Lee april Judd@handbuiltbylee
I am a hand building Ceramist currently based in Southern Idaho. I specialize in building natural sourced goods that I supply and use in my designer pottery, both functional and decorative.
My work showcases the exploration of texture and imperfection that is greatly inspired by nature and personal experiences.
I aim to express the hard work and passion it takes to work from scratch and connect one with their surroundings and Mother Nature.
‘with pulp’ brands their work through these visual textures and imperfections of work that can only be made by hand.
Known Works
Stars hanging over zion - Bead CurtainThis pieces started as a desire to decorate my own place. In the past I had a closet with no door because it was smaller and would require a custom made one that I had no desire to purchase. I thought it would be fun to gather beads and made a curtain for the space but before that happened I ended up moving from that home. As I started to expand my pottery making into new directions I fell in love with making beads by hand. I was known to do a lot of tedious work in my art and making beads scratched the same itch, repeating the same steps over and over and as I started building a large enough amount of beads I was reminded of the time I wanted to make a curtain for that closet. I took inspiration from my past not only in living in that room with no door for the closet but also from the landscape near that home and where I grew up: the Zion Region. Its well known for its rugged and colorful landscape. Cliff faces swirling with color. I got as close as I could, legally, and sources clay from the area to make these beads that form the mountains and stars in this curtain. To whoever walks through this curtain, admire the vibrant colors of this small speck on Earth that was beautifully crafted by our Mother Nature.
teal blues - Textured BowlAnother piece created while going through the motions. I find comfort in pinching bowls as they are formed and only fit perfectly in the hands that made them. I easily grow sentimental to things I make with my own hands as if we’ve been on a long journey together. I remember being in a flow state for a long time building this bowl not realizing until I was in the last stage of pulling it out of my kiln and rotating it checking the entire surface of the piece that I had built a particularly special piece. The size and texture and unevenness of the lip made holding the piece feel so wonderful. It was one of those times that the glaze couldn’t have came out any better and I believe it could hold a persons gaze for hours on end.
I love building a strong identifiable silhouette and more particularly the silhouette of these bowls. I can imagine myself as the small feet underneath the larger vessel holding strong all the weight of anything you put inside, resembling the burdens of experiencing life and ‘filling my own bowl’ and having others ‘fill my bowl’ knowing no matter how heavy that I am sturdy and powerful enough to shoulder the weight. What’s nice about being a person compared to this bowl is the power I have to dump the weight of my own free will.
