Artist Turns Beauty of Seasonal Woodlands into Colorful Ceramic Vases and Bowls

Tree Ceramics by Heesoo Lee

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Inspired by majestic woodlands, Montana-based ceramic artist Heesoo Lee hand-sculpts ceramic vessels that look like forests of colorful aspen trees. Porcelain branches seem to grow and twist from vases, bowls, and trays, while countless colorful clay leaves adorn their glazed surfaces. With a background in painting, Lee’s eye-catching pieces look just like three-dimensional landscape paintings that you can hold in your hand.

Lee sculpts each elaborate vessel by meticulously layering individually formed clay pieces into her desired compositions. Each piece is then painted with multiple layers of vibrant underglaze before the first firing. Lastly, Lee chooses from a range of finishing glazes, each of which give a different effect. Lee’s color choices allow her to beautifully capture the four seasons—her fall-inspired pieces are adorned with dense clay foliage in orange and red hues, while her winter-themed works feature bare branches in cold, icy hues.

You can see more of Lee’s nature-inspired ceramics on Instagram and purchase her available pieces on Etsy.

Ceramic artist Heesoo Lee hand-sculpts ceramic vessels that look like forests of colorful aspen trees.

Tree Ceramics by Heesoo Lee

Tree Ceramics by Heesoo Lee

Tree Ceramics by Heesoo Lee

The eye-catching bowls and vases look just like three-dimensional landscape paintings that you can hold in your hand.

Tree Ceramics by Heesoo Lee

Tree Ceramics by Heesoo Lee

Tree Ceramics by Heesoo Lee

Tree Ceramics by Heesoo Lee

Tree Ceramics by Heesoo Lee

Tree Ceramics by Heesoo Lee

Lee’s color choices allow her to beautifully capture the four seasons.

Tree Ceramics by Heesoo Lee

Tree Ceramics by Heesoo Lee

Tree Ceramics by Heesoo Lee

Heesoo Lee: Instagram | Etsy

My Modern Met granted permission to use photos by Heesoo Lee.

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Emma Taggart

Emma Taggart is a Contributing Writer at My Modern Met. Originally from Northern Ireland, she is an artist now based in Berlin. After graduating with a BA in Fashion and Textile Design in 2013, Emma decided to combine her love of art with her passion for writing. Emma has contributed to various art and culture publications, with an aim to promote and share the work of inspiring modern creatives. While she writes every day, she’s also devoted to her own creative outlet—Emma hand-draws illustrations and is currently learning 2D animation.
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