Sara Scheuermann started “Steaped Slow Ceramics” (with an emphasis on the “tea”) in early 2019, and sells unique, handmade pottery that can become part of your daily ritual. She recently moved to Peterborough, Ontario, and I had the pleasure of learning more about her business’ philosophies, her creative process, and her community experience in the Kawarthas so far.

AB: What about ceramics appealed to you as a hobby and eventually as a full-time job after your journey of self-discovery?

SS: Basically, I love working with my hands and making physical objects. Clay, like the medium itself, is just a lot of fun to play with. I actually went to school for studio art, where I was making physical art. After I graduated, I needed to find a way to make money, so I pursued digital design. Since I was making digital experiences for the most part, so wire framing, my career was entirely screen-based. At one point, I was in downtown Toronto working in a big, tall building, essentially a big box, on a screen making boxes—and it was just too many squares and I needed to get back into making organic shapes. 

AB: Would you be able to speak on your process of making a piece?

SS: I’ve figured out about how much each piece weighs, so, the first step is to weigh out the clay. Then, I’ll need to wedge the clay, which is a process kind of like kneading dough, where you’re getting the air bubbles out and making sure that the clay is completely consistent. Then, it’s thrown on the wheel—that’s the fun part that everybody likes to watch, like in Ghost and everything like that. It’s also the fastest part of the whole process. After that, I’ll let the pieces dry for anywhere from twenty four hours to a few days, depending on how humid it is. The clay needs to get to a leather-hard state, where it’s more tactile and not as wet, in order to add handles onto mugs, and trim the bottom by adding a foot if I’m making a bowl, for example. After that part is finished, I’ll leave it until it’s at a bone-dry state, where most of the water has evaporated and the piece is the most fragile. At that point, it’s transferred to the kiln, where I’ll do a bisque firing, where the clay is still porous but becomes hardened and less fragile. Then, I’ll glaze it with the glaze that I’ve mixed myself, which is a whole other process, and then I’ll fire the piece again. I’d then unload the kiln when the piece is fully vitrified, sand the bottoms, and it’s ready to go!

AB: If you don’t mind, would you be able to talk a bit more about how you make your own glaze?

SS: Sure! I’ve just started getting into this a little bit more. I source all the raw materials from pottery supply stores (i.e. Tucker’s, Pottery Supply House). Glazy.org is a great resource for different online glaze recipes, as well as a number of books. It’s very similar to baking—you’re weighing out each ingredient, adding them together, adding water, and mixing it. You’re doing a lot of testing, so test tiles, making sure that everything came out as you thought it would. It’s good for cost savings, because buying store-bought glaze, if you’re using a lot, gets very expensive.

AB: And glazing is the part where colour can be added if you’re wanting to, right?

SS: Yes. Even if you’re not wanting to use colour, you can just use a clear glaze on top and the speckles in the clay will show. It adds a glass-like or matte finish to the piece, as well as colour if you’re wanting it. It’s very interesting because the glazes don’t look anything like the finished colour because of the minerals that are used to create the colour, so blues often look pink in glaze. It’s like baking and chemistry, there’s a lot of tinkering involved in changing ingredients, and the kiln temperature that it’s fired at—really just more chemistry than I’m familiar with.

AB: That’s so cool! Thank you for those extra details. I understand that you moved from your hometown of Toronto this past year, how has that affected your business, and how have you been enjoying Peterborough so far?

SS: Actually, moving to Peterborough has allowed me to restart my business. I had been using a community studio in Toronto when I lived there, and was displaced during the pandemic. So then I was a potter without a studio. I got a wheel, but I still had nowhere to set it up, and it’s very messy. I was in a 700 square foot apartment, and I’d moved around trying to find a spot, but it was just very expensive and wasn’t viable for me to find a space in Toronto for my business. 

When we moved here, we were able to get a home with a space for me to use as a studio, which has let me start my pottery back up again. The community here has been amazing. I’ve been able to participate in a few local events and markets, like the Neighbourhood Vintage market and the First Friday Art Crawl. I’ve connected with a number of other small business owners and entrepreneurs, and it’s just such a supportive community. Throughout the past year or so, I have met so many folks who are here to help each other by hosting events or even reposting on social media.

I also finished the Starter Company Plus program offered through the Business Advisory Centre of Peterborough and the Kawarthas, and I was just awarded a $5000 grant through the program.

AB: Oh my gosh, congratulations!

SS: Thank you! The program was really cool, and my group was the program’s tenth intake, so there have been a variety of Peterborough businesses who have gone through it in the past. It’s just amazing to be part of this growing community of small businesses and entrepreneurs. 

AB: Have you noticed a difference in the community formed in a smaller town like Peterborough compared to Toronto?

