Southern Highland Craft Guild Object Jury

The area in which I live has a wonderful Folk Art Center, right on the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is home to the Southern Highland Craft Guild. Don’t be deceived by the word “craft” in their name – the members of this guild are some of the most talented in the Appalachian mountain region. Back in September, I submitted photos of my work into the first of two parts of the application process. To my delight, I received notification not long after that I had been accepted into the Mixed Media category (jewelry is reserved for members who make jewelry only, using precious metals – I not only use other materials, I make things that are not jewelry as well).

Coming up later this month is the second part of the application process – the object jury. This jury will “evaluate the submitted work for mastery of skills and craftsmanship within the designated media category, as well as design and composition…” I must choose exactly 5 of my pieces to be the best representation of my current work and deliver them to the Folk Art Center where they will be judged by the Standards Committee. They will be looking for a recognizable style within the work.

I am having such a hard time choosing my 5 pieces! I am almost positive that the first one will be Elemental, my bead embroidered wall hanging:This piece is 16″ x 16″, not counting any of the matting or frame, so it’s pretty big! I am not sure that submitting this piece with 4 pieces of jewelry constitutes a “style” but I don’t see  how I could not include it.

For the other four pieces, I have so many choices! There are a couple of pieces that I would consider submitting, but I no longer have them: Celtic Watch was given as a Christmas present last year and Chimera’s Tear Embroidered Cuff was sold this past summer.

One more must-have is Coronet, I think. Even though the original blue zircon version is the one that Interweave used in Beadwork last month, I prefer the fall colorway (luckily, Susan hasn’t gotten annoyed with me yet that I still have her bracelet on loan LOL):My latest bracelet, the Spring colorway of Daydream Garden, is currently one of my favorites:I think maybe I have to include Lunar Eclipse. It includes several beadweaving techniques, netting, herringbone, and peyote stitch.Principessa is gorgeous… it’s the same technique as Lunar Eclipse, so I’m not sure I should include both. It does have the beaded end caps, though:I may have just enough time before the submission deadline to borrow this necklace from its current owner, my friend Pam:I really like my Concave Pyramid Earrings. I’ve never seen anything quite like them. Hopefully I can write the pattern for them soon.And then there is Infusion, which incorporates spiral herringbone and beaded beads:Last but not least is the Purple Haze colorway of Vertigo:So, as you can see, I can’t make up my mind!!! I would love to get some input on what you think I should submit and why you think those pieces represent a similar style. Thank you in advance!