At a gala celebration dinner held June 5 during JCK Las
Vegas, Rio Grande honored grand prizewinner Wayne Meeten and 12 category
winners of the 10th annual Saul Bell Design Award competition. Meeten, of
London, won in the Hollowware category for Stepping Stone, made using the
Japanese technique of shibori. His win also garnered a $10,000 gift certificate
from Rio Grande.

Second place in Hollowware and a $1,000 Rio Grande gift
certificate went to Michael and Maureen Banner, Monterey, Mass., for Spinnaker,
a contemporary tea service.

First place in the Gold/Platinum category and a $2,500 Rio
Grande gift certificate went to Jason Dow of Honolulu for Mandala Keepsake
Ring. Second place and a $1,000 Rio Grande gift certificate went to Navanit
Anvekar, Cliffside Park, N.J., for Platinum Puzzle.

In the Silver category, first place honors and a $2,500 Rio
Grande gift certificate went to Robin Waynee, Chimayo, N.M., for Rolling
Tahitian Pearl Bracelet. Heather Bayless, Seoul, took second place and a $1,000
Rio Grande gift certificate for her Look and See brooch.

In the Metal Clay category, first place and a $2,500 Rio
Grande gift certificate went to Wendy Wallin Malinow, Portland, Ore., for her
Song and Eggs necklace. Second place and a $1,000 Rio Grande gift certificate
went to Angela Baduel-Crispin, Ploemeur, France, for her Oh! Ring.

In the Beads category, first place and a $2,500 Rio Grande
gift certificate went to Renee Menard, San Diego, for her October 07 necklace.
Second place and a $1,000 Rio Grande gift certificate went to Pallavi Dudeja
Foley, Bangalore, Karnataka, India, for 3-Space.

In the Enamel category, first place and a $2,500 Rio Grande
gift certificate went to William Brinker of Boulder, Colo., for Kaleidoscope
Pendant. Second place and a $1,000 Rio Grande gift certificate went to Falcher
Fusager, Fairfield, Calif., for a brooch named Metamorphosis 3.

The 2010 panel of judges included Valerie Fairchild, Cody
Sanderson, Pat Pruitt, Ellen Knight, Scott Patrick, Carolyn Benesh, Whitney
Sielaff, Linda Kaye-Moses, Ronda Coryell, and Geoffrey Giles. They reviewed
hundreds of submissions and selected 30 finalists before choosing the 12
winners.

Contestants chose any of six categories as the foundation of
their pieces and could add stones or materials as long as the category material
remained at least 75 percent of the finished design.

Rio Grande presented more than $30,000 in prizes and awards
during the gala. Winning pieces may be viewed online at www.saulbellaward.com.

JCK