The wood carving show in Stratford, PEI has been my third since I started carving.
As in previous years my carvings were the only ones in the categories of cottonwood bark and chip carving (both intermediate level) so I was competing against myself. I was told later by the judge that I should have put my carvings into the open category, so next time.
But even competing against Your own pieces is not a bad thing as You will get to see which ones the judges value more. And it is nice to hear feedback from the fellow carvers.
In the cottonwood bark category, my 'House in a tree' got the first place and I was very pleased to find out that the main judge couldn't tell how the house was hollowed.
The 'Water mill' received the second place and 'Dragon castle' third.
The fourth carving I put in ('Guard post ruins') received Honorable mention ribbon which seemed like the judges liked all the carvings and didn't want to leave one behind.
In the chip carving category, the first place went to the fully carved plate, the second to the plate with swirl rosette and the third to the stained plate:
When I started carving my biggest inspiration were various wood spirits, so it is no wonder I personally chose this carving as my vote for 'carvers award':
I really like the facial features and the way the eyes are stained:
I was happy to see these as well, surely not bad for a guy who's been carving for a year and half:
A carving by Jim Edsall, who was the main judge. He also held a two hours lecture on habitat for carvings for those who were interested. I surely like his approach on the habitat:
Yet another carving by Jim Edsall:
There are always lots of bird carvings and though I am not planning on ever trying to do these I must always adore the finished pieces:
Another example of a great habitat, the paint job on the waves is just amazing:
More pictures of random carvings to show the diversity of the small PEI show:
