new girl...a little about me

Welcome Tammy! Warning! The people on this group know too many places to shop.

I'm an occasional poster, and from Calgary as well. I'm afraid I didn't make it
down to the grounds this year to see the needlework. What piece did you enter
in the needlework exhibition?

Dora


(Tammy - Calgary)

Hello everyone

Thought I would tell you a bit about myself. Of course I read three
of the monica ferris novels and heard about this newsgroup and was
very intrested.

I am 26 years old. I have been cross stitching for 10 years and have
over 86 projects completed. (and no I don't own them all)

My greatest joy in doing cross stitch is for about 5 reasons
1. It relaxes me
2. I get to collect some pretty neat stuff
3. To see the faces of the people I give my projects too
4. I get to meet with new frinds and do the same thing they like to do
without them thinking I'm crazy
5. and the best of all I get to admire my own work and always strive
for better

I entered my first competion this year at the Calgary Stampede, I had
done Water Tiger by Kustom Krafts. I receive a lot of compliments, but
did not place. My stitches weren't the same tension. I now just
learnt how to railroad so maybe next year I'll place (I hope).

I am a Pharmacy Technician for Safeway and I am originally from Sault
Ste. Marie Ontario.

Hope to talk to some of you and become friends.
Tam

(Karen C - California)

I also like comparing when one has done it "straight" and the other has been
innovative (viz., The Karen putting hologram thread in everything), and
wondering whether the judges gave the second extra points for creativity.

OTOH, there's frequently the confusion of why an exquisitely-worked, complex
small piece of stitchery doesn't even rate an honorable mention and an
amateurish rendition of a large chart gets a ribbon. (We're talking 11-count
Aida, stitches crossed any-which-way, inconsistent tension, the only thing
the
thing has going for it is MLI's artistry in charting it - versus 36-count,
drawn-thread that The Karen can't find anything to nitpick)

I've heard criticisms before with regards to local competition that prizes have
been awarded more for the content than the actual working of the piece. I have
no idea whether it is true or not, but it seems to be a fairly common
complaint. Of course this brings up the issue of how judges are selected in the
first place. Personally you couldn't pay me enough.
Dora

(Mirjam Bruck-Cohen)
just so that nobody jumps and flames me about my opinions , this has
been discussed before.
I like your comparing this to a piano competition, in fact is a
genious comparisson. Maybe you are aware that Israel has a wonderful
International competition named for Arthur Rubinstein , And at the two
last times , great public debates go on about the choice made for 1st
prizes ,,, is the 100% perfect Technical Pianist a better choice than
the Ones who play with Heart or a bit of private feelings in the
music.
Well mirjam, I used to get (somewhat) indignant about people entering
needlework made from a commercial pattern into exhibition,
Maybe the oirganizers should define it differently ????
And Say they are judging Technical skill , not creativity .
That is a slippery slope, because creativity will always enter into the making
of a thing, even when following someone else's pattern. Again, using the piano
analogy, there are people who are technically perfect, but do not play with any
'soul'. The judges look for both. Creativity is always difficult to judge, and
I am not sure it should be, but I would rather see a technically perfect piece
with creativity in its execution than one that just followed the pattern
directions and recommendations for fabric selection, etc. (down to the frame
used in the model).


i just show a year art exhibition of the local artists house , at the
end of which a City prize is given ,,,,, i was not very happy ,.
amongst many original works some done Excelent some less , there were
several works that were `copies`of other KNOWN artworks .... What do
they think they are doing ????
I would tend to agree with you, unless they took the known artwork and adapted
it somehow to needlework rather than a pictoral transcription.

Speaking of competitions, I'm off to the garden competition tour today! It's
going to be a wet one.
Dora


I look at it more now like a piano
competition, where people are judged on their interpretation and workmanship
rather than the piece's artistic merit - rather like a piano competition.

