COMPETITION CATEGORIES FOR WOODCARVERS - All SKILL LEVELS
Novice-Entry level carvers with less than two (2) years’ experience; carver must move up to Intermediate Level after winning three (3) blue ribbons or Best in Show, Novice Level; Intermediate-Carvers whose skills exceed the Novice Level; carver must move up to Advanced Level after winning either five (5) blue ribbons or Best in Show, Intermediate Level; Advanced-Carvers whose skills have advanced beyond the Intermediate Level. Carver must move up to Master Level after winning Best in Show or Runner-Up, Advanced Level; and Masters-Carvers who have won blue ribbons in the Advanced Level in a major competition. Carving and painting skills should exceed the Advanced Level. Carver must move up to Excellence after winning Best of Show, Masters Level; Excellence-Carvers who have attained the highest skill levels and have won blue ribbons in a major competition. Professional carvers, teaching carvers, and carvers making significant money from the sale of their carvings, and carvers who have won Best in Show at a Master Level at a major competition must enter this level.
All category numbers should be preceded by N, I, A, M, E (Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Masters, Excellence) depending on carver’s skill level. So, a novice carver should enter a woodburning as N2B1 or a master would enter a painted hawk as M5C2.
Category 1: Relief Carving
1A1 - Landscapes, Seascapes, Flowers; painted
1A2 – Landscapes, Seascapes, Flowers: natural
1B1 - Architectural (buildings, bridges, acanthus, etc.); painted
1B2 - Architectural (buildings, bridges, acanthus, etc.): natural
1C1 - Humans (single or groups, including religious); painted
1C2 - Humans (single or groups, including religious): natural
1D1 - Animals, Birds, Fish; painted
1D2 - Animals, Birds, Fish: natural
1E1 – Miscellaneous; any finish
Category 2: Chip-carving, and Woodburning
2A1 - Chip-carvings; Any Finish
2B1 - Woodburning; Any Finish
2C1 – Bark Carvings
2D1 – Cypress Knees
Category 3: Realistic In-the-Round Animals (excluding birds and fish)
3A2 - Domestic/Agricultural; painted
3A3 - Domestic/Agricultural; natural
3B2 - Animal Heads/Busts; painted (includes mammals, birds, etc.)
3B3 - Animal Heads; natural
3C2 - All Other Animals; painted
3C3 - All Oher Animals; natural
Category 4: Fish, Aquatic Creatures, Reptiles and Amphibians
4A2 - Fish; painted (any fish, fresh or saltwater, using gills to breathe)
4A3 - Fish; natural
4B2 - Aquatic Creatures; painted
4B3 - Aquatic Creatures; natural
4C2 - Amphibians and Reptiles, painted
4C3 - Amphibians and Reptiles, natural
Category 5: Realistic In-the-Round Birds (excluding miniatures)
5A2 - Waterfowl, painted (ducks, swan, geese, etc.)
5B2 - Shorebirds & Seabirds, painted (herons, storks, cranes, limpkins, ibises, flamingos,
rails, oystercatchers, avocets, stilts, plovers, sandpipers,woodcocks, snipe, coots, gallinules,
godwits, loons, grebes,cormorants, shearwaters, petrels, frigatebirds, jaegers, gulls, terns)
5C2 – Birds of Prey (Raptors); painted (caracaras, eagles, falcons, hawks, kestrel, kites, osprey,
owls, and vultures)
5D2 - Game Birds; painted (grouse, guinea fowl,partridge, turkes, quail, pheasant)
5E2 - Perching Birds, painted (blackbirds, bobolinks, cowbirds, crows, dickcissels,
grackles, kingbirds, kingfishers, larks, longspurs, magpies, meadowlarks, nighthawks, pipits,
ravens, shrikes, swifts, catbirds, chats, crossbills, cuckoos, flycatchers, gnatcatchers,
grosbeaks, scrub jays, kinglets, orioles, ovenbirds, parrots, pewees, phoebes, raven,
redstarts, siskins, tanagers, thrashers, thrushes, towhees, vireos, warblers, waxwings,
woodpeckers)
5F2 - Town & Garden Birds, painted (bluebirds, bluejays, buntings, cardinals, chickadees, finches,
juncos, martins, swallows, mockingbirds, nuthatches, robins, sparrows, hummingbirds, starlings)
5G2 – Decorative Smoothies, painted Must be wood and show realism, creative postures, and
decorative painting.
5H2 – Miniature birds; any finish (size or less; no more than 8" in any direction)
Sub-miniatures: 2.5 x2.5 x2.5 inches or less
Category 6: Realistic In-the-Round Humans (includes religious figures)
6A1 - Human torso or bust; any finish
6B1 – Human full figure: any finish
Category 7: Caricatures In-the-Round
7A1 - Single Figure, any finish
7B1 - Group Figures, any finish
7C1 - Bust, Head, or Mask. any finish
Category 8: Stylized
8A1 - Human, any finish
8B1 - Animals, any finish
8D1 - Fish; any finish
8D1 - Abstract, any finish
8E1 - Miscellaneous; any finish
Category 9: Ornamental, Whittled, & Religious (includes mythological)
9A1 - Carousel Figures, any finish
9B1 - Canes or Walking Sticks, any finish
9C1 - Whittled, any finish (all subjects; check definition of “whittled”)
9D1 - Religious, any finish (motifs, emblems, symbols, etc.)
9E1 - Mythological, any finish (Fantasy, Extinct, Santas, Kachinas)
9F1 - Flower. any finish
9G1 - Miscellaneous
Category 10: Miniatures (any subject; NO birds)
10A1 - Miniature, any finish (half size or less, not to exceed 8” in any direction)
10B1 – Sub-miniature, any finish (2.5” x 2.5” x 2.5” or less)
Category 11: Cocktail "Floaters", painted or natural. Open to ALL skill levels.
Anything that floats (birds, boats, mermaids, balls, etc.). Must float upright and must
fit within a 3 1/2" circle. Main portion of the carving must be made of wood. The
bottom may be either flat or keeled. Awards for 1. Funniest, 2. Most Original, and 3. Best Waterfowl.
Excellence Division:
No categories, judges will be looking for the best of the entire group entered.
Entry Rules and Requirements:
1.Carvings having won 1st place awards in this show previously may NOT be re-entered.
2.Carvings having won 2nd, 3rd, or HM awards may be re-entered.
3.Carvers may compete in one skill level only; no limit on # of entries in a category.
4.All entrants must submit an entry form properly filled out and signed by the carver. Please give us your email address so that we can keep you up-to-date on changes to our show and informative newsletters.
5.All carvings MUST remain on the viewing tables until 4:00 P.M. on Sunday.
6.Entrants who cannot attend personally to deliver their work, can delegate someone to enter or
pick up his carving(s) with written authorization.
7.Carvings must be made of wood. Other materials may be used in a subsidiary manner.
8.Relief carvings should be submitted with a stand for table display.
9.Each entrant will receive a numbered card for each carving entered. This card must
accompany the carving when delivered to the show on Friday before noon!
AWARDS
- For Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, and Masters Levels:
Best of Show, First Runner-Up, and Second Runner-Up Cash Awards .
First, Second, Third, and Honorable Mention ribbons will be awarded in each category, dependent upon the judges’ discretion and the number of entries in each category
- Excellence Level Only:
Best of Show
