
Jan Schachter
Artist Statement
I enjoy making pots for everyday use; each is a subtle variation of a form – usually created in a series. I am a perfectionist (as much as the process allows) and am constantly in search of the perfect surface and ideal form while striving to create pots that have life and vitality. I love having the opportunity to fire in a wood kiln and make special work for that to take advantage of the ash & heat.
Artist Bio
I am a potter. I started working in clay when I was 4 years old.
I graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst with a B.S. in Microbiology in 1963. I returned to clay part time shortly after that and attended numerous classes at Greenwich House Pottery, New York City, Old Church Cultural Center, Demerest, New Jersey and Clay Art Center, Port Chester, New York. In 1977, I was the founding director of The Gallery at Hastings on Hudson, a non-profit municipal gallery. I was also a founding member of the Hudson River Potters, a potter’s mutual support group. My family and I moved to California in 1978, and I have been a full- time potter ever since. I have had pots in numerous national & international exhibitions & competitions.
In addition to being a potter, I am an advocate for crafts and the life of a craft person. I was on the Board of Directors of the Craft Emergency Relief Fund from 1992-1997. I am currently on the Board of the Association of Clay & Glass Artists of California (I was president from 1991-1993) and the Editorial Advisory Board of ‘Ceramics Monthly’. I was on the board of the Palo Alto Art Center Foundation for 10 years and was co-president in 2009-10. I am also on the Advisory Board of Watershed Center for the Ceramics Arts in Newcastle, Maine and The Marks Project, an online ‘Dictionary of American Studio Ceramics, 1946 Onward’.