Article by Bronwyn Boyer

When Kristi Bails isn’t designing interiors, she can be found on her potter’s wheel. Inspired by the natural surroundings of Port Sydney, she recently launched her own ceramics studio, Spruce and Sand.

With a master’s degree in design and architecture from Carleton University, Bails’ work is born out of the aesthetic balance between function and creativity. Working with clay not only scratches her creative itch but it also gives her a career edge; when she needs the right pieces for a design vision she has, she simply makes them.

Bails rediscovered her love of ceramics after she graduated from university. “I had been working at an architecture firm a few years ago and after a while I started feeling stuck,” she recalls. “I really wanted to do something that involved working with my hands. In school we built models and did all sorts of things like that and it was something I really missed doing.”

Bails is originally from Guelph, Ontario, where she had her first pottery class at Guelph, Community Pottery Centre.

“There’s a big pottery community there, so I was pretty into it when I was younger,” she recalls. “I also took some classes for fun for about a year when I was in university. I think it was something that had been missing in my life for a long time.”

When Bails moved to Muskoka in 2019, the lack of pottery studios in the area forced her to take a break from the craft, which didn’t sit well with her for too long.

“I finally just bit the bullet and decided to build my own studio,” she says.

Bails’ parents had a cottage in Muskoka, so she and her husband would visit them from Ottawa on weekends. They fell in love with the area and decided to settle in Port Sydney, after Bails landed a job with an architecture firm in Port Carling. Currently, Bails works for Paige Elizabeth Interiors in Huntsville, which allows her to work from home.

Spruce and Sand Ceramics began with very simple and minimal equipment. “I started with my own really cheap wheel,” says Bails. “And I worked with it for a couple years as I just kind of was getting back into the groove of things. It made me realize just how much I love it and that I really wanted to keep doing it. I bought an old kiln on Facebook marketplace from a potter who was updating to a new one. Then this past Christmas my husband updated my wheel for me. I’ve been pretty much fully set up for a year now.”

The tricky part is sourcing materials. Since there are no suppliers in Muskoka, Bails drives down to Pottery Supply House in Oakville for her clay.

“It’s quite the trek, so I load up,” she shares. “I buy 10 boxes of clay, which is enough to last a couple months.”

Bails explains there is a very subtle difference between potters and ceramics artists.

“It’s the same process, so it really comes down to design,” she explains. “In large studios, there are potters who work for ceramic artists to make their designs. But if you’re making your own designs, then you’re both.”

All the pieces Bails makes are her own design. She cites her other career as the main inspiration for her creations.

“When I’m picking things for people's houses, I’m looking at vases, sculptures and dinnerware,” she explains. “Since I see so much of that already in my work, it’s always on my mind while I’m at the wheel. I really love how much overlap there is between the hands-on creation of the pieces and the final result of seeing them incorporated into my designs.”

Bails is also inspired by the natural beauty of Muskoka.

“I named the studio Spruce and Sand because of its surroundings,” she says. “With the beach nearby and being surrounded by trees, I think it represents my work quite well.”

The process of making functional ceramics requires knowledge, skill and patience. The biggest challenge potters face when learning is the struggle to be in control of what happens when the clay is spinning on the wheel.

“When you’re learning, you try to make something in particular and it always turns into something else,” says Bails. “I think the first thing I made actually was a really tiny dish. I was trying to make a bowl but it ended up being more of a jewelry dish. That’s what happens because by the time you’ve finally managed to get it into the right shape, you’ve lost a lot of clay.”

Ceramics can certainly be frustrating at first, as it takes a lot of practice before a piece will match a potter’s intention.

“You have to be in the right mindset and try not to have too many expectations,” Bails explains. “And then it can be really fun. It’s therapeutic, once you release the need for control and get in the zone.”

A lot of “happy accidents” are made on the potter’s wheel. As with every other artistic medium, sometimes the most innovative results emerge from those mishaps.

“Sometimes a piece turns out completely different than what I intended but it’s even better than what I was trying to do,” Bails shares. “Sometimes the best thing is to just keep an open mind and let the pieces create themselves.”

