First Annual
ALL DOLLED UP:
BEADED ART DOLL COMPETITION
Theme: The Five Seasons
CALL FOR ENTRIES
Create a Beaded Art Doll by manipulating beads and forms into an imaginative tactile and visual 3-dimensional representation of this year’s theme: THE FIVE SEASONS.
And then writing a Short Story (not more than 1000 words) about your Beaded
Art Doll, what it represents, and how it was created, starting with the sentence:
I explore my beadwork with my fingers and all my senses. I feel my doll’s creative aura – "One hundred years from now,” I say, “when someone picks you up and holds you, they, too, will be at one with the Season of….
The First Annual ALL DOLLED UP: BEADED ART DOLL COMPETITION is offering a first
prize of a $1000.00 shopping spree on the Land of Odds web-site (http://www.landofodds.com
), and a Runner-Up prize of a $400.00 shopping spree on the web-site.
Entries will be judged by a panel from The Center for Beadwork & Jewelry Arts. These distinguished Beadwork and Jewelry Artist instructors will judge each doll based on
1. INSIGHT: The Bead Artist’s inner awareness and powers of self-expression through sculptural beadwork, particularly in terms of how well this year’s Competition theme is incorporated into the piece.
2. TECHNIQUE(S):
a. Primarily, how well a particular stitch or stitches (or any other technique
for applying the beads and embellishing the doll) is (are) executed within
and around the piece.
b. Secondarily, how well the internal structure/form/body of the doll has been
created/constructed/chosen in relation to the artist’s goals.
3. USE OF BEADS/BEADING AS ARTISTIC MEDIUM: How creatively beads, stitches and/or embellishments are used to create an interplay between forms and features, internal and external, both tactile and visual, and which together are used to tell the story of the doll.
4. VISUAL APPEAL: The overall visual appeal of the doll.
5. QUALITY OF WRITTEN STORY: How well the written short story enhances an appreciation of the Beaded Art Doll, as well as the Artist’s talents in design, insight and implementation.
The Seasons. You may choose any one of the following seasons:
Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer or an As-Yet-Unnamed-Season of your own definition
and creation.
We Need Submissions!
A Beaded Art Doll is a physical representation in three dimensions, using human
figural and expressive characteristics, through the creative use and manipulation
of beads. Beaded Art Dolls submitted as entries for this Competition should
be immediately recognizable as a “Doll” as defined above.
That said, Beaded Art Dolls submitted as entries for this competition may be realistic, surrealistic, whimsical or imaginary. They may be humanistic, animalistic, caricatures, cartoons, impressions or abstractions. The doll may take many forms, including a figure, purse, box, vessel, puppet, marionette, or pop-up figure.
Beaded Art Dolls should be between 8” and 36” in size. They must be at least 80% composed of beads.
The doll’s internal form and structure may result from many techniques, materials and strategies. The bead stitches themselves might be used to create the skeletal structure. Various forms of cloth dolls might be stitched or embellished with beads. The underlying structure might be made of polymer clay, wood, ceramic, porcelain, Styrofoam, wire, corn husk, basket weaving, yarns, cardboard, paper, cotton, or some combination of materials. It might be a found form or object.
The Artist is given wide leeway in techniques for how the doll is to be beaded, and may use one particular technique or several. Techniques, for example, may include bead weaving stitches, bead embellishment, bead appliqué, bead knitting, bead crochet, bead embroidery, lampworking. For the 80% area that must be beaded, these would NOT include the application of rhinestones, sequins, nailheads or studs. The beads may be of any size, shape, color and material.
The Artist may include a doll stand or display support with the Art Doll, though this is not a requirement. This stand or support may be an off-the-shelf piece, or created from scratch by the Artist. It may be a base, a created setting, a decorative box, or frame. The stand or display support need not be beaded.
The Artist may interpret and apply the theme “The Five Seasons” any way she or he chooses. The Beaded Art Doll might be thought of as a plaything; or as a visual representation of a person, feeling, spirit or thing; or as a tool for teaching; or as a method for stimulating emotional development or healing.
As an object of art, the goal of the Doll should be to make a statement, evoking an emotional, cultural or social response, either by the Artist her/himself or by others.
The Doll must be an original work, and may be the work of one Artist or a Collaboration.
Dolls have been a part of human existence for many thousands of years. Whether part of a ritual or part of child’s play, dolls function as symbols for meaning. Sometimes these meanings are broad social and cultural references; other times, these meanings focus on an individual’s relationship with oneself.
ALL DOLLED UP: BEADED ART DOLL COMPETITION is more than a beauty pageant. It is a design competition. The Competition will take into account the Artist’s intentions and how well these are incorporated into the design.
Enter to Win!
Entering is easy.
1. Provide 4 color snapshots AND 4 color slides or .jpg image files of the
following:
a. One snapshot AND one slide or .jpg image file of a Frontal View
b. One snapshot AND one slide or .jpg image file of a Back View
c. One snapshot AND one slide or .jpg image file of a Side View
d. One snapshot AND one slide or .jpg image file of a Detailed or Closeup View
that somehow illustrates some aspect of Technique(s) applied
If submitting a .jpg image file, scan or digitally photograph each view at a resolution of at least 300 dpi.
2. Write a short story (not more than 1,000 words) about your Beaded Art Doll, beginning with the following sentence:
I explore my beadwork with my fingers and all my senses. I feel my doll’s creative aura – "One hundred years from now,” I say, “when someone picks you up and holds you, they, too, will be at one with the Season of….
Give your story a Title. You may also provide a Name for your Art Doll; otherwise, the title will be used as the name of your Art Doll in promotional materials.
The story should reflect how the Artist made choices about form, proportion and balance, scale, color, texture, pattern, mechanics and assembly, focal point, pose and expression, beading technique(s), beading and other materials, and accessories. It should reflect the development of the Artist’s ideas and their implementation. It should anticipate how the Artist wants the viewer to react to and/or use the doll.
3. Develop a list of materials used, a description of the doll-form used or created, the dimensions of the Art Doll (length x width x depth), and a list of technique(s) applied.
4. Mail these four snapshots AND four slides or .jpg image files, along with the short story and supporting written documents by August 15th, 2004, to All Dolled Up: Beaded Art Doll Competition, Land of Odds, 718 Thompson Lane, Ste 123, Nashville, Tennessee, 37204.
From the entries submitted, six (6) finalists will be selected. Photos of
their Beaded Art Dolls will be placed on the Land of Odds web-site. Visitors
to the web-site will be asked to vote for the best designed and appealing Beaded
Art Doll. Based on their votes, a Grand Finalist and a Runner Up will be selected
and awarded prizes.
In addition a CD ROM will be created that includes the images displayed on
the web-site, with full credit to the Artists, as well as judges’ commentary
and other supporting materials. This CD ROM will be available for purchase
by the public, and a free copy will be given to each of the Semi-Finalists.
You may view Official Rules on-line at http://www.landofodds.com/store/alldolledup.htm . Or, you may obtain a copy of the Official Rules by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope to All Dolled Up: Beaded Art Doll Competition, Land of Odds, 718 Thompson Lane, Ste 123, Nashville, TN 37204.
____________
OnLine: Land of Odds - The South's Most Unusual Shop
In Nashville: Be Dazzled Beads
School: Center for Beadwork & Jewelry Arts
718 Thompson Lane, Ste 123
Nashville, TN 37204
615-292-0610; FAX: 615-292-0610
oddsian@landofodds.com
http://www.landofodds.com