Jonathan Kaplan on mon 7 feb 00
I had the privilege of meeting Dave many years ago whenI was san
undgergraduate at RISD. He spoke eloquently, humbly, about his pots, and
spent time with both undergraduates and graduate students talking about our
work.
In my career as a production potter I used his Shaner Red, Shaner Gold, and
Shaner Yellow, or at least they were some variations of the originals. I am
indebted to him for this.
The Studio Pottery article was both sad and enlightening. Those of us who
have been involved in the studio pottery movement for some time all have a
debt to Dave, as he was one of a few who really blazed that trail. I am
saddened by what has happened. When I read his words that
" I can no longer work" it brought tears to my eyes both for him and for
me, realizing how lucky, how fortunate I am to have been graced by his
presence many many years ago. Also, projecting further, how I would feel if
I were in circumstances to utter those same words.
Bless you Dave
Jonathan
Jonathan Kaplan
Ceramic Design Group LTd/Production Services
PO Box 775112
Steamboat Springs, CO 80477
(970) 879-9139 voice and fax
http://www.sni.net/ceramicdesign
UPS: 1280 13th St. Unit13
Steamboat Springs, CO 80487
Barbara Brown on tue 2 jul 02
Dear Clayarters.
I just had a phone call from David's son Cedric that David passed away
this afternoon at his home in Kalispell.
David was one of my favorite potters in the world and a longtime friend.
I will miss him.
Barbara
Barbara Brown phone/fax 408-736-3889
1225 Manzano Way,Sunnyvale,Ca. 94089
http://www.silverhawk.com/crafts/bbrown97
email: bbrown3@webtv.net
Stephani Stephenson on wed 3 jul 02
Paul
I was trying to put into words the way I felt about David Shaner's
passing.
What you said mirrors my own feelings about that wonderful , gentle,
talented man.
When I started in Ceramics in Eastern OR in 1980 he was one of the few
I knew about and whose work I loved.
Later ,when living in Montana, I met him, heard him talk about his work.
He was part of Montana, and the folks up there will miss him.
As an aware person, a sensitive and perceptive artist, a master
craftsman and a teacher
He was a role model for so many
he likely never knew just how many.
You said it well.
Stephani Stephenson
steph@alchemiestudio.com
vince pitelka on wed 3 jul 02
Barbara Brown wrote:
> I just had a phone call from David's son Cedric that David passed away
> this afternoon at his home in Kalispell.
> David was one of my favorite potters in the world and a longtime friend.
> I will miss him.
Barbara -
What sad news this is for all of us. As most of you know, David had
Parkinson's disease, almost certainly contracted or aggravated by breathing
manganese fumes given off by glazes in his gas kiln. David was one of
America's very finest potters, and he did extensive research in glazes for
gas firing and wood firing. He developed some very rich saturated manganese
glazes which are luscious to see and to touch, but in the firing they give
off large amounts of toxic fumes. Alas, through much of David's career we
did not know what we know now about manganese fumes in firing.
David had a magical way of working clay. His thrown and altered forms are
alive - usually with some little modification or symmetrical distortion
which makes them sing. I use slides of his pots in my teaching, and one of
my favorites is a wood-fired covered jar with a rich golden brown semi-gloss
glaze and nice iridescent ash deposits. In forming, the wet pot was
"persuaded" outwards on four sides to create a mildly "lobed" effect, and
the lid has four little upturned "corners," kind like of a Chinese foliated
rim, that correspond to the lobes on the body of the jar. The overall
effect is just so tasty. It is one of those pots where you just could not
do a damn thing to improve it. I show that slide several times a year, and
I always love to see it. I wish I had the pot.
David's contribution to the contemporary clay world cannot be overstated.
He will be greatly missed, but he left us with a legacy of incredible pots.
Best wishes -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
Home - vpitelka@worldnet.att.net
615/597-5376
Work - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 ext. 111, fax 615/597-6803
http://www.craftcenter.tntech.edu/
Elca Branman on wed 3 jul 02
A great loss >
Elca Branman,in Sarasota Florida
elcab1@juno.com
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Paul Lewing on wed 3 jul 02
on 7/2/02 9:03 PM, Barbara Brown at bbrown3@WEBTV.NET wrote:
> David was one of my favorite potters in the world and a longtime friend.
> I will miss him.
