Judge not, lest ye be judged...Unless they ask nicely!

Hi Ann, I am a relatively new “artist” of watercolor and joined our state watercolor society about 6 yrs ago. I’ve only entered a couple of shows because I’m too intimidated by all the other wonderful artists. Our prospectus clearly state the sizes accepted, the type of “picture hanging” to use, but no where does it state the type of frame to use or not use. In all this time nothing has been discussed about framing being an issue of either getting accepted or winning an award. Live and learn I guess. Thank you so much for this info, not that I will be entering any shows any time soon.

I remember being advised to always go with a simple frame and mat. Let the art work shine and get all the attention, not the frame. They use the same idea in ballroom dancing.. it is the mans job to be the ladies frame and make her the one that shines, reflect the attention onto her. In college a co-student always showed up at the final showing with his work looking like the mat had been cut with a butter knife. Your eye went right to the bad framing. I agree.. make your cuts straight, keep your mat clean.. go for a frame that accents your art.
In judging I believe the bottom line is the piece of art! Good for you Ann for sticking to your guns!!

I’ve even seen it come down to the signature….everything else being equal. Art shows are exciting but but in no way should you take a win or loss personal…the same piece may get the opposite award or non-award at the next show….
Sometimes when they are judged it can depend upon the wall or place that they are viewed or what piece they are next to…it isn,t fair but it is common. I recently had one judge apologize to me later saying if my title of the piece had been clearer it would have won first place….but since she misunderstood the title it didn’t get an award. Still it is exciting with a grain of salt..LOl

I’ve even seen it come down to the signature….everything else being equal. Art shows are exciting but but in no way should you take a win or loss personal…the same piece may get the opposite award or non-award at the next show….
Sometimes when they are judged it can depend upon the wall or place that they are viewed or what piece they are next to…it isn,t fair but it is common. I recently had one judge apologize to me later saying if my title of the piece had been clearer it would have won first place….but since she misunderstood the title it didn’t get an award. Still it is exciting with a grain of salt..LOl

I really enjoyed reading your comments on framing and matting. I have had some experiences in my early entries in juried show and at first my reaction to having works unselected due to presentation I too thought the same as some have commented on here. Such as; if they have ruling on framing and matting it should be mentioned in rules or look at the work and not the frame and so on. Framing and matting can make or brake a painting, especially if piece is a canvas piece, the half inch thick or three-quarter inch type. They look so lost unframed amongst all the other works, terrible presentation of a piece you worked so hard at and then not frame it. Also there are the fabulous watercolours, every detail so well done and bang, outrageous frame, all you see is the frame or a dirty mat, or glass, or worse a piece that looks like it was a do or die by making it fit into a mat and frame too small for it. I have been painting for nearly 30 yrs now and I have learned so much about juried shows and the importance of presentations of your piece. I always tell my students or new club members who are about to enter juried shows; “Just remember that how you frame your piece is a representation of yourself and your club. Do the best that you can for the piece you worked so hard on. Presentation can make or brake it. Go that extra mile and get the best you can afford” it will be worth it in the long run and when you get up there to receive your award; well you know what I mean when it happens. As artists we never stop learning.

Ho-Boy an age old subject. I have found in the years I have been entering shows, to use common sense. YOUR painting will get banged up,molding chipped, possibly fall off the rack, get sticky hand prints on it, FOR SURE get “bumped” around alot—-stacked on—- and sometimes, even stolen. So it just makes sense to use a plain (but well done) frame and neutral mat. You want your art work to stand out, not the framing. But again……the framing should complement the art work. I try to in-between all that. And make sure THERE ARE NO "GOUBBERS’ UNDER THE MAT !!!! Everything shows up in the daylight!!!

I do believe that good sound thinking has to go into the process. Works of art done in Pencil,Watercolor & Pastel need light profile frames. Works done in Oils often need a Canvas Liner. A very small piece of art needs oversized mats to give breathing room.
It is not just POORLY cut mats that we are talking about here.

Hi Ann,
I am so glad you shared information about presentation. Two years ago I entered a colored pencil piece and a graphite piece in our county fair art exhibition. I followed the guidelines exactly about how they wanted them presented as far as the frame and how it was to be hung, but no where did it say anything about the matting so I used a simple mat on both. The graphite piece was matted with an off white mat and the colored pencil piece had a mat that complimented the piece. The graphite piece won 2nd place and the comment I got on the colored pencil piece was “the mat should not have been colored”.
At the time I was very taken back with the thought that it should have been judged for what it was not the framing, but I can see that the presentation is important and I won’t make that mistake again.
I also noticed that none of the colored pieces that were entered (some of them were very exquisite pieces of art work) got a ribbon of any kind. So I talked to one of the people in charge who was a member of the local art league. She told me that most judges didn’t recognize colored pencil as a fine art medium. I hope that will change in our area of the country like it has in other places.

I consider the framing to be extremely important as I want to present my work to show it to its best advantage. Especially if you want somebody to part with good money to buy your work, you must be supremely professional with your presentation.
Gary, you are fortunate that you are able to enter your drawings into local shows without framing them. Here in Australia there is no way your work would be accepted for hanging in community shows without proper framing.

Hi Ann, I was very interested to read about your experiences as a judge and how much the matting / framing influenced your co-judge.Thank you for being candid about the behind the scenes judging criterion. I worked in the picture framing industry for about 30 years, both on a retail and wholesale level. Yes, framing is expensive. The most common problems I see are that people try to"fit" their completed art into standardized precut mats and frames to save money, and in doing so end up with either a mat that is way too small or a mat the isn’t properly proportioned for the artwork it is supposed to be complimenting. Or a frame that overwhelms the artwork instead of being a supportive player. I understand the budget issue, but recommend for a art show, get your mats cut professionally and don’t be skimpy in the mat widths. Absolutely pay attention to being sure all little debris is cleaned totally before fitting the glass. You can ruin the overall look of your beautiful artwork by selecting a gaudy or inappropriate mat or frame. In the end, the goal is to Compliment the Artwork, not wow the viewer with the framing. I agree that staying color neutral is a safe decision, but neutral can still enhance your work, if handled carefully.