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Jim Story Award: Judging Criteria
Back to About Jim Story Award
JUDGING CRITERIA
  • Cleanliness - up to 5 points
  • Cultural Perfection- up to 5 points
  • Manipulation - up to 5 points
  • Degree of Difficulty- 5 points
 
JUDGING CRITERIA EXPLAINED
  • Cleanliness: Defined as made clean.All visible exterior skin and dirt should be removed from the gourd from the tip of the stem (if present) to the blossom end; including the inside surface of tight knots, spirals, coils, curves and bends. You should not be able to see any skin or dirt remaining on the gourd.
  • Cultural Perfection: “Free of blemishes or damage.”
  • Manipulation: “To manage or control artfully.”
    • Innovation: New idea or Method
    • Uniqueness: Rare, Unusual
    • Green Cleaned (see below)
  • Degree of Difficulty: How hard was it to do?
    • Amount of effort required
    • Homemade mold or purchased mold
    • Number and tightness of coils
    • Two knots straightened out above the other in the neck is more difficult than 2 knots not in alignment
    • Type of knot: single overhand knot (easiest), Square and figure-eight knots more difficult
    • Etching that left a visible pattern after drying and cleaning; attractiveness of design
  • Green Cleaning Scraping the outer skin off the gourd while it was still green is intentionally separate from cleanliness. Jim Story green-cleaned most of his gourds -- but that is difficult to do without the risk of the gourd drying too fast, shrinking and cracking. BE CAREFUL! (But Jim would want you to try).  - See Green Cleaning article on JSA main page
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John Martin (Ohio) 2019 entry
Click to see Jim Story Award Entry Information
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Manipulating Gourds

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  • Home
  • Join
  • Magazine
    • Quarterly Contests
    • Back Issues
  • Chapters
  • Calendar
  • Gourd Growing Tutorials
    • Sellers: Seeds, Gourds
    • Growing
    • Harvesting
  • Crafting Techniques
    • Pyrography
    • Crafting Resources
    • Crafting Tutorials
  • Judging
    • List of Judge Instructors
  • Artistry Award
  • Jim Story Award
    • JSA-Eligibility/Entry
  • History of Gourds Around the World
  • Crafting Contests
  • About