Calico Baking Co The

Laurel Ferster attended university as a visual artist and eventually graduated with a BFA in printmaking. It seems a world away from The Calico Baking Company, where she makes beautiful breads and pastries with her friend, Zinovia Hardy.

“Treestone Bakery was looking for an apprentice. I saw the job description and I thought it would be the perfect fit for me and so I applied and got that job. I was there for seven years,” says Laurel. Zinovia has a similar story, where a job search after finishing her degree led her to Treestone. She was rejected initially, but Zinovia was so determined to apprentice at Treestone she wrote a long letter. “I wrote about what I felt about bread and the quality that was lacking in everything around here at the time. I loved and still love the tradition and I was interested in the artistry behind it," she says.

The affinity for bread and baked goods stems from their upbringing — both bakers grew up on farms where baking and cooking played a huge role in their lives.

“For me, it’s a very primal relationship with food. It’s such an elemental, basic human need and to be making the most elemental product that we can consume, that’s a really special connection,” says Laurel.

Zinovia associates breaking bread with family and social bonding. “My connection, coming from a farm family and [being a] German Mennonite, my childhood memories revolve around food. And for my parents, special occasions meant special food. That’s why I can’t stick to a diet!”

Laurel’s art background makes sense in this context: For her, it’s about following a process that requires multiple steps that leads to a finished product.

“But what I like about bread making as opposed to art making is that at the end of breadmaking you consume it. You eat it.”