Meet the maker of ATH’s custom ceramic Glean-A-Thon trophies

Volunteer teams who competed in the first inaugural Amaizing Sweet Corn Glean-A-Thon are taking home beautiful trophies handmade by After the Harvest’s own Clay Jarratt. The gleaning network manager — who is also one half of Clay and Wick Co. — detailed his process.

“The awards are individually handmade and each is one of a kind,” he said. “I start with Kansas-dug stoneware clay rolled into a slab, from which I form the plates. I press some clay into a mold to make a 3D ear of corn, attaching it to the plate by scoring each surface and adhering with slip, or watered down clay.

“Each letter of ‘You’re Amaizing!’ is laid out and stamped individually. They are set aside to dry under plastic slowly for about a week (slow drying helps prevent cracking) then bisque fired in an electric kiln to 1800 degrees Fahrenheit. 

“Once cooled each plate is handpainted with six different colors of glaze, including a sparkly metallic glaze in the background. They then are placed in a kiln again and fired to 2160 degrees Fahrenheit, which vitrifies the clay and melts the glaze to the surface. After the second firing certificates are attached to the underside and the awards are ready to be presented.”

See more work from Clay and Wick Co. on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.