Smoke, Clay, and Repetition. Nathalie Prévost on building a life in pottery

cgoucher
Apr 20
4 min read

In 1995, Nathalie Prévost answered a small newspaper ad looking for help in a pottery studio. She had touched clay in high school and remembered it being fun. She was hired on the spot.

Nathalie Prévost is a ceramic artist in Canada known for her smoke fired pottery practice. A few years later, laid off, she opened the phonebook, called three potters listed under clay, and built the foundation of what would become Barefoot Potter Studio.

Nearly three decades in, she still spends days outside wrapping vessels in flowers, herbs, horsehair, salt, and oxides before setting them on fire in a metal can. Some pieces come out spectacular. Some come out terrible. She loves both outcomes.

When did you first realize that clay was something you wanted to pursue seriously?
I answered an add in the paper back in 1995 for a potter that needed help in the studio with decorating painting and mixing glazes. I had done some clay work in high school and remember thinking that it was fun! She hired me on the spot. I think it’s just because we got along really well. And then from there, I just taught myself. I bought an ancient kick wheel to teach myself how to throw. Two years later, she laid me off. I remember going home and telling my husband that I knew it was something that I should keep going with, and so I called the three people under clay in the phonebook.:)

And one lady was actually looking for someone to help with her pottery business and teaching classes. She hired me on the spot and that’s how my teaching career started as well as selling and potting full time! And then the Barefoot Potter Studio was started in 1998.
What’s a moment you remember when you realized your work was connecting with people outside your studio?
My first show was in 1997. It was one of the Waterloo potters workshop sales. I had become a member to start selling through one of their shows. I remember thinking everybody else was so much better than I was so what the hell was I doing in there haha but then I noticed my work going through the cash area and being bought. I remember the first things I was making were these huge ass hand built bowls with grape designs on them … humble beginnings. I think my sister still has one :)
When you start a new piece, what guides the first idea?
Depending on what I’m making, if it’s functional work (mugs, bowls etc.) then it’s just repetitive motions of making the things people have ordered through wholesale.

If it’s my smoke fired work, which is my love and enjoyment!!

I’m always looking for nice organic shaped vessels. Both types of work are very earthy and just usually flow through my hands without really thinking about it.
What part of your studio routine helps you stay close to the work when life gets busy?
When you have your own business, you need to know how to separate life and work so I go into the studio every day just like a regular job I guess. I have a studio at home and I have a studio at Globe Studios in Kitchener as well. I find that helps when I get super busy with orders and shows it’s nice to have a separate spot to go to!
What’s a challenge in your practice that changed the way you work?
Unfortunately I had to change the way I throw on the wheel because certain things are getting really hard on my body. It’s unfortunate, but most potters usually have issues with carpal tunnel, tendinitis, tennis elbow just from the repetitive motion and the heaviness of clay. Mind you it’s not gonna stop me. Haha
When you feel creatively stuck, what helps you come back to making?
I’m not sure if I would use the word stuck to explain this but I find if I get stale and it’s all the same stuff that I keep making especially when it’s wholesale orders and you have to make 600 mugs gak. But I’ll take a day or two to make some smoke fired work, which usually consists of large lidded vessels or cauldrons which makes me extremely happy :) So after two days of doing the fun stuff I’ll go back to making those mugs haha

Bonus Question: What’s a small moment in the studio that never gets old?

I've been making smoke fired work for 23 years now. I still find it as exciting as I did when I first started. Once I’ve made the smoke fired pots and they go through the bisque which is the first firing. Then I’ll get them ready to be smoke fired, which is a day spent outside wrapping the pots in flowers, herbs, horse hair, salt, and oxides things like that and they go in my metal can. I start it on fire and I stoke that all day I’ll keep adding wood and things like that in the bucket. I get to spend the day outside which is awesome! And then I pull the pots out and that’s always so exciting for me to see the results. Sometimes they’re really terrible it’s like yikes!! Other times they are just spectacular!! Those are my fun days!

The part that stayed with me was her tending the fire.

Adding wood. Waiting. Pulling pieces out without knowing what she’ll get.

There’s something honest about that. You can control the setup, the hours, the care. Not the result.

Some days are yikes. Some are spectacular. You keep going anyway

Want to see more of Nathalies work? Check out her website: https://www.thebarefootpotter.ca/

This series grows through word of mouth and the creative people who nudge me toward the next conversation. If someone comes to mind whose creativity inspires you, send them my way.

Until next week, Christine