[Ansteorra] Judging (was:question)

[Cairenn Day]

That is one of the reasons why I prefer 'body of work' displays, it
seems to be easier to talk with the judges and one can point out in
their documentation what needs to be noticed.  I have only recently
started entering arts competitions after taking a 'vacation' and things
do seem to be better than what I remember. ( I hope that thats what
happening and not me now being on prescribed meds.)  There is often a
problem when one has to judge something that you do not know anything
about and you sometimes fall back on judging what you know, instead of
admitting that you don't know.  If you can talk with the artist, you can
often ask questions that allow you to be able to better judge the item.
Sometimes, the documentation can also help. (ex.  Janet Arnold should be
a resource on late period Eng. costume), but I prefer to find someone
(no matter their rank) that I consider to have more expertise in the
given field to advise me.  The problem may be, that a Laurel is made a
Laurel of the Arts, not a specific area.  Thus one might end up with a
bard trying to judge illumination, they can judge whether or not they
like it, they might recognize something about colors and style, (if it
was in the period and area they judge), but other than that, they are up
a creek without a paddle (and maybe even the boat) when it comes to how
correct it is.  I know that the Laurel's web site lists each of their
areas of expertise, when we are assembling a judging panel, this could
be used to get a well balanced group of judges.  However, for some of
the smaller events, it may be necessary to recruit Irises and even
Thistles to help. Especially when they have a broad, real world
knowledge of a field.  Lete is someone who came into the SCA with
knowledge of calligraphy and she has always known more than most of us.
We all need to be flexible and everyone needs to accept that many arts
types are not the best at interpersonal relationships, this can lead to
all types of misunderstandings (I've been on both sides) when one is
trying to critic someone's work.

Just my dollar's worth
Cairenn