(Photo courtesy of Sara Mills)
Sara Mills
A profile by Heather Paterson
When Sara Mills sinks her hands into clay, she feels a primal satisfaction. “I love to feel my hands forming a piece," says the ceramist, whose work is currently on display at Studio Georgeville (20 Carré Copp, Georgeville). "They have an intelligence of their own. I like to leave the marks of my hands and fingers on a piece, so whoever owns it can see my mark.”
With her husband, fellow ceramist Michel Louis Viala, Mills makes affordable kitchen and dining stoneware, which forms the basis of their income and clientele. They work together on the design and production at their Pigeon Hill studio, and through the years have established a strong customer base. “Our stoneware is often a client’s first introduction to hand-made pottery,” says Mills. “We have developed lasting relationships with many people who come to the studio to buy it.”
Of course, both Mills and Viala do individual work as well. Mills works in raku, making hand-built sculptures and pinch pots.Raku requires a special clay, which is mixed with sand to reduce the thermal shock of going from a propane-fired kiln heated to one thousand degrees Celsius directly into straw or sawdust. Mills uses a copper or other oxide glaze, which crackles in the sawdust; when the smoke enters these unglazed cracks, it creates the beautiful black tracings characteristic of raku.
Mills particularly enjoys “le bonheur dans le hasard”—the happy surprises that arise from the unknown elements involved in raku. Decades of experience have reduced the number of surprises for Mills; nevertheless, her finished products always have an element of chance that delights her and results in the uniqueness of each piece.
Lately, Mills’s sculptures have been based on the idea of balance—balance in our individual lives and balance in the global environment: One of the pieces being shown at Studio Georgeville is of a woman juggling kitchen and office ware, expressing how women need to balance many elements in their lives. Other sculptures include pea-pod boats and fish—creatures that can only thrive in a healthy and balanced marine environment.
Mills, who was born and raised in London, England, was strongly encouraged by her parents to appreciate art; during her childhood, she made frequent visits to museums and art galleries with them. One of her aunts, who owned a gallery, was a potter. Mills moved to Canada at the age of nineteen, earned her undergraduate degree in fine arts and education at Concordia University, and then worked in pottery, serving many apprenticeships. Over thirty years ago, she and Viala set up their studio Les Ateliers Pluriel Singulier. Together they have taught many aspiring potters and helped to kindle awareness of the skilled artists in the area. They have given workshops at their studio, and, as part of the provincial government's Artists in Schools program, have travelled to communities throughout Quebec, including the Cree Nation of Nemaska, to teach children. Sixteen years ago, along with painting-on-silk artist Sylvie Bouchard, they launched the Tournée des 20, an annual autumn studio tour that acquaints the public with the work of twenty or so local artists, as well as an invited artist.
Mills has exhibited in Canada, France, England, and the United States, and won an award of merit at the 2011 Fireworks Exhibition for a set of nesting bowls. She is represented with one of her floating clay spheres water installations in the book 500 Ceramic Sculptures, Contemporary Practice,Singular Works, published by Lark Books in 2009.
After a long history of working with clay, Mills remains as enthusiastic as ever about her chosen medium. “It bothers me when I’m too long away from working with clay. It is the basis of my well-being and brings balance to my life.”