Melanie Shaw is a ceramic artist and owner of Art Off Center, a ceramics teaching studio in Taylor, Texas. She has operated the studio since 2017 after moving to Texas in 2014.
Contact Info:
Email: mel340@icloud.com Phone: 917-520-1727
Melanie received her BA from Hunter College, New York, with a double major in Digital Media and Film and Studio Arts (ceramics concentration) and graduated summa cum laude with Phi Beta Kappa honors. Her artist residencies have included Guaitil Pottery, Tamarindo, Costa Rica, Brickhouse Ceramic Art Center, New York, Hunter College, New York, Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, Maine, and Penland School of Crafts, North Carolina. Ms. Shaw also teaches a ceramics decorating workshop called “Color Collage on Clay” at various locations in Texas, and has taught/demoed for GACA, Austin, Cynthia Brinson Studio in Arlington and at CERA pottery studio in Ft. Worth.
Artist Statement: My work explores the complexities of the human condition, capturing the tension between vulnerability and resilience, isolation and connection. Through figurative forms, I seek to express the quiet emotions that shape our existence—grief, hope, longing, and transformation. Each piece serves as a reflection of the shared experiences that define us, translating personal narratives into tactile forms. By engaging with these themes, I aim to create sculptures that invite contemplation and empathy, offering a space where the raw and the poetic can coexist.
As a ceramic artist I am drawn to expression via the tactile nature of clay via hand-building techniques and the limitless possibilities of working with clay. My focus is to create pieces using clay with slips, underglazes, glazes and surface decoration to capture the vibrancy and energy of the maternal.
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Website CV
Group Exhibitions:
2026 Beyond the Walls-An Unedited Look at the Female Gaze, Town Gallery, Grapevine, TX
2026 Birdsong-Revenance, McCrory Timmerman Gallery, Taylor, TX
2025 Smaller Than A Bread Box, Dog’s Eye Gallery, San Marcos, TX
2025 Knife Fight, McCrory Timmerman Gallery, Taylor, TX
2025 Six Pack Show, Concho Clay Studio, San Angelo, TX
2025 Cuteness Overload, The City Arts Center, Round Rock, TX
2025 Taylor Studio Tour, Art Off Center, Taylor, TX
2025 Cuteness Overload, The City Arts Center, Round Rock, TX
2025 Small Favors, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
2025 Birdsong-Collective Gaze, McCrory Timmerman Gallery, Taylor, TX
2024 Taylor Studio Tour, Art Off Center, Taylor, TX
2023 Birdsong-Eve’s Picnic, McCrory Timmerman Gallery, Taylor, TX
2022 Birdsong-Living in the Anthropocene, McCrory Timmerman Gallery, Taylor, TX
2019 Jewels of Earth and Fire, Khazana Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2018 2nd Annual Mug Show, Dog’s Eye Gallery, San Marcos, TX
2018 Cups for Y’all, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston, TX
2017 Locomotion, TAGat120ART, Taylor, TX
2017 CAMEO Members Show, Tea Plus Art, Houston, TX
2017 Tiny Monsters, Fe Gallery, Sacramento, CA
2017 Texas Yunomi Show, Tea Plus Art, Houston, TX
2017 Cameo: Members Show, Tea Plus Art, Houston, TX
2017 National Juried Mug Show, Dogs Eye Gallery, San Marcos, TX
2017 Far Country, TAGat120ART, Taylor, TX
2017 Mostly Clay, Studio Espavo, Bastrop, TX
2017 Gems of the Hills, Tea Plus Art, Houston, TX
2017 Cameo: Texas Teapot Tournament, Tea Plus Art, Houston, TX
2016 Alchemy, TAGat120ART, Taylor, TX
Solo Exhibitions:
2018 Jackley and Shaw, McCrory Timmerman Gallery, Taylor, TX
Residencies:
2015 Penland School of Crafts, Work Study Scholarship, Penland, NC
2013 Watershed, Artist in Residence, Newcastle, ME
2013 Hunter College, Artist in Residence, New York, NY
2013 Brickhouse Ceramic Art Center, Artist in Residence, New York, NY
2011 Guaitil Pottery, Summer Residency, Tamarindo, Costa Rica
Selected Collections:
John McRae
Natalie and Robin Dauterive
David Messier
Publications:
Teaching and Speaking Engagements:
2017-Present Art Off Center, LLC, Taylor, TX
2023 NCECA, Past Masters-Anthony Merino, Cincinnati, OH
2020 GACA, Color Collage on Clay, Austin, TX
2018 Texas Pottery and Sculpture Guild, Color Collage on Clay Workshop, Arlington, TX
2017 CERA, Color Collage on Clay Workshop, Ft. Worth, TX
Affliations:
2014-26 NCECA Member
2022-2025 Wilco Potter’s Club
2019-21 PAAB, Taylor, TX Public Arts Advisory Board
2015-19 Potters Council Member
2015-24 Bastrop Clay Arts
2017 CAMEO, Houston, TX
2016-17 Greater Austin Clay Artists