Competition Guidelines
Artist Statement
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The goal of your artist’s statement is to supplement your work and explain or contextualize it for the jury, the judges, and the viewer in an exhibit.
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For FFAA’s competition and exhibition, an artist’s statement of no more than 100 words must include the inspiration for the design, the relationship to the theme, and the story of the piece. Credit should be given to the author, teacher, and artists, etc., who inspired the work and to anyone participating in the execution of the work.
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The following information should be listed at the end of the artist statement: construction details, including materials and technique(s) used, finished dimensions in centimeters (width and height and depth if 3D), completion year, design source information, and consent from copyright holders if applicable.
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Your artist’s statement, in full or in part, may be used in promotion and will be displayed alongside your piece.
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Please do not include names or images on the artist’s statement to assist the blind jurying process; identify with title only. Entries will be selected based on the artist’s statement and the quality of the work in submitted images.
Note: Artist’s statements and pictures will be published in our catalogue. Each artist will receive one complimentary copy of this catalogue.
Sample Artist Statement
The Other Side of the Road
In my recent work, I have been exploring the combination of the conventional and aerial view of the landscape. The scene at the top is a typical view of a wide prairie field. This is combined with geometric shapes at the bottom that represent an abstracted aerial view of croplands. The prairie was surveyed into squares before being farmed by settlers, and this has created patterns in the land.
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Inspiration: Roadside and aerial pictures of the Alberta prairies.
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Techniques: Painted background, machine embroidery, papier-mache geometric fields.
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Materials: Acrylic paint, cotton canvas, cotton and rayon thread, papier-mache fields.
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Original 16” by 36” picture completed in December 2013.
Fall Fall Beautiful Fall
Fall is my favorite time of the year, so I need a jacket to represent that. I used a jacket pattern by Andrea Steell of Calgary for the basic shape and construction, and then I played. The result is a one-of-a-kind jacket showcasing all my favourite fall colours and finishing techniques.
Inspiration: The lovely colours of fall.
Techniques: Piecing, machine and hand embroidery, gold foiling.
Materials: Cotton and velvet fabric, cotton and rayon threads, gold foil, findings.
Adapted 30” by 35” (size 14) jacket completed in September 2014.
Taking Photos for FFAA Competitions
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Digital images between 2MB and 5MB are required. No other media will be accepted.
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Take time to properly set up your photography session. Excellent quality images contribute to the effective selection of the pieces.
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Work in daylight, if possible, for the best image colour. Avoid direct sunlight on your artwork.
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Eliminate background clutter. Drape a white background if possible.
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Ensure that 2D artwork is flat and the shape is not distorted.
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Wearables – Garments should be on a mannequin or model without showing the face.
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Capture the entire artwork in the photograph, including edges or frame.
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Entire image should fill the viewfinder and be taken straight on. To avoid the keystone effect, measure the distance from the floor to the vertical centre of your artwork and adjust the height of your camera so that the centre of the lens is the same distance from the floor.
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Technique must be visible in the image.
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Do not include your name on the image file.
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All image filenames must follow this format: Title_of_the_work_full.jpg or Title_of_the_work_detail1.jpg or Title_of_the_work_detail2.jpg
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There should be no modifications to the image file, including colour correction or filters.
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Entrants agree to allow their images to be used for promotional purposes. Visitors may take photos for personal and educational purposes during the shows.
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Entrants may wish to check the following websites that have step-by-step guidelines for taking good images of your artwork and resizing them for submissions.
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For iPhone users: https://willkempartschool.com/how-to-photograph-your-paintings-with-your-iphone/
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For SLR users: https://www.textileartist.org/how-to-photograph-textile-art
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How to resize your image file: http://www.gloriahansen.com/weblog/?p=6606
Options for Hanging 2D Artworks
Wooden slat in fabric casing with holes drilled at either end of slat and filament looped through.
Wooden slat in fabric casing with screw eye inserted in both ends of slat and filament looped through.