Congratulations to:

Focal Bead Category

Winner – Andrew Firth “iSpy”
Andrew wins Glass pack to the value of $100 donated by Creation is Messy through Affordable Inspirations as well as a Book & DVD (ex NZGBA Library)

Highly commended – Karen Irwin “Too Late the genie is out of the bottle”
Karen wins a Book (ex NZGBA Library)

Bead Set Category

Winner – Lisa-Jane Harvey “Picasso”
Lisa-Jane wins a Glass pack to the value of $100 through Born to Bead and a Book & DVD (ex NZGBA Library)

Highly commended – Emily Lake “Goddess Set”
Emily wins a Book (ex NZGBA Library)

Sculptural Bead Category

Winner – Karilea “Spa Orchid”
Karliea wins a Sauvarins Glass voucher to the value of $100 and Book & DVD (ex NZGBA Library)

Highly Commended – Emily Lake “Butterfly Woman”
Emily won a Book (ex NZGBA Library)

Off Mandrel

Winner – Andrew Firth “Starling”
Andrew wins a Glass pack to the value of $100 purchased from Born to Bead and Book & DVD (ex NZGBA Library)

Highly Commended – Karilea
Karilea wins a Book (ex NZGBA Library)

Viewers choice – Lisa-Jane “Picasso”

Lisa-Jane wins a Glass pack to the value of $100 purchased from Born to Bead and Book & DVD (ex NZGBA Library)

Overall Winner

Lisa-Jane Harvey – Picasso wins the $500 gift voucher sponsored by Affordable Inspirations 

Door Prize Raffle Draw Winners:

CG Beadrollers – Anastasia and Helen Moore
Double Helix – Karen Ritchie
Best Dressed – Geoffrey Bunker

Well I bet you are all dying to know who won the annnual competition. We are getting all the entries back this week from the show up North so photos will be uploaded as soon as we get the items done.

Overall Winner

Karilea Lindsay-Beale – Fireball

Lampwork Bead Winner

Karilea Lindsay-Beale – Fireball

Lampwork Bead Highly Commended

Andrew Firth – Dawn Elemental

Fused Winner

Vicki Leisman – Lighter than Air

Fused Highly Commended

Karen Irwin – Night Fires Burning Embers

Kiln formed Winner

Greg Smith – Bullett

Jewellery Winner

Karilea Lindsay-Beale

Jewellery Highly Commended

Isla Osborne

Viewers choice

Karilea Lindsay-Beale

The entries were amazing and a fantastic effort from everyone. As soon as we have the photos I’ll upload them

Following the suggestions for who should and who should not be allowed to participate in the annual bead competition we had a special audio committee meeting. The minutes of which can be downloaded here.

We have effectively decided that we are only 4 weeks out from the competition. It is too close to exclude anyone as many artists have already invested time and energy in their designs and their concepts. As per the minutes we also took into account the responses we received and the posts that were added to the website.

We have decided to run a poll for voting whereby we invite you as members to vote on who you think should be excluded from the 2010 competition and the results will be table for the AGM upon which we will make our final decisions on the rules for the following events.

Our concern was we are too small a community to have exclusions, removing committee members and sponsor employees will remove 20% of the contenders. In addition to which we were concerned that we would have difficulty securing committee members for the following year as it is voluntary members may wish to participate in the competition rather than in the committee. there are more considerations and concerns in the minutes so please read them and then have a think about the long term consequences of your vote.

Comments Received:

 “hi Lisa, Maybe those who have been placed in previous compititions,could have a special catergy maybe named Champion of champions, I am going to enter this year, when I was incouraged to enter a couple of years ago,I was encouraged by one of the top glass people,who asked me how I made one of my beads, and to me by see other people’s work helps and encourages me personally”

“I think that anyone involved in the sponsorship, administration or judging of the competition shouldn’t participate in any of the categories. Its normal practice that the people who judge and/or organise a competition don’t enter any work.

