The Dictionary of American Ceramics, 1945 onward
Dictionary of American Ceramics, 1945 onward
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Jan Schachter
EDUCATION
1963 BA Microbiology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts
1963-1967Greenwich House Pottery, New York, New York
1970-1978Old Church Cultural Center, Demerest, New Jersey
1970-1978Clay Art Center, Port Chester, New York
PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE
1978—Studio Potter
Jan Schachter is best known for her hand-thrown, stoneware, functional vessels.
Typical forms include casseroles, bowls, mugs, jars and cups. For these she has developed distinct glazes and a series of highly refined forms. Her other work includes wood-fired porcelain and sculptural pieces. See Peggy Forman for examples of slab built porcelain forms done as a collaboration.
Since her introduction to clay at age 6, Schachter has continued to pursue ceramics. She took courses at Greenwich House Pottery while working in New York City and continued working with clay while raising her children. In 1978 she moved to Palo Alto, California and set up her first studio, Plum Tree Pottery, in Mountain View. She now works as a full-time studio potter out of her home studio in Portola Valley.
Schachter is actively involved with the Bay Area clay community and craft organizations including the Association of Clay and Glass Artists of California (ACGA) the Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF+) and Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts.
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
AMOCA, Pomona, California
Bermuda National Gallery, Hamilton, Bermuda
Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Utah State University, Logan, Utah
Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
The Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, Minnesota
BIBLIOGRAPHY
"Jan Schachter: Potter - a California Artist Is Committed to Making Well-Crafted Pots That Are Unapologetically Functional." Ceramics Monthly, 2006.
"Potter’s Council Calendar." Alternative Firing, 2016.
Snyder, Jeffrey B., ed. Ceramics Today. Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 2010.
Turner, Anderson. Throwing & Handbuilding: Forming Techniques. Westerville, Ohio: American Ceramic Society, 2007.
CV or RESUME: Click Here to Download
Source: Artist
WEBSITE(S):
Impressed seal from a stamp with initials "JLS" and "Jan Schachter" inscribed with a softly pointed tool - Jan above and Schachter below the stamp.
Materials: Stoneware
Method: Slab-Built (Slab plate, on clay feet fired in a salt kiln.)
Surface Technique: Brushwork
Method: Thrown (Thrown form, wood fired with salt, refired in gas to cone 10.)
Surface Technique: Glaze, No Decoration
Method: Slab-Built (Slab fired to cone 10, mark created with a roller from India that is used for massage.)
Surface Technique: Glaze, Textured Surface
Citation: "The Marks Project." Last modified October 22, 2019. http://www.themarksproject.org:443/marks/schachter