I think original work should have its own category and not compete directly
with commercial designs because I feel different skills are being measured,
but
I believe it's up to the entrants to determine the category they want to
enter.
Dora

Was this all the Judges`s concern , i know some friends who creat
their own xst or petit points from looking at a person or a photo ,,,
without any problem .... I myself have already worked several real
faces [ including my own ] in several techniques ,,, and no computer
was involved ,,,, i take a small photo and LOOOOOOK than make a sketch
on math paper ,, which helps me work later ....But of course i do not
make complete pictures i work on ceratin Features , on general
outlines etc..... for one person i managed to incorporate the letters
of his name into his Profile...
mirjam

"Dawne Peterson"

I was a bit startled to see a what was photochart of a wedding picture
winning a prize in the original design competition here.
I think some competitions don't accept them. I had a conversation with someone
a while back who said she had a customer who had submitted a cross-stitch of
her son, and had difficulties because the judges would not believe she had not
used a computer program.
Dora

I don't know if there were other concerns. This lady had worked and reworked
the piece several times to make it perfect, but had done it herself from graph
paper. My understanding was that when she was done, it was close enough to
photo realism that the judges thought she must have used electronic means. I
think this was a few years ago too, so attitudes may have changed by now.

As for trends towards reproducing photos of loved ones etc. in cross stitch, I
think that has been going on for quite some time. The only difference is that
more people have computer programs instead of getting someone else to do it for
them.
Dora

(Mirjam Bruck-Cohen)

Was this all the Judges`s concern , i know some friends who creat
their own xst or petit points from looking at a person or a photo ,,,
without any problem .... I myself have already worked several real
faces [ including my own ] in several techniques ,,, and no computer
was involved ,,,, i take a small photo and LOOOOOOK than make a sketch
on math paper ,, which helps me work later ....But of course i do not
make complete pictures i work on ceratin Features , on general
outlines etc..... for one person i managed to incorporate the letters
of his name into his Profile...
mirjam

"Dawne Peterson"

I was a bit startled to see a what was photochart of a wedding picture
winning a prize in the original design competition here.
I think some competitions don't accept them. I had a conversation with
someone
a while back who said she had a customer who had submitted a cross-stitch of
her son, and had difficulties because the judges would not believe she had
not
used a computer program.
Dora

Same song, new verse: My DM got a lower grade on the dress she had
made in a HS sewing class because she did not use a boughten pattern.
She saw a design she liked and made her own pattern. ; ) (1930 grad)

Barbara T

On 11 Aug 2004 03:45:39 GMT, ospam (Bungadora)
wrote:

I don't know if there were other concerns. This lady had worked and reworked
the piece several times to make it perfect, but had done it herself from graph
paper. My understanding was that when she was done, it was close enough to
photo realism that the judges thought she must have used electronic means. I
think this was a few years ago too, so attitudes may have changed by now.

As for trends towards reproducing photos of loved ones etc. in cross stitch, I
think that has been going on for quite some time. The only difference is that
more people have computer programs instead of getting someone else to do it for
them.
Dora

(Mirjam Bruck-Cohen)

Was this all the Judges`s concern , i know some friends who creat
their own xst or petit points from looking at a person or a photo ,,,
without any problem .... I myself have already worked several real
faces [ including my own ] in several techniques ,,, and no computer
was involved ,,,, i take a small photo and LOOOOOOK than make a sketch
on math paper ,, which helps me work later ....But of course i do not
make complete pictures i work on ceratin Features , on general
outlines etc..... for one person i managed to incorporate the letters
of his name into his Profile...
mirjam

"Dawne Peterson"

I was a bit startled to see a what was photochart of a wedding picture
winning a prize in the original design competition here.
I think some competitions don't accept them. I had a conversation with
someone
a while back who said she had a customer who had submitted a cross-stitch of
her son, and had difficulties because the judges would not believe she had
not
used a computer program.
Dora











--
Barbara T

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention
of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved
body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used
up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ------

" WOW--What a Ride!! " __Steven Wright


WIP: Superstition Mountains by Jean Lanning

My opinion is worth little, but I'll offer it, anyway. :-)

In knitting, patterns are ages old. So, there's no originality there.
By your using them in different and unique ways, that becomes art
provided the end result is pleasing. I would think that in knitting
"shows", one would also have to come up with a new "shape" as well? It
would depend. An afghan is an afghan, but sweaters can be stylish.
Although I've seen some that I wonder why anyone would wear them. grin

The same can be said for embroidery. There's only so many ways to make
stitches, and with few exceptions, it's all been done before. What is
important is the way you combine them, the color and fabric choices. I
just did a block of Greek cross and it would make a beautiful background
for something like Brazilian, some stumpwork, or ribbon work. But only
because of the fabric choice. A different fabric, a different result.

