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Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)Hokey Smokes!!! How is anyone supposed to make choices in the 08 Golden Teddies?
Not even counting the number of friends—IN THE SAME CATEGORIES—(I don't base my votes friendship but on what I feel best meets the qualifications under each category's requirements) but the quality is SUPERB!!!!
It is astonishing how the quality and features of Artist Bears have absolutely EXPLODED in the past 5 years!
Techniques that are now de rigueur / standards weren't even thought up before 2000.
The quality is definitely there and I'm so proud of all of you!!!!
______________________
One not-so-small point, which I've also addressed to the Editor:
One of the very strict rules is that NO ID should show giving a hint to the aritst's ID.
Ma Sal has a round pendant hung around the entry's neck, with Ma Sal clearly printed.
Shame on the comps' overseers for not catching this - when everyone else works so very hard to follow every rule exactly.
Posts: 1,836Bobby,
For my future reference, as I'm hoping to enter these contests this coming year. Are there more specific rules outside of what's listed here? http://www.jonespublishing.com/images/2 … ryForm.pdf
I dont' see anything about the artists ID. Maybe I'm missing it but if I'm going to try to enter I don't want to miss something critical (the ID part or something else). I'm guessing you're concerned with the nominee /industry piece of the competitions (??), the artists are clearly named in the peoples choice area of the magazine.
:hug:
~Chrissi
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)I stand corrected!
Chrissi, you are absolutely correct. It has been removed from the GT's Rules/Guidelines. Having entered these for 15+ years, it used to be valid for both the TOBYs and GTs. It was felt within the bear community that the
GTs tended to nominate some of the same ppl every year. Many artists just didn't bother with the GTs due to that.
However, TB&F still require this and I personally think that it should be part of every comp. It's for the sake of the nominating judges, as you stated - our names are there for the General Public to see.
It's inevitable that most develops a 'look' and that's easily recognizable. And - while I don't fault the judges for this, in the past many panels were made up of retailers, who would know that a recognition like this would be bound to boost sales and they were in the position to give a 'nod' to a look that they would expect to be mutually financially rewarding.
As I've never been a judge, I'm not in a position to confirm or deny this, I merely state it as what we 'thought' about comps in the 90s.
I've not said this anywhere before, but this seems appropriate: during my first Wash DC visit for a GT nomination, about '95 - we also took the classes. Beverly Port gave a talk and afterward we happened to be seated next to her at Lunch (talk about nervous!! and cowed by her talent!!)
The conversations about judging came up at our table and she said (I got the feeling that this was denigrating the actual rules as they weren't in compliance with the fairness of all judges) that at the time, along with a videotape that the judges rec'd to review all of the entrants on, if they wanted a closer look at the actual submitted photo, a file also accompanied the video and it was a matter of simply pulling out the right photo - - and the make's info was plainly there.
I know that this has stopped but it does show an evolving format, as each year the comp committees attempt to change with the times, make the categories as inclusive and broad as possible, so that it helps as many as possible.
One requirement that has always rankled me is the one about Plain, Flat, Solid Color backgrounds. That rule still stands for all of the major international comps-by-photo and every year those still get by.
When I point out their attempt to evolve for us, it's that most of my creations are more horizontal than vertical: a bear on all 4s looks very tiny with all of that blank space above & below it in a vertical image...
For the very first time both US comps allowed us to submit horizontal images! THANKS to Both TB&F and TBR!!!
For the Record: third Requirement in TOBY 08. No it doesn't still say - Don't have any identifiers in your photo entry, but this is implied & understood, due to past comp history. Sling the arrows this way, if you think I'm being too picky or clinging to outdated Rulings, but think how unattractive (and Braggy, as my sibs would say!!) it would look if we all had our names plastered across our bears!
http://www.teddybearandfriends.com/pdfs/TOBY08.pdf
2008 TOBY Awards Entry Form
• If submitting multiple entries, make copies of this form before completing it.
• Please review the TOBY Awards categories before choosing the appropriate category for your entry.
• Do not include on this page any information that could reveal the identity of the artist or manufacturer.
puca bearsBobbie
the non-compliance with competition rules is a sore point with me right now.................
inthis years Golden George comp, I had a bear nominated in the category "Single bear, dressed" - the rules clearly stated that the bear was allowed small accessories which must be firmly fastened to the bear, and it was not to be a tableau....................so what was included in the group? A "tableau" - can't call it anything else, of FIVE bears. I probably should have said something at the time, but I'm just NOT confrontational, and I really didn't want to be taken as just a poor loser. I have since written to the organisers, and as yet have heard nothing back
A friend told me of her experience at the Ted Worldwide in March - her nominated bear in the Cat. Mini, Dressed (UNDER 12 cm) was beaten into second place by a bear which actually measured 18cm! When she complained, she was brushed off with a shrug, and an "oh, we don't check these things"................
Strikes me as WRONG, and very disappointing for all those artists (the vast majority) who DO stick to the rules
huggies
Maria
p.s - the Ted Worldwide have now decreed that entries must not take part in other comps, and not appear in any magazines till after the TWW results are out............. and I wonder how many of the bears will have been seen elsewhere!?
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)the Ted Worldwide have now decreed that entries must not take part in other comps, and not appear in any magazines till after the TWW results are out............. and I wonder how many of the bears will have been seen elsewhere!?
I believe that this is part of TITA 08 now too. It states:
Entries MAY NOT HAVE RECEIVED ANY OTHER INTERNATIONAL AWARDS (emphasis mine) before this year's deadline of 30 June. This makes it different from what you quote for Ted Worldwide (30 June also).