Last year Frances and Ingrid managed the competition so I was free to enter as was John. Although Judith entered a piece (and was a Judge), it was specifically for the Viewers Choice. Perhaps that’s a nice middle ground; sponsors and committee members putting work forward for Viewers Choice?”

For what its worth, I think the President should be a judge in the main category and not be eligible to enter. I don’t think sponsors should enter either.

But not entering the competition just because Lisa is entering is ridiculous. Raising the bar should be a good thing and a challenge to everyone.

Suck it up guys, make something you are proud of and put it out there

Well all of that seems ridiculous to me, and I really don’t give a stuff who enters as I do it for myself and my own goals – not to the end that I may not win if someone pips me to the post. Bring on the competition and as always may the best artist win!!

Its a little like Bethoven orginising a contest for the students and then entering it himself.On the plus side it makes people try harder on the other it dashes them on the rocks.

I’ve read the recent posts on the bead competition.  Personally, I think the categories this year give people at all levels and all capabilities a clear opportunity to take part and win.  Besides that, I have to agree with Lisa, Helen & Karen that it’s also about going through the process of working on a competition bead that combines all elements of your skill level (wherever that skill level may be).   I think a president of an association or committee member should not be excluded from a competition, nor should anyone who is very good and sets a benchmark for us all.  Seriously, in the real world we all have to compete, often with people who are better than us.  In the end, it comes down to doing your own thing, in your own style that’s unique and which is to your level of capability.

This is a two part response to the current postings concerning the competition entries and reasons why we enter etc.  I don’t really like getting involved in posts with contentious issues but my foot just won’t stay out of my mouth. Please be patient and read it all.

 Part 1: Entering the Competition

 When I first began entering the competitions I knew full well that I would not win.  Why did I enter? Because it’s fun.  I love having a crack at new things. I enjoy seeing the wide range of work that other people are doing.  New techniques crop up, people talk about them, we share ideas and a love of things glass.  It brings a sense of belonging into the community and a feeling of camaraderie and I am somewhat disappointed that not winning has come to mean not wanting to participate. Yes I understand that these are sponsored categories and that the sponsors have certain expectations so okay maybe we tighten the criteria for next year – in the meantime can we all just decide to give it a go and get involved a bit, if we don’t then we are likely to lose the competition in it’s entirety.

 In response to criticisms and concerns from various members  we have implemented the following –

1)      Previous winners re entering competition.  Lisa Jane has stepped down from the competition this year. We will look into this further at the next AGM

2)      Competitors don’t like giving up their beads.  This competition is not aquisitorial.

3)      Some people are good at making jewellery but not single beads. We have introduced a jewellery category

4)      Fused Glass is not beadmaking and shouldn’t be included. We have stipulated that the fused glass entries must have a hole formed during the process of making the bead not drilled afterwards.

5)      It’s not worth the hassle in terms of prizes. We have obtained sponsors for all categories and the prizes are reasonable for a small community as is found in N.Z.

6)       It costs too much to enter. Entries are free to NZGBA members.

7)      Some people enter too many beads.  Entries are restricted to one item per category.

Part 2: In reference to the suggestion that committee members remove themselves from sponsored competition:- 

I would be, in words of little delicacy,  really annoyed if I wasn’t allowed to enter the competition this year. I have already spent more hours than is sensible trying out new techniques and developing ideas, in short I would consider it too short notice to withdraw at this time.   

If this issue continues to be a matter of concern then I would suggest that we make it clear at the AGM either that committee members are disallowed from participation or alternatively  I have no objection to the winner of each category standing down in that particular category for the following year only. Question is how far do we take this, do  all winners in all categories for all placings warrant an exemption or only the first places or only the main overall winner?? Would it be for one year, two years, forever?

