[Mitchell]

It was hard for me to pick too..... I printed them out and pasted onto the wall.....missed 4 times before the dart stuck on one!

Actually, what made it so difficult (besides all being excellently carved) was the fact that there were so many different TYPES of santas...a great variety. All the artists should be very proud.

[curly]

It was a tough choice, but I did it. I'm with the rest I would also like to see all the entries.

[Henry]

I hate to be the only negative in this discussion, but I was disappointed in the choices for some of the carvings that made it into the final 28. I know someone is going to holler "sour grapes" because I entered and my carving wasn't chosen, but a small few of the carvings were really not that good. Plus you are supposed to enter original ideas and a couple were obviously taken from paintings I'd seen before.

On a different note, it would be nice if the contest was divided into different classes so we amateurs wouldn't have to compete against people who carve for a living or those who have won numerous 1st place trophies in other contests and shows.

That being said, I still enjoy carving and I will probably still enter again. I just wish I could get some feedback to find out what I'm doing wrong that I never even get an honorable mention. (I must be doing something right, my entry in the 2004 contest made it onto the cover of the Woodcraft magazine.)

[missioni]

Henry,
I don't think you are hollering "sour grapes" as a carver that did make it in to the final 28 I agree that there are a few carvings that are cute but not quality carvings. I would like to see two divisions one for advanced carvers and one for novice. The down side of doing that (speaking from experience as a former juried carving show chairman) is that for some people it is all about winning and they will enter a carving in a lower class than they should so they can win a prize. Big fish in small pond syndrome. With that said I am happy that they lifted the 12” rule from past contests, because none of my full figure Santas are less than 12”.

I am curious which carvings you have seen in paintings? I know I buy a lot of old postcards for research and my final carvings do use elements from my research but they are a far cry from being copies of the post card. I have studied art history and to be quite honest there are precious few original; ideas. Everyone is and was influence by someone. I could name numerous master painters and sculptors that copied a predecessor’s work but put their own twist on it to make it their own.

On your last comment if I could read a judges mind I could win every show I enter. Judging for the most part is so subjective that I have for the most part quit entering my work in juried shows out of frustration. A great example is that one of my Santas (which I entered in this contest) I entered in a local show in the expert carver category won first place in class, first in division and peoples choice but when they judged it against all the other Santas in the show for best Santa I was not even in the top three. Go figure!?

If you can post a picture of your entry I would love to see it.

[Kenny_S]

Henry, I don't think it was "sour Grapes" either. It is a Logical observation that I have seen many times at carving shows. Maybe that is why I do not enter any.
However, I do believe you can learn from the experence of entering a carving to be judged if the judges tell you why a piece was not a winner or why one was. All I can say is keep trying.
At the Tulsa carving show, I was torn on the "People Choice between 3 known carvers and One I classified as a friend and enjoy his carvings, tutorials and his helpfullness. However, he did not take top place but I would say, he did not have anything to be ashame as his enter was top also.

Dale, thank you for your obsevation also. Nice to hear from the other side of the coin being you have judged and entered many contest.

I appreciate both observations.

[Henry]

I have a few pictures of my entry posted under another thread. It's under the Welcome to New Members thread entitled First Time Forum User. I tried to put them in this thread, but the system wouldn't let me. I'll have to work with this sometime and see what I'm doing wrong.
I look at old pictures and cards etc, but mainly to get help with how clothing folds and basic stuff like that. I guess that's one reason why I've never taken a carving class. I'm one of those obsessive, compulsive people who has to do everything themselves. I'm afraid if I look too closely at someone else's work it will influence me and my work won't be my work any longer. I'm sure my work has already been influenced by other people, otherwise I wouldn't be making red-suited Santas with big white beards, but I try to keep the scenario that he's involved in to be my idea alone. I don't know if this makes sense to anyone but me. I'll stop rambling now. I'm really not as upset as I originally sounded. Thank you everyone for your input. Carvers really are a good bunch of people. Gotta go to bed. See ya'll later.

[missioni]

Henry
First, your carving, I love it.
I want to encourage you to look at other peoples work, being influenced by another artists work (as long as you filter out the garbage) is not a bad thing. You don’t even need to look at other Santas to get ideas for a Santa. For example I saw a tile floor in an old castle that had an unusual color combination that I would have never dreamed of doing. I took a picture of the floor and have it stored away for future use on an old world Santa. And if I were to “copy” your Santa it would look totally different than yours because it would be in my style of carving but someone who was familiar with your work would look at mine and say he must have gotten his idea from Henry. In fact I am tempted do that just to prove my point and I wouldn’t have to come up with my own idea for next year.

[santacarver]

Dale, "old buddy", it's about time you "almost" admitted to copying my "Santa's"......after all these years!!!

Rick Smith
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[squbrigg]

Well done Shannon. The entries look great, they are all so well done it makes it hard to choose.

The good news in all this, as I see it, is that wood carving is alive and well in North America.

Great contest again this year. Some super interesting carvings. Congratulations to the winners and to all that took part, and to WCI for organizing it.

Bob

[Shannon]

Hi All,

First of all, I want to let you all know that every Santa that was entered in the contest will be posted on our website. Yep - all 190 Santas... and let me tell you - it was a lot of work to scan all the photos that didn't come in digitally, and get them in the right format and all that jazz... but we love you guys and you're worth it. All of the entries should be up on the website early next week after the people's choice voting is finished.

It would have been impossible to have all 190 Santas eligible for the people's choice award. That was my first intention with the contest - but alas - my aspirations were too high. Logistically, people never would have scrolled through all 190 and either would have cast a vote based on the ones they did see or just not voted at all.

As for the categories... it's a great idea - but like Dale mentioned - one that is full of pitfalls of its own. How do you enforce that? Keep in mind that we are publishers - and that's where our expertise lies. Woodcraft handled most of the logistics in the past and we're learning as we take on sponsorship of the contest.

Suggestions are always welcome. Next year, I'd like to line up a couple guest judges - do you guys have suggestions for who you would like to see as guest judges?

And finally - we have included some judge's notes for the winners in this year's contest. Hope you guys find the info very helpful! I think we actually had a section of tips from the judges that didn't make it to print... I'll try to make sure those tips gets posted online...