I'm thinking it's because ppl want to see more individual winners rather than glories going to just a handful of bears.
There is enough difference in the timings/deadlines through the calendar year, nominations by photo but awards going to on-site presentations, and the fact that some nominated works are held for 6 month hence only to be available to comps by photo alone and still other criteria than cause most artists to create at least a half dozen pcs every year just for comp work.
It's a good mix in general to have different parameters and a good way for the bear world to become familiar with different work.
I still think that if I or a majority of us developed logo tags and hung it around our pcs, they'd be automatically disqualified This speaks nothing to Ma' Sal's talent, I just think that all entries should be anonymous. Our individual 'look' is a very large clue in itself.
I've been off line a fair bit this past week (though I'm awake at almost 3 AM now) so haven't yet written to TBR but do intend to and will post their response...
No, the TITA is different, you can submit a piece for TITA also to other challenges, like many of us do.
For the Ted Worldwide it says (this year first time): It is not allowed that the submitted objects take part in other competitions or are presented at shows or in teddy bear magazines before the announcing of the TED worldwide winners in March 2009.
This means, the piece you enter to Ted Worldwide, you can not enter in any other challenge, you can not sent a picture to a magazine and you can not display the bear anywere. You have to keep the entry secret. Like Maria, I wonder how many wail follow this rule, but... I think, being aware of the rule you can make out for yourself if you can do this. I think when participating on a challenge you should read the rules and follow up. no matter...even if it not all the rules suits you.. does that make cense?
Berta
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)Berta, I love you like a sister, but on the first page on TITA 9th awards (the forms I was sent, not downloaded)
Contest Rules #4. First sentence of 2:
Any Bears introduced after 15 May 07 are eligible for nomination however bears THAT HAVE WON AWARDS at other competitions BEFORE THE 30th of June 2008 will be disqualified.
Explanations also of no re-costuming or a variation of other submitted/won work will be eligible for even nomination.
I read this as "a bear may have been submitted and/or even nominated but unless it has actually been voted on and declared a winner, it is eligible to be entered in TITA 09."
So yes, it is a middle ground, between comps like our USA ones that have no rulings like this, and the Ted Worldwide specifies "take part in other comps".
I came back to this thread to clarify something that I wrote in the middle of last night: I did not mean to denigrate in any way artists that enter the same comps every year. What I meant to say was that it feels wrong to have the same artists win when they have produced a 'new' piece from the same Pattern of their own design.
To me it still feels as if most of the comps are all doing their best at this: up until about 5 or 8 years ago, (and most of us have developed a recognizable Look to our work in some way) many of the same artists were being nominated year after year after year with pieces made from the same PATTERN.
Yes, the size changed, and the collar changed and the costuming changed and the bear's materials changed and the animals/children they held changed ........ but it was still quite obvious that it was the same pattern!
I wrote to many of the Editors or those in charge of the comps, to say that I would not be taking part again until I saw significant changes in the Rules & Guidelines: at what point does a 'Look' simply become Stagnation?
Many of the judges change every year so they may not have been aware of this pattern of behavior from us artists, but how many times should an artist be awarded for the SAME PATTERN?
I felt and still feel that the Editors should have made several years of prior nominations available to each new panel, to be watching for this trend.
It is 'heresay' but still passed down the artist grapevine, that many of us have heard that some artists were asked to no longer submit entries unless the entire look/stance/effect of their submissions would be SIGNIFICANTLY different from previous years' submissions.
By specifying Rules such as TITA and Ted Worldwide have done, this is refreshing, as even seeing some of the same artists' names appearing, one knows that this entry will differ greatly from one of theirs from the previous year. That they continue to learn & apply new skills, mature in their talents and excel in their art form rather than presenting a rehash of a popular bear from 10 years ago.
Tami Eveslage Original Teddy Bearsat what point does a 'Look' simply become Stagnation?
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That is an excellent question!!! I think the answer is: When that "look" is no longer satisfying to you the artist, to your collectors, to competition judges (if that is something important to you) then it is stagnation. Most of my "new" bear patterns have grown in part out of my previous ones. I have several big zip lock bags full of bear pattern parts for a given size and style of bear, and when I make a new arm, head or body style etc. that would fit, I add it to the bag. Any number of different bears could be made from the combinations of pattern pieces in one of the bags, but they do have the same look for sure. And even when I start a new "bag o' parts" from scratch with a fresh sheet of posterboard (what I draw my patterns on) I find myself drawing the same curve of the arms, angle of the head, shape of the chin, etc. that I love.
So I have asked myself that question recently. "Am I in a groove :dance: , or am I in a rut 
?" My avitar bear was my first new year baby ( a brand new "bag o' parts"), and I love his "look" so much I have already made four variations of the design this year, all of which I loved, and all of which have been well received by my collectors. In the recent past, I've also really fallen for the really dense alpaca that Intercal sells, so that a large number of bears I've created in the last couple of years from any pattern have been made with this delicious fur. I am still very happy making these bears, I'm still in love with the alpaca, and collectors are still buying my work, so for now I feel like I'm in a groove.
As far as contest entries go, I think each year's entry should be a new "bag o' parts".
Tami Eveslage Original Teddy BearsOh!! Yes! I got my Teddy Bear Review today and you are so right! How in the world to choose?!! Amazing work and it keeps getting better every year.
Congrats to all the nominees!