A cyberfriend has been working on tile patterns. He's also done
designing for Kogin. Learning how to make good designs, even in
geometric patterns, is an art.

I'm so sorry to hear of your lost possessions. That is heartbreaking.
Dianne

Texasxsgal1 wrote:
Joan,
I agree with you about original designs. when I was living in Thailand, Idid
an orginal desing of one of the te,ple ruins. i use a plain, ordinary photo
(from one of those cheap point and shoot type cameras) After it was developed,
i made a graph. Then I staarted stitching, adjusting the graph and selecting
colorsas i went. It took me auite a fews months to get this finiished.
UnfortunatleyI lost it when I returned to the states andmost of my belongings
did not (long story and lost friend)
original means all (or at least most of designing is your own. what is a gray
area to me iswhen i take things from several different sources and arrange them
my way (this is mostly done in knitting, take aran patterns fromseveral sources
and put them together in afghan for example. I'm not sure that I would call
that original, but I did select the pattersn and the vision is my own. I just
did not invent or create the patternsthemsleves.
OK all y'all whaddya think? Is this orginal design or not?? and I will not be
offended by the answers, am just curios to see what all y'all think
kathy
san antonio

The stitcher could have enlarged the photo and traced it onto graph
paper. Where does that fall in the originality continuum?

Joan Erickson wrote:
Suzanne wrote:

I don't know a thing about what's good or bad in design contests, so
forgive my ignorance. What's wrong with taking a photo, putting it
through a omputer program, and making a cross stitch picture from it?

There's nothing "wrong" with doing that but for a competition for
"Original Design" there's a big difference, IMO. My opinion (which
hardly matters to anyone! ) is it's because there's a *lot* more work
involved in designing from scratch as opposed to computer-generation
(CG). With CG, the computer does probably 3/4 of the work for
you--laying out and printing a pattern from the existing photo and
choosing colors. The "designer" has only to figure out which confetti
stitches to remove without affecting the overall look.
With a design-from-scratch (DFS), the artist has to actually start
out drawing a design (or have one in their head), choosing the stitches,
deciding on fibers/fabric, choosing colors (which, IME, is *very*
time-consuming!), stitching, all the while creating the pattern, and
then deciding if what you chose is having the effect you want. If not,
frogging occurs.
Yes, you may have taken the picture and yes, you may have done
some/lots of manipulation of the design to get it "right" but, in my
(limited) experience, it doesn't compare to coming up with just the
right stitch or, even harder at times, just the right color combinations.
There's a lot more "heart" or "feeling" in a DFS, IMHO. I've
noticed I have purchased very few CG designs just for that reason. If I
want a "photo", I'll take a picture.
Now, for those of you who have had more designing experience than
me, how close does this match your idea of "original design"?


--
Brenda
"Nothing...I got nothing for sale."

Rhiannon wrote:

The stitcher could have enlarged the photo and traced it onto graph
paper. Where does that fall in the originality continuum?
I'd say closer to "original" because you'd only be starting with a
basic outline. The stitches/fibers/colors haven't been chosen for you
as in CG.

--
Joan

See my first-ever design he
http://www.heritageshoppe.com/joan.jpg

"Stitch when you are young and poor, frame when you are old and rich."
- Elizabeth's (rctn'r) sister's MIL (Barbara Marr)

when i take things from several different sources and arrange them my way
(this is mostly done in knitting, take aran patterns fromseveral sources and
put them together in afghan for example. I'm not sure that I would call that
original

I would. In fact, I do. As Dianne has mentioned, the actual pattern stitches
are age-old, it is in the fresh combination that the originality lies.

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.