Edwin Scheier

1910Born New York, New York

1937Married to Mary Goldsmith

2008 Died Green Valley, Arizona

PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE

1937Instructor, Crafts and Puppetry, New York State Civilian Conservation Corps

1937Field Supervisor, Works Progress Administration, Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina

1937Hillcrock Pottery, Glade Spring, Virginia

1938Federal Art Project, Norris, Tennessee

1940-1968Professor, Ceramics, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire

1940—the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, Concord, New Hampshire

1968-1978Studio Potter, Oaxaca, Mexico

1978-2008Studio Potter, Green Valley, Arizona

BIOGRAPHY

Mary and Edwin Scheier are known for finely thrown functional vessels with sgraffito or applique surface decoration.

Mary became an expert on the potter’s wheel, throwing thin earthenware pots. Edwin decorated the works using motifs that reflected his interest in spirituality and anthropology.

The Scheiers were both largely self-taught studio potters who worked together throughout their 69 year marriage. Mary and Edwin made individual works, however, these are often indistinguishable and difficult to attribute.

The Scheier’s early work is characterized by domestic wares with simple geometric motifs and soft glaze colors inspired by Appalachian Folk Pottery. At their first pottery in Virginia, Hillcrock Pottery, they primarily made small figures and functional wares.

In 1940, the couple moved to New Hampshire to teach at both the University of New Hampshire and the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen. It was during this period in New Hampshire that the Scheiers created their most prolific and mature works.

During World War II, Edwin served as a merchant seaman. When he returned from the war, he began to use new imagery inspired by the tattoos he had seen abroad. These motifs recurred throughout his career along with imagery depicting fertility, regeneration, primitivism and creation. While Edwin was absent, Mary continued the pottery in New Hampshire. During this time she made a series of coffee pots and matching cups decorated with a restrained use of glaze, allowing the grainy texture of the clay body to show.

After the War the University of New Hampshire, like many other universities across the country, responded to the influx of students using the G.I. Bill for their tuition, by expanding their ceramics program. Edwin was invited to teach and Mary became the school’s artist-in-residence.

In 1968 the Scheiers retired and spent nearly a decade in Oaxaca, Mexico. They studied weaving and Zapotec pottery. Imagery from this experience began to appear on their works from this period and later. They lived and worked in Green Valley, Arizona for the remainder of their lives.