Susan Shaffer was born in Chicago in 1955, the daughter of a painter and a physicist.
At the age of 15 her family moved to Pearl River, N.Y., where pottery was part of her high school curriculum. After three years of classes, participating in local shows and teaching children's programs in clay, she continued her art education at Alfred College of Ceramic Art in Alfred, N.Y., where she met, Tom, now her husband of 35 years.
Together they moved to Southwest Florida, first landing on Captiva, migrating to Useppa Island and then to Boca Grande in 1978, maintaining private studios in all locations.
Article Photos
Colorful yet not abstract, artist Susan Shaffer’s Pompano Pair.
In 1979, Shaffer helped establish Gasparilla Island Studios on Park Avenue in Boca Grande, and continued to work out of her personal studio. She was also a co-founder of the Boca Grande Art Alliance in 1987 and served on its Board of Directors for many years.
Shaffer has been represented in many galleries and shops over the years. She is still active in the BGAA, is a member of many other regional and national art organizations, and is an annual participant in Boca Grande's celebrated five-women "Art on Banyan" Exhibit. In the past two years she has received numerous awards and recognition for her mixed media pottery and framed wall pieces.
Fact Box
Susan Shaffer at a glance
Name: Susan Shaffer
Birth date: 1955
Hometown: Chicago
Residence: Boca Grande
Specialty: mixed media pottery and framed wall pieces
Work on display: Boca Grande Art Alliance exhibits or her website.
Favorite work: Your favorite work worldwide
Present project: What artist is working on now
Contact info: Phone (941) 964-2305, Fax (941) 964-013, e-mail clayoriginals@comcast.net or got to
shafferclayoriginals.com.
Artistic impressions: I was born the daughter of a painter and a physicist, and so was exposed to an interesting blend of perceptions, employing both sides of the brain. In my teens I was drawn to clay for its aesthetic, practical and technical values, pursued it in college, and throughout the passages of my life have always had my hands in some kind of tactile medium. In my adult years my work has revolved between functional stoneware pottery and framed abstract handmade paper pieces, always in search of a way to introduce layers of imagery to conventional surfaces.
