Jim Lee

Ceramic Sculpture

I have drawn faces almost all my life.  I came from a family of accomplished artists who supported my drawing obsession.  Today, my passion is sculpting the human face and body out of clay.  My first hands-on experience with sculpting in clay came when I was 13 years old.  It was a school science project on the Evolution of Man.

Years later, I tried carving faces out of wood, but after several attempts, a few stitches and a lot of wood chips, I went back to drawing. Then, while at the Laguna Art Festival, I noticed a sculptor making masks out of water-based clay.  I stood there fascinated, considering I had tried this in wood.  In his process and having drawn faces, I noticed the left cheek was too low on the mask.  I watched with curiosity, as I knew very little about clay.  When he noticed the cheek, he simply reached down, grabbed some clay and fixed it... just like that!  Wow, it was like a five-alarm fire going off in my head!  When I returned home, I bought 50 pounds of water-based clay and got my hands back in the mud for the first time in decades.

I didn't have enough knowledge about clay, the drying or firing process, not to mention sculpting.  I kept creating busts and they just kept cracking.  Several months later and very frustrated, I was introduced to Ceramist, Larry Ortiz at Clay Arts Studio in Auburn, CA. 

That began my quest to become a sculptor of clay.  I read everything I could find in books and the Internet, YouTube, Pinterest, etc. about human anatomy, sculptors and sculpting with water and oil-based clays.  One day, I came across the renowned sculptor, Philippe Faraut (PCF Studios in Honeoye, New York).  His fast, easy teaching style and emphasis on expression and pose was exactly what I was looking for.  I bought his tools, DVDs and books and eventually took classes from him in Portrait and Full Figure.  As my work improved, Larry and Philippe encouraged me to start teaching sculpture. 

Today, I teach small classes of 6 to 8 students at Clay Arts Studio using the methods Philippe taught me to create my sculptures.  I don't use a model when I teach students new to sculpture. I want them to learn the basic anatomy of the skull, neck and shoulders and then allow them to use their imagination for expression and pose. I have found that using a model makes the students compare each other's work rather than creating their own. 

You can see the incredible work of my students and my work on my website, www.clayheadsculptures.com.