[MR] A&S issue

[Gerita della Mara]

Enough time has passed that I hope I can address this calmly.  I 
certainly could not at the time.

I have entered several A&S competitions this past year.  I have not 
entered with the plan of winning, but just for the fun of "putting my 
stuff out there" and maybe getting a few pointers from those who are 
ahead of me in a craft (and there are many).  At least twice, 
competition rules have said "Documentation encouraged" one even added 
"but not necessary".  I found that interesting in the light of my work 
being scored (at zero) for the same documentation that was stated to be 
not needed.

Again, I would beg judges to recall their early efforts in the Medieval 
Arts.  Comments I have received have been nasty to the point of 
discouraging me to participate any further and take my art into a deep 
dark corner all by myself.  Since I've spent nearly 30 years in and out 
of the SCA, teaching much of that time, I cannot see how that could be 
considered encouraging to participants.  This last competition was 
amazing in that regard.  The utter rudeness of judges' comments....with 
not one constructive thing offered...was really off-putting.

The really hard-to-swallow bit of this is that I hear the above comments 
from many people, the great majority of which are, or should be, 
artisans of note.  But they are not.  Why?  Because they've quit letting 
their fellow SCAdians see their work for fear of more harshness, more 
not following the published rules, etc.

No, I will not name names, nor events.  Otherwise, I'd like to 
participate in an effort to stop this sort of stuff.

Still dreaming...

Gerita

-- 
Gerita della Mara Seneschal, Barony of Highland Foorde Chamberlain, 
Their Excellencies Siegfried and Francesca