ANST - Documentation

[ches]

I normally do not comment on these types of things because frankly I fear
retaliation at the hands of judges that will read this. Seen it happen,
nothing will stop it.

I always do documentation. I document what it is that I want to do before
I do it to make sure I even want to do it. I have pulled out of
competitions at the last minute because I was not happy with my
documentation. But my complaint is not about the process of how the
artisan is forced to comply with the wishes of the judges but with the
judges that NEVER read the documentation. I do not believe that the reason
we have a documentation problem from artisans is the lack of writing
skills on the part of the artisans. It is the fault of the judges that
browse through the competition looking at your work, do not ask
questions, and will not read your documentation. They do not have time. I
have been to many competitions, entered very few of them. There are but a
hand full of judges that bother with your documentation. For them I
applude because you understand what it is of what I speak. I have been a
judge and I will tell you that I will read the documentation. If there is
none then I immediatly find the artisan and do an interview of the objects
in front of me. Yes I am the last to turn in my comments but I talked to 
or read everything from the artisans.

Have a problem writing? Have a buddy "Interview" you and type that up with
your book references and give your buddy credit for helping you
with it. As time goes by you will be able to understand what is needed and
can do it alone.

We need to start at square one and reinvent the wheel once again. Every
competition needs to require documentation whether or not it is part of
the scoring. And they all need to be read, either ahead of time or at the
competition. This way you are training all of us for such a time as this
past weekend when documentation is everything.

I did not compete this past weekend because I had just completed all my
docutmentation but not the pieces of art. My laurel warned me not to be
there without either.

At our 20th year celebration there will be a competition in which the
laurels are asked to compete. The populace is to judge them. Take this
very valuable moment to look at what they use as a reference for
documentation. It is better to know what you are going up against before
you go there. Understanding where they are coming from is priceless.

Sincerely,
F. Havas
ches at io.com


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