Hi All
Just an opinion but they all should stay. It has already made me think out of the box. My entry is proof of that. I am into doing calibrated stones.
Bless Shawn
That sounds great. Personally, I think calibrated is way more difficult than carving. In carving or free-form, one can use what one is given, but anytime you are calibrating things, the material has to conform to specifics. Something that, I for one, find extremely hard to do.
By the end, everything comes down to personal appeal. Carvings or inlays might take a while versus cabs being done in a few hours or couple of days, but all need to achieve a balance in order to get that special something that attracts people in the know, as well as average consumers.
While I stay away from prized contests, I found that I am willing to try harder to achieve more when partaking in friendly challenges, and that's why I rarely if ever, missed the contests on the forum for the first 4 years.