where they will help you make some sort of Christmas ornament thing by either inkle weaving or card weaving. He has wanted to start card weaving for years. The workshop is free, they are even providing the materials for members. And he can piggyback onto my full membership as a "family member" for just $5 a year. He dashed over to the gallery right after we had lunch together, and fortunately caught both the treasurer and the card weaving instructor still there. He paid his dues and was signed up on the spot.

Got a postcard in the mail from my college at Michigan State University. Oddly, after 37 years, they seem suddenly to want to re-establish contact with me. I'm cynical about this. I imagine they just want to ask me for money that I don't have.

Comments

[flamekist.livejournal.com]

It's too bad that some judges can't seem to filter out their own personal likes and dislikes and simply judge something based on what it is. (I know there's a word for it but it's early and I'm still a little brain-dead even after three cups of coffee.) Admittedly, I'd have a hard time doing it myself, but you'd think judges would be used to it.

Congrats on having Gary join you at the guild! Can't wait to see some of his work.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I agree that when judging something of this sort, it's inappropriate (and all too common) for judges to make assumptions and let their personal prejudices and preferences affect the conclusions. We see that almost every year. My worst reaction was a couple of years ago when the judge was a fashion designer. She admitted outright that she knew nothing about household linens or other "flatwork" and worse, she looked at every garment or accessory from the viewpoint of a runway fashion show fanatic. This meant that frilly, frippy fashion scarves automatically won out over practical designs meant for winter wear, men's clothing was totally irrelevant, and women's clothing that didn't match the current "color trends" was downgraded. It was really disappointing.

I judge at the county fair, and I try very hard to be objective and consider the workmanship, the overall design, and the appropriateness of the material and design to the stated purpose, leaving my own prejudices out. (For instance, though I always mention it in the comments, I never downgrade an item simply because the maker used cheap acrylic yarn instead of good natural fiber. Instead I just encourage them to try wool or alpaca because they will create an heirloom worthy of the number of hours they put into the piece.)

[flamekist.livejournal.com]

A fashion designer for a judge? I probably would have pulled my entries out at that point. If she wasn't able to judge my pieces according to the proper criteria, I'd rather not have them judged at all.

I'm glad to hear that you offer constructive criticism when you're judging. I always hate hearing people criticize something but never say anything positive.