Not to be confused with Cliff Lee

Cliff Lee

Clifton Phifer "Cliff" Lee is a Major League Baseball left-handed starting pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies. Lee has also played for the Cleveland Indians, the Seattle Mariners, and the Texas Rangers....

 or Cliff Lee (outfielder)

Cliff Lee (outfielder)

Clifford Walker Lee was a professional baseball player. He played all or part of eight seasons in Major League Baseball, from 1919–26, for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, Cleveland Indians, and Cincinnati Reds. While he was primarily an outfielder, he also played quite a few games...

.

Cliff Lee (1951 - ) is a Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

ese-born ceramic

Ceramic

A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...

 artist living in Stevens Township, Pennsylvania and known for his meticulously carved and beautifully glazed porcelain

Porcelain

Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...

 pots. In particular, he is noted for his celadon

Celadon

Celadon is a term for ceramics denoting both a type of glaze and a ware of a specific color, also called celadon. This type of ware was invented in ancient China, such as in the Zhejiang province...

, oxblood, imperial yellow and oil spot glazes and for carvings in the shape of cabbages, peaches, and lotus flowers.

As a young man, Lee studied medicine at Hershey Medical School and became a successful neurosurgeon before deciding to leave medicine

Medicine

Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....

 and pursue his passion for studio pottery

Studio pottery

Studio pottery is made by modern artists working alone or in small groups, producing unique items of pottery in small quantities, typically with all stages of manufacture carried out by one individual. Much studio pottery is tableware or cookware but an increasing number of studio potters produce...

 at the age of 27. Taking ceramics

Ceramics (art)

In art history, ceramics and ceramic art mean art objects such as figures, tiles, and tableware made from clay and other raw materials by the process of pottery. Some ceramic products are regarded as fine art, while others are regarded as decorative, industrial or applied art objects, or as...

 courses at James Madison University

James Madison University

James Madison University is a public coeducational research university located in Harrisonburg, Virginia, U.S. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the university has undergone four name changes before settling with James Madison University...

 in Harrisonburg, Virginia

Harrisonburg, Virginia

Harrisonburg is an independent city in the Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia in the United States. Its population as of 2010 is 48,914, and at the 2000 census, 40,468. Harrisonburg is the county seat of Rockingham County and the core city of the Harrisonburg, Virginia Metropolitan Statistical...

, he decided to pursue this new passion. At James Madison, he also met his wife Holly, a jewelry artist now well known in the craft community.

Lee gained prominence through his inclusion in the 1993 White House Collection of American Crafts, which was curated by Michael Monroe, who was then the director of the Renwick Gallery

Renwick Gallery

The Renwick Gallery is a branch of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, located in Washington, D.C., and focuses on American craft and decorative arts from the 19th century to the 21st century...

 of the Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...

. Lee's work is now included in the permanent collections of several museums, including the National Museum of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution, the Yale University Art Gallery

Yale University Art Gallery

The Yale University Art Gallery houses a significant and encyclopedic collection of art in several buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Although it embraces all cultures and periods, the Gallery possesses especially renowned collections of early Italian painting,...

, and the Peabody Essex Museum

Peabody Essex Museum

The Peabody Essex Museum , originally the Peabody Museum of Salem and the Essex Institute, in Salem, Massachusetts is the oldest continuously operating museum in the United States, and holds one of the major collections of Asian art in the US; its total holdings include about 1.3 million pieces, as...

. He has also won numerous awards for his porcelain, including Best of Ceramics at the American Craft

American craft

American craft is an entity of the American contribution to the family of artistic practices conducted by independent studio artists. In this case Studio Craft artists work specifically with traditional craft materials and/or processes such as wood, woodworking or furniture making, glass or...

Exposition, the Craftsmen's Choice Award at the Smithsonian Craft Show, and the Award of Excellence in Craft at the Westchester Craft Show.

Source

Michael Monroe. The White House Collection of American Mamas (New York: Henry N. Abrams. 1995)
Cliff lives in Stevens, PA not Stevens Township, PA.

External links

• National Museum of American Art