These are often the pieces that become diamonds in the rough. Spotted in markets and craft shows for their striking originality, they’re more valuable than anything mass-produced. “I’ve had discounted pieces that are imperfect and I didn’t think anyone would want them,” recalls Bails. “But those often end up being pieces that people like the most.”

Bails can process about 50 items at a time, depending on what she’s making. Plates can be made in higher quantities because they can be stacked with spacers in between in the kiln, whereas only about ten flower vases can be made at a time.

“Personally, I want everything in my home to evoke a little bit of originality,” she continues. “I think it’s important to have quality items over quantity. I know it can be a lot more expensive, but it’s worth it to be able to have something that no one else has. I also think it’s important to have pieces that you hand-picked because they have something that you were drawn to. It personalizes your space and makes the difference between a house and a home. Also, for some reason, I find handmade dishware makes everything taste better.”

Considering this, it’s no surprise that Bails made all the plates for her own wedding this past year. Not only did it make the occasion more memorable but it also gave her a lot more plates to sell.

After pieces are shaped, they need to dry for about a week, until they’re what’s called “leather hard,” because they have the texture of leather. Then they can be trimmed, by putting them back on the wheel and taking off all the rough parts.

“That’s when I can really clean them up and make them look more professional,” Bails explains. “That’s when I can really start shaping a piece and seeing what’s it going to look like. And if I’m making something with a handle or any other attached piece, that’s when I attach them. For instance, if I’m making a mug, once I trim any imperfections off, I can really see the exact form of what it’s going to look like, so I can decide what type of handle would look best.”

To attach the handles, Bails uses a process she remembers from grade nine art class called “score, wet and wiggle.”

“Basically, you score both the piece of pottery and the handle by putting little grooves in it with a scoring tool, which has little metal prongs on the end,” Bails explains. “So, you score both of the pieces that you’re attaching and then you wet both of the pieces with a mixture of clay and water. And then once you have both of the pieces scored and wet, then you push and wiggle them together and kind of blend it all out from there.”

Once that’s done, the piece must dry slowly, wrapped in plastic to keep a steady moisture level to prevent cracking. “It’s the most vulnerable part of your pottery, attaching two pieces,” says Bails. “To make it as strong as possible, you really have to protect it to make sure it dries slowly enough.”

Glazing is the next process. The first kiln firing for glazing is called the “bisque fire,” which heats the clay until it turns pink, which means it’s strong enough to apply the glaze. This takes about twelve hours.

Bails buys her glaze pre-mixed and applies it with a paintbrush. There are many different colours and natural textured or speckled glazes to choose from.

“There are tons of different ways that you can glaze,” Bails says. “If you were to just do one layer, it would be a bit transparent after you’ve put in the kiln and fired it. But if you do two or three layers, it can look like a solid colour.”

After the pieces are glazed, they go back into the kiln and are fired at an even higher temperature for fifteen hours. Each kiln is a little different but Bails’ kiln reaches just over 2,000 degrees.

During this phase, it’s important to put “kiln furniture” in between the stacked pieces, otherwise they’ll stick together. The bottoms of the pieces are left unglazed so they don’t stick to the shelves in the kiln.

There is a large variety of hand tools used by potters when shaping and carving their pieces but Bails keeps her collection pretty minimal.

“My most important tools are definitely a good sponge to keep things clean and soak up extra water,” she shares. “Also, I use a plastic straight surface tool when I want to make an angled piece or a sharp edge and a wire cutter to cut the bottom of the clay so that it comes off the wheel easily. Then there are a few trimming tools that I use to add different textures, patterns and grooves at the leather hard stage.”

Currently, Spruce and Sand is too small to be open to the public but Bails hopes to be able to build a new studio on her property that would allow her to offer small classes.

What Bails loves most about her craft is the escape it offers from day-to-day pressures. “It’s a really good way to get out of my head,” she shares. “I’ve always been someone who stresses a lot about things that really aren’t that important. Pottery takes a lot of focus, so I get into a zone and that takes my mind off everything else. When I’m on the wheel, I can’t get up and my hands are covered in clay. I can’t get side-tracked into anything else, so it’s pretty good therapy.”