On Friday 10 October, the day assigned for judging all the entries submitted to the NSW 22nd Annual Ceramic Art Show, Marilyn Wentzel lead a team of nine other judges, one of whom was a specialist in hand-building. Several days after the Show was over, she wrote this report for our web site:-

"Entering the exhibition hall you are dazzled by the hundreds of sparking pieces of ceramic art.

As all the entries are staged within their particular categories the job of judging is not so difficult as it first appears.

As judges who have been judging for many years, some not so many, we would like to compliment the committee on this year’s Ceramic Art Show.

The standard of the pieces was once again very high. We never cease to be amazed at the imagination and time people are prepared to invest in their entries. The judging this year was a sheer pleasure and I think all the judges agreed that it was certainly less tiring than it has been in previous years.

Sadly, some of the visually exciting pieces lose points on closer inspection, for less obvious flaws, such as poorly cleaned greenware, and this affects the outcome of the awards.

We hope the entrants were delighted to see their work on display, regardless of winning a prize or not.

Overall a great Show. The committee of the CAA should be proud of the success of this Show."

signed (on behalf of the judging team)

Marilyn Wentzel, Chairperson of the team on the day.

Marilyn is a Master Judge and is Coordinator of Judges in NSW. She volunteered her services to any CAA Member studio that would like to have a judge visit and talk to its students about making entries for Shows in the future. A talk could cover such topics as "what makes a winning piece?"; "why so many competition categories and what does each one mean?"; "what category to enter my piece into?". Such visits are usually most relevant and useful a few months before the next Show is to be held

If any studio would like to take up this offer - please e-mail the CAA with your request, or contact Marilyn direct on (02) 9533 5581 (business hours).