SS: To be honest, I think back to doing the markets in Toronto and, surprisingly, there was still a small scene there as well. Even though it’s a big city, you start to get familiar with all the folks going to the markets, like the same vendors time after time. I think it’s a small business and artist “thing” to be supportive, so even though Toronto is a bigger city, there are still those little pockets that have that smaller community vibe. 

Within Peterborough, there’s just one larger, but still connected, community. Toronto has a number of different groups and pockets, and once you get involved, you can become a part of it, and I think that Peterborough is the same way. When we moved here, I was working remotely for a start-up based in Austin, so I didn’t get involved in the community at all, but since starting my business again, I’ve been able to interact with other folks and get to know the community a lot better. I feel like there’s this idea that communities are hard to get involved with, but in my experience, it has been welcoming and lovely if you just go into them. Even in Toronto, you just need to find the right people and your community is there.

Often people who own small businesses are there to help each other out. Since I’m a “solo-preneur”, there’s no one else in my business, so I don’t have coworkers or colleagues to lean on, and I find that other small businesses end up being that. Even just through direct messaging and asking for advice, it’s this supportive colleague-type dynamic of doing their own thing but parallel to you.

AB: Since you have a variety of upcoming artisan markets, what’s your process for preparing for these like?

SS: One is to make a bunch of stock, which I honestly feel a little bit behind on right now, because it’s a minimum two-week long process for a finished product to come out. It’s always sort of a guessing game to figure out which products and how much to make for a market. I have my bestsellers, but for some markets, some people are going to be interested in one thing more than another, so what am I going to make and bring into this market in particular? 

Also, this year, I’m doing a few markets that involve a new setup. In the past I’ve done a display on top of a tabletop, but this year I actually have a booth so I’ve had to figure out how to construct a display for my pottery that I can set up and tear down within a couple of hours and fits in the back of my Subaru. So that’s been a bit of a challenge to figure out, but it’s still been a fun creative challenge to create a sort of “pop-up storefront”.

(There is a video of Sara building this setup on her Instagram @steapedslow)

AB: As the holidays are coming up, what products of yours would make the best gifts in your opinion?

SS: I feel like you can’t go wrong with ceramics or pottery. One of my popular items is my “pinched on the cheek” tumblers that are really fun to hold. These tumblers  paired with a bottle of wine or cider make a lovely gift for anybody on your list. My travel mugs are really rad, they’re great around a home office or going into work. The lid on them is helpful for preventing any spills if you’re working around a laptop. My soap pumps are quite popular as well, they’re beautiful and go with a number of different styles, depending on the home that they’ll live in. I also have some incense holders or planters, which are more specific to people who either use incense or have a lot of plants. The last one would be a mug—you really can’t go wrong with a mug, and mine are particularly nice to hold.

AB: A mug is definitely a holiday gift staple.

SS: Especially a handmade, one of a kind one, right? It’s gonna be this unique piece that, not to toot my own horn, but often becomes the favourite mug.

AB: The idea behind your brand is to create items that can become a source of calm in someone’s daily routine, why do you think that these moments of tranquility are important in everyday life?

SS: Our lives are so digital right now and they’re moving at hyperspeed—we’re inundated by notifications and distractions. All this noise pulls us into the future, which is affecting our mental health and causing increases of anxiety and overwhelm. By taking small moments to pause, slow down, and be present throughout the day, we can help calm our nervous system. 

These daily practices are completely achievable, it doesn’t take up extra time to slow down and be present while drinking a cup of tea, for example. You don’t have to learn a new skill, like meditation or yoga, which are both wonderful and I do them myself, but we don’t always have time to do those kinds of things, and they may not be sustainable during every season of our lives. Simply slowing down for just small moments in the day can become a daily practice that integrates more mindfulness into our experiences to create more ease and calm to mitigate the high-speed of this digital life we’re living.

AB: How do you personally slow down and appreciate peaceful moments in your own life?

SS: I try to live a slow life as often as I can. Like I said, I practice meditation and yoga, but I love going on long walks in nature. I also got a kayak this summer, so I like to go kayaking. The Peterborough area is full of so much beautiful nature, but that’s not always possible, as much as I love to do all of that stuff. Right now especially, the holiday season is like a mad rush, so when I don’t have time for doing that, I like to carve out little moments in my day for slow practices. I slow down, have my tea in a mug that I made, sip it slowly, look out my window, pet my cat, appreciate that little moment in time, and breathe.

This interview has been edited for clarity and concision.

A very big thank you to Sara for her participation in this interview, and an even bigger congratulations on receiving the Starter Company Plus grant!

Pieces from Steaped Slow Ceramics are available for purchase on her website www.steapedslow.com, with free local pick-up from her home in Peterborough, as well as a 10% off deal for people who subscribe to her emailing list.

Sara’s pottery can be shopped in-person at the Modern Makers Market (November 25 & 26), the Kawartha Potter's Guild Annual Holiday Sale (November 24-26), the Neighbourhood Holiday Market  (December 1), as well as some products available downtown at Watson & Lou.