SGCD's 2005 Discovery Awards highlight outstanding achievements in decorated ceramic and glassware.

The Society of Glass and Ceramic Decorators (SGCD) sponsors the annual Discovery Awards competition to recognize outstanding decorated ceramic and glassware design and technical achievements, and winners are honored during the awards banquet at the annual DECO trade show and seminar. The 2005 competition featured entries from 23 companies in 22 design and 10 technical categories. In categories where both glass and ceramic items were submitted, two awards were presented to allow the glass and ceramic entries to be judged separately.

All entries were displayed in SGCD's Discovery Room during DECO 2005 in Orlando, Fla., April 2-5, and winners were selected by a panel of judges who reviewed each category and chose winners by consensus. This year's judging panel included Wendy Kvalheim, president of Mottahedeh & Co., Inc., New York, N.Y.; Jim Keegan, an independent consultant; and Rebecca Bushner, owner of the color consulting firm Unlimited Color, Tuscon, Ariz. In addition to the design and technical awards, SGCD also presented Fenton Art Glass with the Vandenoever Award and Judges' Award for overall merit for a hand-painted crystal lamp shade, which also won a design award in the "Lightingware, Glass" category. (See the related article on Fenton Art Glass for more details.)

Photos and brief descriptions of each of the 2005 Discovery Award winners follow.

Discovery Awards for Excellence in Design

Food Containers, Glass:

Libbey, Inc.

"Snowflake" canister featuring direct screen printed white enamels and satin etching.

Beverage Containers, Glass:

Serigraphie Richford

One of a series of Jack Daniel's commemorative "Gold Medal" decanters, this bottle features screen-printed glass enamel and precious metal inks. The star was applied with a UV-cured glue.

Containers/Vases, Ceramic:

Stephen Billy

Wheel-thrown stoneware vase fired at cone 9/10 (reduction). The entire vase was dipped in black glaze, dried, and then over-dipped in a matte yellow glaze to create the final glaze effect.

Commercial/Architectural Glass:

Beyrand

Ceramic decals printed for the decoration of the convention center in Clermont-Ferrand, France.

Commerical/Architectural Ceramic:

Leipold International

Wood-look ceramic tile decorated with Leipold International's all-over wood open-stock decal design.

Specialty Promotional/Premium Glass:

Custom Deco

Acid-etched "House of Blues" glass with a resist design and multi-colored direct screen, enhanced with an organic feather spray.

Specialty Promotional/Premium Ceramic:

Homer Laughlin China

Spa plate created with a blend of matte and metallic finishes. The crackled rim is designed to emulate the all-natural mud treatments offered by the spa.

Novelty/Souvenir Glass:

Libbey, Inc.

"Gaming Set" direct screen printed glasses.

Novelty/Souvenir Ceramic:

The Allen Co.

Set of four 11-oz, blue, two-toned ceramic coffee mugs direct screened on two sides using three ceramic colors imprinted over a ceramic and iridescent color blend. "New Jersey Audubon Society" was direct screened underneath the design.

Collectible, Glass:

Fenton Art Glass

"Horses in Moonlight" vase, decorated by J.K. Spindler. A vinyl mask made by Signs Now was applied to the favrene vase, and the exposed favrene was sanded away to leave the finished design.

Collectible, Ceramic:

Beyrand

Four-color process decals printed for the Bradford collection of candleholders, "Eyes of Midnight."

Artware, Ceramic:

Leipold International

Butterfly plate featuring a decal produced by Leipold International. This product is designed and sold by Mottahedeh, Cranbury, N.J., and is produced at the Vista Alegre factory in Portugal.

Lightingware, Glass:

Fenton Art Glass

Crystal shade decorated by Dave Fetty. The shade was hand painted inside and out with 12 colors of water-based paints, and the inside was airbrushed with three colors of water-based paints. This entry also won the Vandenoever and Judges' Awards for "Best of Show."

Lightingware, Ceramic:

Commercial Decal of Ohio

Lithophane lamp decorated with a 14-color reverse-printed decal.

Innovation, Glass:

Custom Deco

Glass decorated with vacuum metallization, an organic metal fleck spray and a one-color direct-screened image.

Casual Tableware, Glass:

Libbey, Inc.

"Summer Stripes Iced Tea Set" featuring four-color decoration applied through direct screen printing.

Casual Tableware, Ceramic:

Libbey, Inc.

"Berry Vine" hand-painted dinnerware.

Formal Tableware, Ceramic:

Decoritalia

"Jade" dinnerware decorated with an on-glaze, waterslide decal printed in bright platinum and metallic colors.

Food Service, Casual, Ceramic:

Syracuse China

The "Pantone Collection," designed with Pantone International for Fishs Eddy, features six- and seven-color hand-applied decals.

Semi-Formal Tableware, Glass:

Libbey, Inc.

"Tropical Leaves" featuring a one-color satin etched design applied through direct screen printing.

Semi-Formal Tableware, Ceramic:

Decoritalia

"Rosa" pattern designed with photography to reproduce a red rose in a four-color process using an on-glaze, waterslide decal developed for the open stock market.

Food Service, Formal, Ceramic:

Homer Laughlin China

"Steak House" plate decorated in gold luster, designed to convey modern sensibility combined with meticulous craftsmanship.

Discovery Awards for Technical Excellence

Direct Printed Glass:

Moderne Glass

Intricate design direct-screened on a 13-oz blue optic paneled presidential glass coffee mug using four screens and two firing processes. The detail and crispness were captured from a simple line drawing.

Indirect Transfer, Glass:

Heinrich Ceramic Decal

"Cool Fish" clear glass wine bottle with a full-wrap waterslide decal composed of heavy-metal-free colors.

Indirect Transfer, Ceramic:

Heinrich Ceramic Decal

Photo reproduction-quality small-format waterslide decal applied to a collectible fine porcelain ornament.

Hand Decorated Glass:

Fenton Art Glass

Ruby case vase made by casing ruby over milk glass. The top was cut, and the outside of the vase was sandblasted. An ultrasonic wash was used to create a smooth finish, and the decoration was applied in layers of white enamel paint. The decorated vase was then kiln fired slowly to prevent cracking.

Hand Decorated Ceramic:

Libbey, Inc.

"Fall Fruit" hand-painted dinnerware.

Grit/Sand-Etched Glass:

Leipold International

Glass etched plate designed for the Rosenthal Group. The plate was decorated using a sandblast resist mask produced by Leipold International.

Grit/Sand-Etched Ceramic:

Beyrand

Haviland & Parlon's "Hibiya" collection, decorated using highly sophisticated sandblasting technology and Beyrand decals.

Custom Tile, Glass:

Phylum International

Centripetal Art™ by Gloria Jeanne Kintner. Each tile was decorated with an open-stock waterslide decal and printed with a shared set of screens using four-color processing.

Custom Tile, Ceramic:

Decoritalia

"Picnic," a waterslide, four-color process decal on a panel of ceramic tiles. The decal was designed for the open stock market.

About SGCD

SGCD was founded in 1963 and now serves a record number of decorators and vendors to the decorating industry. Approximately 300 attendees participated in the 2005 show and technical seminar in Orlando, Fla., which included the Discovery Award program. The 2006 program will take place March 26-28 at the Flamingo Hilton in Las Vegas, Nev. For membership and 2006 Discovery Award entry details, call SGCD at (740) 588-9882 or visit http://www.sgcd.org.

Editor's note: All photos in this article are by Andrew Wagner, Andrew Wagner Photography, Sewickley, Pa.