Ehh, sometimes even great pieces get kinda lost in the multitudes of entries they receive at the National level. I've been told that because the judges are given such a short period of time to judge (a single day to judge upwards of 50+ pieces) that they will often seriously judge only half the actual entries, while the rest are kind of only ...

Well, all in all, she did pretty good tonight. I took home 2nd place out of 7 entries, which is my second 2nd place prize for these competitions. I also took home a special prize. I don't know if the prizes were special for this particular competitions, but I was also awarded "Best Use of Fabric" for the embossed fabric wrapped ...

Well, tonight's the night I find out how she did. Wish me luck!

In this particular case, yes, just the framing will be judged. It's for a framing competition (I'm a picture framer by trade), and the Mucha-style tile was made specifically for this competition.

Took me a while, but think I came up with a winning design for my framing competition. Just finished her up this afternoon, and I think it came out pretty awesome. Comeptition is June 1st, so will let you know how I did later. But here she is:  

A lot! I guesstimate that the wire work alone was about 10-12 hours, over about 4-5 days. The painting, baking, and glazing was another 2.5-3 hours, and the resin took me about 15 minutes with, of course, the 24-48 hour cure time. I knew when I started her she was going to be a bear. Her hair alone was enough to give me fits. But think she came ...

Okay, this is the last pic I have to share with you guys, at least until I have her framed up. I think the resin just pulled this all together. Am quite pleased with how she came out:  

Lori, I painted the mica powders onto the unbaked clay. Have considered adding the powders to a medium like liquid clay, but just haven't gotten around to seeing how that works just yet. Soon, thugh. I have some Future around someplace, the Triple Thick was just right there when I was ready for it.

Just another update picture. Spent about 2 1/2 hours painting her last night, baking, then glazing with soem Triple Thick to keep the mica powders on. Next step will be the resin, sometime later this week. Here she is: Once I get the resin coating on, I'll post another picture, and of course, a picture of how she finally gets framed. Thanks ...

Just an update picture. I finished the wire work on her last night, and let me tell you, I am soooo glad! Thought her hair would be the death of me, but the border wasn't much better. Get to paint her tonight, and hopefully have the resin on her by Sunday the latest. Here she is now: Thanks for the compliments, everyone, especially Eugenia. ...