He later traveled to Europe and studied in Düsseldorf and Munich. Shearer exhibited his works at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and at an art exhibition celebrating the United States Centennial in 1876. In 1878, on a return trip to Germany, he was awarded a Gold Medal by the Düsseldorf School of Art. He also exhibited many of his works in a studio he opened in Reading in 1883.
Shearer was a Teacher as well as an Artist. He held many art classes in his Reading studio to encourage the development of art in Berks County and elsewhere in Pennsylvania. Shearer was instrumental in the founding of the Reading Public Museum. As a friend of Dr. Levi Mengel (the founder of the museum), Shearer was appointed the museum's chief art curator until his death. He also enjoyed collecting butterflies, moths and bugs and kept detailed records and drawings of these insects. Shearer died in Reading in 1926.
