Meet Cora Smith Waite | Tilemaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cora Smith Waite and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cora Smith, why did you pursue a creative career?
When I was in high school I could not imagine choosing something to go to school for and be happy doing for the rest of my life. I discovered my love for film photography in high school and thought this could be that thing! I always loved creating anything with my hands, learning a new process. Photography was amazing because I could capture any image and then take it home and watch it recreate in the developing process. It was not the instant gratification from digital photography, you had to patiently wait to see that image again and hope that you captured it the way you remembered. I was enthralled to say the least; I must have been because I do not have any patience. I choose to attend Northern Michigan University to pursue a BFA in Photography. While in art school you are introduced to many different mediums, some closely aligned with your medium and some completely different. I took graphics classes, printmaking classes, jewelry making and ceramics. I was able to take jewelry making my senior year and I remember saying “I would go back to school all over again to pursue a degree in that”. I surprisingly never felt the same way about ceramics, my current medium.

At the time of graduation I had decided I loved the art of photography too much to force myself into making a job out of it. I knew I would not be happy photographing weddings or products or the usual. I ended up applying for an internship in the town I spent all of my summers in. It was working for a pottery shop. I was tasked with doing all sorts of things; waiting on customers, unpacking boxes, learning about different artists work, learning about processes and helping out in the pottery studio wherever I could! A customer had come to the pottery shop just before I started there and inquired about having a tile made, not something that was being done there at the time. They figured out the basics and then put me in charge of making the one tile for the one customer. I used their 40 years of pottery knowledge to help me and LOTS of trial and error. I was hired out of the internship and together we grew Little Traverse Tileworks for the next 8 years. In 2021 I purchased the business and a building in a neighboring town and moved Little Traverse Tileworks to Harbor Springs. We have continued to grow over the past few years. We carry work from 25 other small and local artists.

Thinking back to my college years, everyone told me I should get a ceramics minor since I had a few classes under my belt. “Why would I ever need that?” I remember saying. I feel like I found a medium and a career that blends all of the things that I love. I have to be much more patient with this medium than photography, which is good for me at work and out of work. I get to work with my hands and I am learning something new in my medium at least every week if not more than that. I have spent the past few years crash coursing myself through learning the ins and outs of running a business and have found that is a huge passion. Studying people, buying habits and patterns in business. Never in my young life did I think that I had what it took to make a career out of my art. I was determined to find a job that challenged me and I enjoyed going to every day and I am glad to have created that for myself, with the help of many along the way.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
We specialize in making handmade tile that is influenced by our surroundings in Northern Michigan. We are a very small but might tile making organization. We are 2.5 people who work year round to produce tile that now can be found in shops from Oregon to New Jersey. We create our tile in the traditional arts and crafts style. We create a master tile and then we create a mold out of plaster and hand press the design. Our tiles take 6-8 weeks to produce and go through two kiln firings. We have a large library of designs with a lot of Michigan specific items but also a lot of nature inspired work that can span the nation for customers. We also specialize in creating custom work which can mean a number of things; personalizing an existing design, creating a custom tile with a custom design or tiling an entire backsplash or shower.

Clay is the most humble medium of all, I hear that all of the time and I definitely agree with it. After the first 5 years we were cruising; keeping up with production and creating new designs and gaining momentum. We had significantly less loss over time and then BAM…year 6…all of the sudden every piece is cracking in the first firing or the glaze is boiling in the second firing. We talked to our clay manufacturer and several artists and we spend the next 2 years trying to get to the bottom of this and fix the problem. We changed firing temperatures, changed pressing methods, learned about clay ingredients and glaze ingredients. As I said before nothing happens fast….We actually took every thing we had in back stock and re-fired our bisque back stock…that was like 10 kiln loads. Nothing worked. We finally found out that one of the ingredients that went into our clay had been changed by the supplier to our manufacturer without them knowing. Same ingredient, different sourcing. We made a clean break when we moved locations and started working with a new clay. Any potters out there know how difficult this is, especially within tile. We got samples of 20 different clays from 3 different manufacturers. We had to test all of them for shrink, texture and how our glaze appeared on the finished piece. Each glaze is chemically formulated to interact with the clay to produce the final color that you see. We were lucky enough to find one that was close enough. Our tiles definitely look different now since we are using a whiter clay. We barely notice anymore unless you show us one of our old pieces and we prefer the new now for sure.

We love challenges, that was a hard one so maybe not that hard! Currently we are making a wedding tile (not a first) and a memorial tile (a first). We love that our customers entrust us to be a part of their most important life changes and remembrances. You do not get anywhere with out saying yes and trying to create things, we have created some of our best products from customer ideas and we also have failed as well. We are not afraid to admit that. We have had an incredible first 11 years and cannot wait to see where we get to in the next 11.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We live in a somewhat rural area so the best things to me are getting outside! In the summer we would go for boat rides and swimming, hiking in the shoulder seasons and cross country skiing in the winter. We would either go to Pour in Petoskey for dinner and drinks and Bar Harbor or the Pier restaurant in Harbor Springs. We love Boyer glassworks, they blow glass and are a stones throw from our studio. Hanni Gallery is in town as well and has a great variety of art from all over!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would not be where I am today with out all of the help, mentorship, learning and encouragement that I received from the Andrews Family and my time at Sturgeon River Pottery. They taught me all about clay, kilns, glaze and all general pottery knowledge. They also taught me about business, how to run a successful one. They have been in business creating pottery for 40+ years and are a staple in our community. Family always comes first and I always felt honored to be a part of their crew. I spent 8 years working alongside them, helping them create their pottery and creating my tiles in the same space. We shared studio space, kilns, glazes and knowledge. I will be forever indebted to them for the time and care they took making sure I appreciated this work that we do, that I understood the humble nature of this art and all that they taught me. I definitely dedicate my shoutout to them and hope that they know I can never put my appreciation of them into words.

Website: littletraverse.com

Instagram: littletraversetileworks

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cora-smith-2a4625b0/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LTTileworks