It's really hard for me to express how big a hole the loss of David Shaner
leaves in my life. Not that I saw him in person that often or even talked
to him. But when I was learning to make pots in Missoula in the late 60's,
David was the first potter whose pots I could recognize. They were exactly
the kind of thing I wanted to make and every time I saw a new batch of them,
there were a dozen or so new glazes. And after I met him in person, my
admiration for him just continued to grow. I still think he was the best
American potter of his generation, and he was my hero.
I tried to make pots like his- I even bought some to flat-out copy. He
always did throwing, handbuilding, porcelain, stoneware, functional work and
decorative work, wonderful glazes, masterful decoration, and perfect forms.
He was a potter, a teacher, a writer, an administrator, and he did them all
brilliantly. Not to mention his amazing gardens. And to top it off, he was
not just one of the nicest, most modest, humble men I've ever known, he was
one of the best men I've ever met. His pots were so amazingly his, and so
amazingly from Montana. I never could figure out how he did that, but I
could never imagine those pots being made anywhere but there.
In the Studio Potter monograph about David, he mentions that he always had
about 40 different glazes around his studio and he was always inventing new
ones. He said that it's crazy to do it that way, and nobody else would do
it that way, but he just had to. Well, David, you're wrong. I do it that
way. And I do it that way a lot because you did it that way. And I share
all my recipes with the world, because you did it that way. And I teach and
I write to give back to my craft because that's the way you did it. But
I'll never be the administrator that David was, nor will I ever be that
modest or humble. And I do have a nice garden.
For me personally, this is more an end of an era than Peter Voulkos's death.
And I'm going to quit writing now because I can't see through the tears any
more.
Paul Lewing
Marta Matray Gloviczki on thu 4 jul 02
thank you karin for the webpage.
here are some more until helen will guide us to even more:
http://www.umt.edu/partv/famus/ceramic/shaner.htm
http://www.umt.edu/partv/famus/ceramic/shaner2.htm
http://www.umt.edu/partv/famus/ceramic/shaner5.htm
marta
karin wrote:
>http://www.umt.edu/partv/famus/ceramic/shaner4.htm
Paul Lewing on thu 4 jul 02
Barbara Brown asked me to forward this to Clayart from Dave's son, Cedric.
Paul Lewing
David Shaner passed away at home, in the care and comfort of his wife, Ann,
after a prolonged bout with ALS. David was born in Pottstown, Pennsylvania
in 1934. He recognized his passion for the arts early in life, earned a
Master of Fine Arts Degree in Ceramic Design from Alfred University in
Alfred, New York, and served as Assistant Professor of Art at University of
Illinois. In 1963, he moved his family west to Helena, Montana, where he
directed the Archie Bray Foundation, steering it to financial stability,
maintaining the facility, and continuing its vision to provide serious
ceramic artists a fine place to work.
In 1970, he moved to Bigfork where he made pots in his studio for almost 3
decades. He shared his ceramic expertise through workshops at numerous
universities and art centers across the country. He leaves a legacy of art
work gracing many homes and art museums. His love and commitment to art,
music, gardening, nature, and his stewardship of the environment indelibly
touched his family and enriched the lives of many friends and colleagues.
He is survived by his wife, Ann, two sons, Daniel and Cedric both of Ft.
Collins, Colorado, two daughters: Catherine and her husband, Mike Gilbert of
Missoula, Montana, and Coille and her husband, Jay Putman, Omaha, Nebraska,
and four grandsons.
A family memorial will be held later in the summer.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Studio Building Fund, Archie Bray
Foundation, 2915 Country Club Road, Helena, MT 59602
KLeSueur@AOL.COM on thu 4 jul 02
<>
Last year I had a hospice patient who died of ALS. She was a printmaker. Never came near manganese but always wondered if some of the solvents she used had caused it. But, my aunt died of ALS and she never was near manganese or any of the other toxic ingredients we are warned about.
ALS is one of those auto-immune diseases that science doesn't understand. But when the answer is found for one of them, be it ALS, MS, or others, probably solving all of them will not be far behind.
Until then we all should just try to be careful with the materials we handle and feel ourselves blessed for everyday we are allowed to continue on this earth.
Kathi LeSueur
Liz Willoughby on thu 4 jul 02
Yes, very sad news.
