Bill Lee started his artistic journey by designing spaceships when he was eleven. Convinced that he should become an aerospace engineer, he attended VA Tech in the mid seventies. He soon discovered, however that being an artist was who he was designed to be, and so succeeded in getting a BA in Art in 1979. Lee then attended University of Tennessee in Knoxville in the eighties, doing post degree work in sculpture and clay
“I found I had a passion for creating three dimensionally, first in wood and stone sculpture, then later I worked as a stained glass artisan. In the eighties, I discovered clay at the ceramics program of University of Tennessee. I spent a year taking classes, focusing on handbuilding where I made sculptures and vessels, immersing myself in the world of pottery. Since 1993, I have developed a line of functional art pottery with a sculptural twist. “
All of the work is made from slabs of earthenware clay, cut and assembled into bowls, teapots, vases and even right and left handed mugs. “And yes, I still make one of a kind sculptures.”
Lee is a member of the prestigious Southern Highland Craft Guild, Tennessee Association of Craft Artists, the Foothills Crafts Guild, The Southern Potters, The Potters Council, and The American Craft Council.
He has exhibited nationally in art fairs such as Artigras, Wells Street in Chicago, The St James Court Art Show in Louisville, and The Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands in Asheville. His work is found in numerous private collections internationally.