And to put in my last 5 cents worth (thoroughly expecting to annoy some people in the process), when the AGM came around and I was prevented from participation, if that was what we decided, then I  would probably tell the NZGBA that I decline the honour of many hours of unpaid work involved in running the committee for other peoples benefit and either become a non active member or jump ship altogether. This is not a business, I am not an employee - if I was then maybe it would be different but I do things for the committee in my own time and often out of my own pocket, it isn’t the same thing.

This isn’t a simple thing to decide.  Once or twice a year I will guest tutor at Annie Rose or at Born To Bead (for that matter anywhere that will take me)  - does this make me an employee of all the places that hire me for guest tutoring?  Does that also mean that if we decided to stop employees of sponsors from entering that category that I would not be able to enter any category that has one of my  many employees as a sponsor?

 That is all for now. I do  hope people will join into the spirit of competition regardless of their non-competitive nature or for any other reasons we haven’t been able to solve yet. We do try hard as a committee to make things easier and more pleasant for people, we certainly don’t do it for fun or for monetary gain.

 Peace and a good hot flame be with you

Karen Irwin

Following this afternoons events regarding the choice to participate in the annual competition being influenced by the othesr who are entering, and I thought I would share my thoughts on why I enter shows, competition and exhibitions.

I remember the very first year I entered the glass bead competition, it was the first year we formed NZGBA. I sort of forgot about the deadline and had only been torching for a few months but to be fair did actually own my own torch so chose not to enter in the beginners category as I felt having a torch meant I was serious and should participate as such.

The theme was Aotearoa, and I played with concepts such as sea and mountains. I imagined creating a towering Mitre Peak encased in clear with floating clouds and sea on the lower half of the bead. I then though it would be awesome to separate the two sea and land with a Maori motif a koru type design with dots and that would be very challenging. As I thought about it more the design became even more complex and I ended up creating a wire wrapped pyramid, supposed to be a silver fern, and encased it in Light grass green and Light blue glass, then tried to create the motif.

I was working full time so only had a few hours a week to try something new. Then the deadline was suddenly on my doorstep and I had to take a day off work to try get my design into the competition in time, alas I missed the deadline but the girls at Annie Rose were kind enough to include my bead.

When we had the awards ceremony and I saw the beads that had been entered I was absolutely floored. I could not in my wildest dreams imagine how Justin created his Pacific Sunrise bead, when I asked him and he said it was a reversed incalmo I immediately thought, holy heck I am such an amateur. I then saw Tokiko’s amazing bead and her layers of petals and the depth she got from the colours, I lusted over flowers like that for the whole year following and still have not been able to create one quite like hers (how does she keep those crisp clean edges?!?). The next bead that amazed me was Donna’s bead with her beautiful flowers, amazing twisted cane and the absolutely gorgeous 3 dimensional lady bugs. I remember hounding her the next day to teach me encasing as I had no idea how she managed to keep everything 3D and not smeared. People were asking me “did you enter?” “which one is your bead?” I was mortified with my efforts, I entered half assed, I barely threw it together last minute, and had no practise and it showed, as I was new and no-one knew me I was able to lie convincingly and denied ever entering.

I left that competition with so much enthusiam to be Justin Culina, to have flowers like Tokiko and to achieve the incredible encasing that Donna had, and to put in the effort.

The following year the competition was announced. I was secretary of NZGBA and was so excited to prove to myself that my skills has improved from the previous year and to put a bead in that my peers would look at and say wow she really gave it her all.

I took months to design my piece, I eventually decided on learning new techniques. My approach was to use the competition to test my skills and push the boundaries. The competition was being judged on technical ability so I approached it as such. I chose techniques I had no experience in, the implosion bead as I love these, then the murinni which I used as the iris for my eye, stringer control which I used to wrap the bead in vines, and pink glass which till then (and possibly still now) I loathed.

