"I have always tried to distinguish myself by working at my art rather than being distinguished."
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. 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 jumped out at me again, this time attached to some work being shown at the Nevica Project. I couldn't resist a shino tea bowl that spoke clearly of the nature of the material and the maker, and the traditions and culture of ceramics. I know nothing else first-hand about Shaner, but in that one tea bowl he embodied enough for me to appreciate and be inspired by for a lifetime.
If you're not familiar with David Shaner, besides perhaps the name on a glaze bucket, treat yourself to finding out a little more. The retrospective exhibition and book of his work, Following the Rhythms of Life: The Ceramic Art of David Shaner
Even if you never quite get how to fire Shaner's Red glaze in your kiln - or perhaps because of the challenge of doing so - the life and work of David Shaner offer enrichment to those who pause and enjoy.
tea bowl, c. mid-1980s, wood fired, white shino glaze, 4 x 4 1/4 in.
