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2011 Caricature Carvers of America Annual Competition and Seminar

By Bob Travis

The last week of August is the time for the CCA annual competition and seminar in Converse, IN. The competition is open to all caricature carvers except CCA members and their families. For 2011 there were 176 entries from throughout the US for the thirteen categories. The judging was handled by CCA members Phil Bishop, Vicki Bishop, and Dennis Thornton. The quality of the entries has improved every year since the inception of the competition, and that trend certainly continued in 2011. In fact, the judges reported that because of the exceptional quality of the entries the judging process required nearly a day and a half to complete.

Best-of-show and a $300 prize was claimed by Ryan Olsen of Melba, ID for his Opera Man. Top carvers typically devote considerable time to researching their subject matter before beginning a carving. Ryan fits the bill here as in addition to being an excellent wood carver, he is also an extremely talented opera singer. Second Best-of-Show and a $200 prize went to Vern Parrish of Charlotte, NC for On the Level. Sandy Smith of Lakeview, AR won Third Best-of-Show and a $100 prize for Cereal Killer.

Ryan Olsen and Sandy Smith received an additional surprise; both have been selected as the newest members of the Caricature Carvers of America. Congratulations to Ryan and Sandy for their selection.

First ($50) and second ($25) place winners from the 13 categories were, respectively:

Single Human figure under 10", Vern Parrish and Rusty Johnson.
Single Human Figure 10" and Over, Ryan Olsen and Roger Stegall.
Group Human, Steve Dunham and David Borg.
Single Animal, David Borg and Richard Belcher.
Group Animal, David Borg and Robert Hershey.
Group Mixed, Sandy Smith and Ward Makielski.
Santa, Steve Brown and Roger Stegall.
Relief, Bruce Futterer and Werner Bock.
Miniature, Doug Wilson and Steve Brown.
Bottle Stopper, Ron Dowdy First and Second (and Third).
Bust, Corey Hallagan and Bart Wilson.
Miscellaneous, Don Morris and Bart Wilson.
Rough Out, Edsel Johnson and Ron Kincanon.

Plans are underway for our 2012 competition. We encourage all caricature carvers to take part in this yearly event. The deadline for receiving entries will be August 22. Details are posted on the CCA web site.

Immediately following the 2011 competition the judges held the CCA annual three-day caricature carving seminar. Thirty-nine students, in groups of 13, carved one day with each instructor. The dates for the 2012 seminar are August 24-26. P.J, Driscoll, Steve Prescott, and Tom Wolfe will serve as the competition judges and seminar instructors for 2012. As of this writing we still have a few openings in the seminar. Please see our web site for seminar details including candid photos of the 2011 seminar.