Laurie Shaman creates porcelain tabletop and wall pieces using slab-built techniques, with an eye on developing shapes and contours that best provide the surface for her hand-drawn imagery. These forms become a canvas for depicting scenes that combine her interests in the natural world, travel and art history. Her porcelain vases, vessels and wall pieces evolved…

Laurie Shaman creates porcelain tabletop and wall pieces using slab-built techniques, with an eye on developing shapes and contours that best provide the surface for her hand-drawn imagery. These forms become a canvas for depicting scenes that combine her interests in the natural world, travel and art history.

Her porcelain vases, vessels and wall pieces evolved naturally over time from a strong foundation producing utilitarian pottery, as well as having an ongoing practice of creating works on paper with a variety of drawing techniques. These once separate pursuits have been the basis of her ceramic work, and combined, produce the satisfaction of merging the painted surface to three-dimensional form. All pieces are hand-built from slabs of clay and hand-painted with ceramic underglaze stains using a variety of drawing techniques. The work receives a coating of clear glaze to seal the surface and the pieces are fired in a kiln to 2170 degrees.

Laurie has been a ceramic artist for over 40 years, and her work has been featured in many solo exhibitions and group shows across the country since 1990. In Chicago, she created a six-panel ceramic mural as part of the Public Art Program in 2009. She has been a guest artist at prestigious studio tours including St. Croix Valley Pottery Tour in Minnesota and the 16 Hands Studio tour in Virginia. Her work was selected for many Lark Book 500 Series in volumes featuring Teapots, Plates, Vases and Animals, as well as the 2012 book ”The Best of 500 Ceramics: Celebrating a Decade in Clay.” As an arts administrator, Laurie served as the director of Lill Street Gallery, curating over 45 exhibitions, and worked in the Museum Education department at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Laurie Shaman CV