Mark Nafziger

Born: 1957, Archbold, Ohio

Mark Nafziger is known for functional, wheel thrown stoneware and porcelain pottery. Nafziger’s decorative techniques include slip trailing, feathering, glazing, and incising. He intricately decorates his work using these techniques. Initially firing ...
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    About
    Biography

    Mark Nafziger is known for functional, wheel thrown stoneware and porcelain pottery. Nafziger’s decorative techniques include slip trailing, feathering, glazing, and incising. He intricately decorates his work using these techniques. Initially firing in an electric kiln he later fired in a wood burning kiln.

    A mathematics major in college, Nafziger took an art elective and was introduced to glass blowing and ceramics. After graduation he was invited to set up a studio at Saunder Village and began what is now a career mastering the craft and art of slip trailing, feathering, and glazing. His thrown objects are sometimes decorated with intricate all over patterns, sometimes sparse decoration, but always unified by an overall glaze application.

    Nafziger also has a body of work using incised motifs on simple wood fired vessel forms.

    Nafzifer was voted Ohio’s best potter 2020.

    Apprenticeships & Residencies
    Primary Work Experience
    1981
    -
    present

    Resident Potter, Saunder Village, Archbold, Ohio

    Other

    Public Collections

    American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, California

    Canton Museum of Art, Canton, Ohio

    Bibliography

    Blair Clark, Phyllis. “Mark Nafziger.” Ceramics Monthly (December 1995), pp. 29 – 34.

    CV or Resume

    Lange, Hanna

    Website(s)
    Tags (related topics)

    AMOCA

    CfC

    ACerS

    Saunder

    Canton

    Goshen College

    slip trail

    Feathering

    Incising

    wheel thrown

    American Museum of Ceramic Art

    American Ceramic Society

    Center for Craft

    Citation: Lange, Hanna Mark Nafziger, "The Marks Project."
    Last modified April 29, 2026. https://www.themarksproject.org/artists/mark-nafziger

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