First I made implosion beads for 3 weeks, one after the next. I could have easily made over 25 beads to see if I could get it right, I tried different colours, I tried different dot sizes, poking, pinching, flattening, melting and eventually settled on my technique for implosions that I created in my time. Then I was nervous adding it to anything so the next step was to practise stacking beads as totems, I must’ve made about 15 totems before I thought I’d be able to stack the beads without destroying the implosion I’d worked so hard on.

The next step was creating the eye, I studied Dustin Tabor and Stephanie Sersich, I took out a book on drawing eyes, I studied making murrinis, and eventually I shaded a murrini cane that had various colours of transparency and started creating eyes. Again a number of tries, then I did eyes in totems to see if I could handle the glass all in one go.

Finally, after all this preparation I sat down and created my totem. It came out perfect! I was so excited I sat down to make another and it sucked. It took another 6 totems before finally I gave up and went with the original “hole in one” bead that I had made.

I was so proud I couldn’t wait for everyone to see it. I was so nervous on the night of the awards as I had participated I was not allowed to judge or even see the entries before the awards evening. When I got there I found that only Donna; one of the hero’s who had inspired me to really stretch myself was in the competition. I was so disappointed I really wanted to see how my skill and hours invested would hold up against the likes of Justin, Donna, and Tokiko. As it turned out I won the competition. I couldn’t believe it! just 12 months previously I denied my critter bead and left it in the cold homeless (I threw it away! poor thing), and now with my totem I had won. I was so proud of the hours and their fruition. It was awesome.

The following year when the competition was announced “Translate your world” I was pressed to achieve the same as the previous year, not win the competition but rather take a new technique one I had never used and learn it, and master it (well I’m still not sure you can master anything in glass in one lifetime but you get what I mean).

The earth bead used Fusing, sheet encasing and enameling. Each bead took about 3 hours from start to finish. I made, broke and mangled 8 separate worlds before the final success. Again I won and I was proud. I had invested no less than 24 hours of torch time to gain the skills I had learnt for that bead.

This year I am unable to participate as I am President, but I wanted to share my story with you becuase I wonder how many of our members are still approaching the competition as I did in my first year.

I ask you what are you learning?
What techniques are you choosing?
How many hours are you actually investing in developing yourself?
Which artist will you be on the awards evening night?
Will you be the one who denies ever entering or will you be proud of the work you have submitted?
Will you really give it a go?
How will your skills in the last 12 months on measure against your last years competition entry?
Will you be eager to show your peers what you have achieved?

In my mind this is the purpose of exhibitions, competitions and calls for submission. It gives you a unique opportunity to focus on your art, the passion to focus, upskill and really stretch your boundaries, it is an excuse for you to stop your production every day run of the mill beads and really test yourself as an artist.

It gives you the opportunity to be taken seriously by your peers, for those who really get what you have done and say well done you have really improved since last year, we can see your hard work, and your efforts.

This year which is the only year I want to win the competition the first prize is a wild cat torch, I urge you to think about this and really put your efforts in.

I want the world to someday stand up and think Wow New Zealand has something to contribute, and to think that the competition has had some part in making that a reality. I want each and every one of you to enter, who cares if you win or not, it’s what you learn in your efforts to give it all you got to win that torch, win that Bullseye and Gaffer glass, get a whole days free tuition.

So let me ask you this… What do you get from entering?

I have recently been advised that members are choosing not to participate in this years event as the competition has been won by myself the last two years.

In all three previous years competitions committee members were allowed to participate and we all did, only the President does not participate and is a judge of the competition, and that is not a rule as such.

I don’t think we should make it mandatory to have committee members ommitted from the competition as it is a major event and this year and years coming we have decent sponsors taking part, so if we stop committee members from participating then it leaves little motivation given all the work we have to do to keep the membership exhibiting and promoted.

I would appreciate any comments on this, what are your views?

This year with sponsorships, the sponsors are not able to enter the category they are sponsoring but are welcome to enter any other categories.

So to be clear I am not participating and so you can enter…