David Shaner

David Shaner studied with ceramic masters Charles Harder, Ken Ferguson, Dan Rhodes, and Ted Randall at Alfred University when earning his M.F.A. degree. He taught at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana for several years and then moved to Helena, Montana where he joined Ken Ferguson in running the Archie Bray Foundation. He started by teaching classes, firing kilns, and mixing clay while making functional, utilitarian pots. He guided the foundation through a financial crisis in the 1960s and raised funds to purchase the foundation grounds and facilities. Through National Endowment for the Arts grants, The Bray was able to award residency grants to potters from around the country, including Western New Yorkers Peter Jones, Val Cushing, and Wayne Higby. It became a vital Western facility for ceramic artists.

In 1974 Shaner developed a black, metallic manganese crystal glaze, which he named in honor of the pueblo potter Maria Martinez. Other glazes he developed reflect his name: Shaner’s Red and Shaner’s Gold. In 1978 he received an N.E.A. Craftsmen’s Fellowship to research wood-firing techniques. He traveled to Lima, Cuzco, and Machu Picchu in 1984 to study Peruvian ceramics.

Admiring smooth bedrock formations along the Oregon coast, Shaner translated this simplicity into drape molded pots that he called “pillow forms.” He contrasted the visually soft character of the pot body by cutting distinctive patterns into the top. He said, “By cutting geometric openings, the inside became important…. I liked the contrast of the strength of the geometry of the opening with the softness of the organic form. The space around the pot became as important as the form of the pot.” Later he added thrown cylinders on top and called them Chimney forms.

Keenly attuned to nature, the artist drew connections between life and art, stating: “My pots are not about risk taking. They are about serenity—clarity—simplicity. Some people like to climb mountains, I like to walk through meadows of wildflowers.”