Episode 35: MFCA 2023 and some "judging" discussions with Barry, Jim, and Greg DiFranco

The scene in one of the display rooms at MFCA 2023 as artists and enthusiasts were just beginning to filter in. (Photo by Penny Meyer)

On May 5 and 6, your hosts once again traveled to the outskirts of Philadelphia for the 80th Annual Show sponsored by the Miniature Figure Collectors of America, one of the premier exhibitions of miniature arts in the U.S. In this episode, Barry and Jim offer some thoughts on the show recorded after the fact, as well as some live recordings amidst all of the fun on Saturday morning—an audio vérité first for Small Subjects!

Since the process of judging remains a mystery to many artists who’ve never availed themselves of the opportunity to shadow/apprentice judge at one of the shows under the Open System, the idea was to offer more insight into the sorts of conversations judges have while assessing some truly incredible displays. Together with master miniaturist Greg DiFranco (interviewed here way back on Episode 8), Barry and Jim formed a mock “judging team” (that is, they weren’t actually judging while recording, nor were they mocking anything) to assess the work on display by three stellar artists: fantasy painter Erik Swinson, Greek sculptor and painter Christos Panagiotopoulos, and Gold-Medal fantasy and historical painter Mike Hilleary.

As we explain in our introduction to this segment, the actual team of three judges assigned to any given area (Fantasy Painters and Open/Original, Historical Painters and Open/Original, and Ordnance Painters and Open/Original) look at the work on display by each artist, come to a consensus in discussion about the piece they think is the strongest and which will give the artist the highest award, then individually score those pieces for a Certificate of Merit (1 point), Bronze (2 points), Silver (3 points), or Gold (4 points) medal, ideally without comparing their scores. For our purposes, we each talked about our favorites by Erik, Christos, and Mike, then waxed rhapsodic—or at least tried to—about what we loved about them. As always, any group of three judges will see the work from three different and unique viewpoints, and it’s always rewarding to hear those thoughts.

The list of awards at MFCA can be found here, along with the slide show from the awards presentation, which includes some additional photos of the work we discussed, and all of the other Gold-Medal pieces. Unless otherwise noted, the photos here are by the great Penny Meyer (our guest on Episode 4). Thanks as always for listening, and whether you were at MFCA, or you’re just getting a sense of the show virtually by listening to this episode and reading this blog post, we hope it does for you what it did for us: giving us that great burst of renewed energy to get back to the workbench, putty, and paint!

“Blaine Bloodhoof” by painter Erik Swinson and sculptor Joaquin Palacios, a Gold-Medal winner in Fantasy Open and the Best of Show Fantasy winner.

The stunning display in Historical Open/Original by Christos Panagiotopoulos (photo by Jim DeRogatis).

The Christos piece Greg and Jim chose to “judge” at top, “L’ Amour” (photo by Jim DeRogatis), and the one Barry was first drawn to below, “Draconarius of Excubitores Guard” (photo by Paul Tomczak from the MFCA Awards presentation). The latter won the Gold Medal in the actual judging, but every piece Christos showed prompted an enthusiastic, “Wow!”

Christos with Penny Meyer and the Day of the Dead sculpt he did for her. We can’t wait to see her paint it!

Above: Mike Hilleary’s display. Once again, our mock judging team deviated from the piece that won Mike a Gold: “Erika.” (Photo at top by Jim DeRogatis; photo below by Paul Tomczak from the MFCA Awards Presentation.)

Here’s Mike’s Marilyn bust, which your “judges” would have awarded a Gold (crappy zoomed-in photo by Jim DeRogatis).

Just a few more favorites. Above: Gary Baker’s “Alas” (an Historical Painters Gold; look at that hair!) and…

Mindy Moore’s “Dragon Priestess,” which won a well-deserved Silver medal in Fantasy Painters, and...

“Hungary, 1945,” Greg Cihlar’s 1/16 vignette (photo by Paul Tomczak from the MFCA Awards Presentation). Greg, a guest on Episode 28, was honored as this year’s MFCA Grand Master.

Best of Show Historical, “Defending the Colors” by Bill Horan (photo by Paul Tomczak from the MFCA Awards presentation).

And here’s the Small Subjects Fantasy Bust Group Build! From left, work by Justin Ryan, Gary Baker, Jack Lynch, Jim DeRogatis, Joan Biediger, and Barry Biediger. Didn’t finish your bust in time to show it or didn’t make it to MFCA? No worries! The Group Build is still open and will be on display at the MMSI Chicago Show, Oct. 20-21, 2023.

Finally, as is often said, the biggest reason to go to any miniatures show is the camaraderie of good friends. Here are some photos by Penny of your hosts enjoying the company of Joe Berton and Jack Lynch (top) and Jim Rice, Joe, Joan Biediger, and Scott Baroody (middle), as well as a picture of Greg DiFranco and Jon Harbuck in the Hospitality Suite. (Joe was supposed to get a photo of Greg with your hosts doing their “mock judging,” but he got distracted, so this will have to do! Jon won a Silver Medal for his wonderful “flats box,” “Gassed,” a Gold at MMSI last year, and the subject of an article in the club’s journal The Scabbard, which you can download for free here.)