David shaner biography ceramics artists

"I have always tried to distinguish myself by working at my art rather than being distinguished."

David Shaner

David Shaner in his studio.

Photo by Marshall Noice, courtesy of the Shaner family archives, published in Following the Rhythms of Life: The Ceramic Art of David Shaner

The first time I came across David Shaner's name - his last name, anyway - was when I began teaching high school ceramics.

David shaner biography ceramics artists

Among the buckets of cone 10 glazes I inherited was one labeled Shaner's Gold, which turned a wonderful brown, and one marked Shaner's Red, which of course turned green. Obviously this Shaner guy had to be one of the founding fathers of ceramics, and he must've known a thing or two to get that muck to fire red.

I added his name to my glaze vocabulary along with Leach and didn't think much more about it, still busy trying to figure out which end of cone 10 was up.

A few years later, after I'd begun appreciating Japanese pottery and collecting the occasional cup, Shaner's name ju