R D S

NATIONAL CRAFTS COMPETITION

Now that Christmas and New Year are over, floods and snow storms have passed us by (hopefully) its time to make your way back to that studio (shed) and get the dust of those lathes. Seminars are fast approaching and I know some turners will be panicking to get their pieces finished at the last minute. We have accepted pieces into the competition room at the National Seminar that were still wet, and we take the best care not to let anything or anyone stick to them. It’s great to see the enthusiasm of our members bringing their pieces along, and I am sure you will agree with me, that the competition is surely one of the highest talking points of any seminar weekend.

We have another competition we want to tell you about and want to encourage our members to participate .THE RDS NATIONAL CRAFTS COMPETITION is held every year in Dublin and this is a great opportunity for wood turners to take part at the next level. The competition covers all crafts and there is a wood turning category for us turners alone. The honour of receiving a prestigious award at this level can only bring merits to a person, as this competition is recognised world wide. The I.W.G. also sponsors the first prize of €500 in the wood turner’s category every year, and last year we also sponsored a 2nd prize of €250. Now is that not a great incentive to get you thinking? Think of all the lovely gouges and bits and bobs you could pick up with that prize money. Last year we had Seamus Cassidy winning 1st prize, and Brendan Hogg taking 2nd prize. So congratulations to both of them for doing so well, Seamus also won 2nd prize in the overall competition and this is a fantastic achievement.

The wood turning category is not very well supported, unlike some of the other crafts. The number of entrants each year has dwindled so we decided to ask a few questions and try to discover if there was a problem. The main complaint I heard was; people were not very happy with the way their pieces were handled after the competition, when they were being collected. Indeed this was a big concern and a big factor in discouraging participation. We brought our concerns to the RDS sub committee’s next meeting and our concerns were heard. Our then chairman, Chris Hayes volunteered (yeah) to take the task in hand and we did get a good result.

The first round of judging is done with photographs. So when you enter the RDS competition you submit your photos only, with a €15 entrance fee per item. This can be done online, www.rds.ie by post or they can be hand delivered. If you get through this round you will be notified by post and you will then be asked to bring your pieces to the RDS for the final round of judging. When you bring your piece/s to the RDS you should have them wrapped in some sort of protective covering; i.e. bubble wrap or something similar. RDS staff will do their utmost to give every care possible when handling competition items. After the judging is complete the pieces will be rewrapped in the original wrapping and will be ready for collection at a date given by the RDS. The winners will then be notified by post and informed about the prize giving ceremony etc. Last year I entered two pieces for the first time and was very impressed with the professionalism of the RDS team. I would have no hesitation in entering again and encouraging you to enter on a more regular basis.

Great benefits can be gained from entering a competition at this level even if you are not a winner. After a few weeks when all the main celebrations are over, you can contact Sarah Ross (Arts Development executive RDS) and if you wish, Sarah will give you some feed back on the judge’s remarks / comments on you piece/s. As in my own case I found this to be of great value and will try to apply some of the tips in my own work.

So let’s get those lathes turning and the ideas flowing, we want to encourage as many turners to participate this year and keep the craft of woodturning up there with all the other crafts. If anyone has any problems with the competition or if they need any sort of help, please don’t hesitate to contact me. My contact details are on page 3 of the Journal.

Joe Laird
(Vice chairman)