Halloween Cabochon Competition 2009

[glow=red,2,300]Halloween Cabochon Competition 2009[/glow]

Now that the Portland Regional is over, I wanted to do something a bit different. I competed in cabochons at the show and wanted to capture the essence of what it is like to compete in an AFMS judged event. Hope you enjoy.

[glow=red,2,300]Prizes (4 total): [/glow]For each category, I will cut a cabochon for the winner from material within my premium cutting stock. Some more prize details are given below. I have a huge range of material including Bat Cave, Blue Biggs, Deschutes, Willow Creek, Rocky Butte, Rhodochrosite, Vistaite, Nyedigger plume, Owyhee jasper, Bruneau, Sunset agate, and the list goes on....

[glow=red,2,300]Categories:
[/glow]1. Novice/Beginners: This category is for folks who have just started cutting cabs within the last year or two. This must be a traditional cab with a domed top and at least one plane of symmetry (i.e. oval, circle, square, etc.). The winner of this category will get to select the material used for their prize from my stock.
2. Advanced/Masters: This category is for those who’ve been cutting cabs for awhile and have started making advanced shapes (i.e. concave edges). This category has no restrictions on shape, but the cab must have a domed top. The winner of this category will get to select the material used for their prize from my stock. The prize will reflect the difficulty level of this category.
3. People’s Choice: Once the competition is closed and the other two winner’s announced, I’ll allow members to vote for their favorite stone in each category. The prize material will also be selected by RTH voters from a list provided by me. The winner’s of the other two categories will be excluded from this category.

[glow=red,2,300]Rules:[/glow]1. One cabochon/entry per person. Competitors must have joined RTH prior to the start of the competition (i.e. now). The stone must have been cut and polished by you without having been tumbled. The back of the cab does not have to be polished or displayed. The slab source doesn’t matter. No intarsia, doublets or triplets in this competition (i.e. stone cut all from one slab). The cab must be stand alone/"naked." (i.e. no set/mounted/wrapped stones)Please note what category you're entering on your post.
2. Maximum of three pictures per competitor/entry (i.e. one cabochon per RTH member with a maximum of three pictures). Post your entry in the "Halloween Cab Competition 2009 Entries" thread.
forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/index.cgi?board=comptime&action=display&thread=33487
3. You can edit your entry as many times as you’d like prior to competition close on [glow=red,2,300]midnight, October 31st[/glow] I’ll provide scoring feedback once in Mid-October.

[glow=red,2,300]Judging:[/glow]Maximum score is 100 points. Contestant with highest point total at the end wins. Ties will be decided by a second judging round. Mushy and I will do the judging on November 1st. Winners will be announced then and People's choice voting will be opened up on this thread.

[glow=red,2,300]Point Breakdown: [/glow]
1. Quality of Material: (25 points) Refers to color, color pattern, freedom from flaws; the stone should be a good example of the material chosen; Rarity does not matter.
2. Workmanship: (45 points) Shaping, symmetry, polish; you’ll need to stage your pictures well to demonstrate these. For the advanced category, difficulty of the shape will be highly considered.
3. Showmanship: (20 points) Ability to use the stone, background, lighting, arrangement, and labeling to create images to attract and hold the interest of the viewer.
4. Labeling: (5 points) At least one image needs to have a label depicting material type and location.
5. Halloween theme: (5 points) This is the wild-card, but can be background, material, labeling, etc..



...shine on...