Just a correction Vince on David's illness. It was ALS, Amyotropic
Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's Disease). A tragic, tragic,
debilitating disease that ends in death from muscles wasting away,
slowly, and painfully. Hans Coper died from the same disease, and
Hans Coper also used a lot of manganese. The symptoms of
mang.poisening are similar. In "Shaner's Red", the Studio Potter
Monograph of David Shaner, David says that he believed that manganese
poisoning was a factor in his illness. I am not qualified to say if
it was, but I would think that those firing kilns with clay bodies or
glazes loaded with manganese should make sure that their kilns are
properly vented.
Loved his work, and had great respect for him. We really have lost
someone very special.
If you can get your hands on a copy of volume 28 number 1
(december 99) which includes the monograph, you will not be
disappointed. It is a treasure.
Liz
>Barbara Brown wrote:
> > I just had a phone call from David's son Cedric that David passed away
> > this afternoon at his home in Kalispell.
> > David was one of my favorite potters in the world and a longtime friend.
> > I will miss him.
>
>Barbara -
>What sad news this is for all of us. As most of you know, David had
>Parkinson's disease, almost certainly contracted or aggravated by breathing
>manganese fumes given off by glazes in his gas kiln.
>
>David's contribution to the contemporary clay world cannot be overstated.
>He will be greatly missed, but he left us with a legacy of incredible pots.
>Best wishes -
- Vince
Liz Willoughby
RR 1
2903 Shelter Valley Rd.
Grafton, On.
Canada
K0K 2G0
e-mail lizwill@phc.igs.net
Bacia Edelman on thu 4 jul 02
Friends: Even though many have written eloquently about
David Shaner, I must add my near-worship of all his work.
We were friends as well, though I was not in as close touch
in latter years as was Barbara Brown or many who visited
him in Montana.
Here I want to add that his wife Ann did more than any
partner could when his strength was failing. Even before that,
she helped with the kilns, the packing of pots to shows
or to Archie Bray celebrations.
His family helped too but particularly one son, who may have
been the Cedric Barbara mentioned.
When money became slack, Ann returned to teaching, possibly
grade school. When they wrote me a note a little over one
year ago thanking me for a gift and remembering my husband, whom
they had known in Champaign-Urbana, after he died, I was
truly impressed with David's never-ending positive outlook.
He admitted to severe limitations and went on to admire spring
and new growth, blossoms and birds.
A beautiful soul.
The best potter for me in my generation.
If any of you know Ann, it would be good to send copies of
our emails to the family. I will write mine out and send.
This is a bit of a brag, but his jurying a show when NCECA was
in Fort Worth, Texas was the starting point of a deep friendship
between Marta Gloviczki and myself. David juried the show and
both of us had work accepted. It was to be in Denton. Marta
was not yet on Clayart. Dannon, who with Doug Gray, curated the
show told us how to reach each other in connection with driving
to the opening.
One of his sculptured pieces was also shown but, of course, not
for sale.
He had only juried the slides; it was Jack Troy who awarded
prizes.
David, I thank you for years of friendship and inspiration and
for the Ceramics, U.S.A. show connecting Marta and me.
Bacia
Bacia Edelman Madison, Wisconsin
http://users.skynet.be/russel.fouts/bacia.htm
http://www.silverhawk5.com/edelman/index.html
Karin Hurt on thu 4 jul 02
http://www.umt.edu/partv/famus/ceramic/shaner4.htm
Karin
Jeff_Reich@CI.MESA.AZ.US on fri 5 jul 02
So sad to hear about David's passing. He was my favorite potter while in
school. I loved his sense of form and color. His pots were so straight
forward, honest, and inspiring. I had the honor of hosting his last
wood-firing workshop at the Mesa Arts Center. He was so humble. I always
loved how he cared about the workshop, staff and students. After everyone
left for the day he never started to gripe about so and so, he was always
touched by someone's grace or thoughfulness and it came back to him because
he had such grace. I will never forget when we were talking about what has
been the biggest influence on our work, David said that Mimbres pottery
influenced his and after he asked me I was too embarrassed to say that my
biggest influence was sitting right in front of me. Instead I agreed with
him that Mimbres were also my biggest influence. I thought about calling
him and saying it, I know that he is so humble that he would not have
believed it. As David said "Life is an appointment we all have to keep."
We will all miss him dearly.
Jeff Reich
Mesa Arts Center
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