BOO LEE STUDIO
Founded in 2016, Boo Lee Studio is a porcelain design studio operated by husband and wife duo, S.M. Adams & Sydney Taylor.
Our love for porcelain and the vast history of the material is what fuels our studio. Together we collaborate on designs and compositions, forms and textures- all made possible with our porcelain clay and colored porcelain slips that we make from scratch in our home studio which is located in the dunes along Lake Michigan's shoreline.
We focus on imagery, representation, and narrative. Keeping our compositions open to interpretation, these forms are in-the-round works and to see the whole canvas you have to move about the piece- therefore changing the meaning of the narrative as you view the scenes portrayed in segments. Taking inspiration from ancient friezes that adorn pottery of the past, we look toward Wedgwood pottery and ancient Greek designs to influence our work. Looking to move beyond the constraints of traditional pottery, we experiment with how ceramics can function in a contemporary art context. Synthesizing sculpture, painting, and ceramics into one form, we emphasize visual and tactile pleasure yet still acknowledge the central role of the vessel in our work.
Our love for porcelain and the vast history of the material is what fuels our studio. Together we collaborate on designs and compositions, forms and textures- all made possible with our porcelain clay and colored porcelain slips that we make from scratch in our home studio which is located in the dunes along Lake Michigan's shoreline.
We focus on imagery, representation, and narrative. Keeping our compositions open to interpretation, these forms are in-the-round works and to see the whole canvas you have to move about the piece- therefore changing the meaning of the narrative as you view the scenes portrayed in segments. Taking inspiration from ancient friezes that adorn pottery of the past, we look toward Wedgwood pottery and ancient Greek designs to influence our work. Looking to move beyond the constraints of traditional pottery, we experiment with how ceramics can function in a contemporary art context. Synthesizing sculpture, painting, and ceramics into one form, we emphasize visual and tactile pleasure yet still acknowledge the central role of the vessel in our work.
Our Materials
Porcelain is the most durable and dense of all clay bodies- commonly referred to as "white gold", it is valued for its delicacy, transparency, and timeless elegance.
Composed of kaolin, feldspar, silica, and ball clays, porcelain's raw materials go through a much more demanding qualitative selection criteria than other clay bodies. These criteria include the consistency of technical characteristics and the absence of contaminants. The refined clay particles have little to no impurities allowing its body to achieve complete vitrification once fired to maturity, therefore making the porcelain virtually non-porous, impermeable, and innocuous. The integrity of the interface -the adherence between glaze and clay body- gives porcelain added strength and because of this, porcelain is regarded as extremely hygienic and ideal for withstanding the stressors of domestic use and abuse.
With the proper care, porcelain pottery can last many lifetimes.
Throughout all stages of design and creation, we ensure that our handcrafted wares are of heirloom-quality and made from the highest caliber materials.
We formulate and mix our clay and glaze in-house using raw materials that are thoughtfully sourced from North American mines and are 100% non-toxic, lead-free, and safe for everyday usage.
Composed of kaolin, feldspar, silica, and ball clays, porcelain's raw materials go through a much more demanding qualitative selection criteria than other clay bodies. These criteria include the consistency of technical characteristics and the absence of contaminants. The refined clay particles have little to no impurities allowing its body to achieve complete vitrification once fired to maturity, therefore making the porcelain virtually non-porous, impermeable, and innocuous. The integrity of the interface -the adherence between glaze and clay body- gives porcelain added strength and because of this, porcelain is regarded as extremely hygienic and ideal for withstanding the stressors of domestic use and abuse.
With the proper care, porcelain pottery can last many lifetimes.
Throughout all stages of design and creation, we ensure that our handcrafted wares are of heirloom-quality and made from the highest caliber materials.
We formulate and mix our clay and glaze in-house using raw materials that are thoughtfully sourced from North American mines and are 100% non-toxic, lead-free, and safe for everyday usage.
Our Process
Nearly everything begins on the potters wheel.
We start by sketching prototype designs and refine these ideas to a final draft with which we are satisfied. Turning our drawings into reality, we then throw a series of these forms on the potters wheel. Next we pick the pot that most resembles our sketches, prepping these prototypes to become models for the fabrication of plaster molds.
These molds then give us the ability to utilize casting methods in a manner that allows for chance and variation during production. Because our plaster molds are made from wheel-thrown pots and we alter said pots after casting, the forms produced by these molds pass on a very handmade look and feel. With the use of slip-casting we can offer an overall consistency that you'd expect from a commercial product but still allow the maker's hand to be present.
After the porcelain bodies are casted, we modify the greenware with the addition of painted porcelain slip compositions and embellishments. We custom color our clay and slips batch-to-batch using Mason Stains in combinations unique to our studio. Using a clear gloss glaze, we cover our wares with this durable skin of glass that enhances the colored porcelain underneath and ensures the functionality of our pots.
And voila- a pot is born and ready to begin its life adorning your home!
We start by sketching prototype designs and refine these ideas to a final draft with which we are satisfied. Turning our drawings into reality, we then throw a series of these forms on the potters wheel. Next we pick the pot that most resembles our sketches, prepping these prototypes to become models for the fabrication of plaster molds.
These molds then give us the ability to utilize casting methods in a manner that allows for chance and variation during production. Because our plaster molds are made from wheel-thrown pots and we alter said pots after casting, the forms produced by these molds pass on a very handmade look and feel. With the use of slip-casting we can offer an overall consistency that you'd expect from a commercial product but still allow the maker's hand to be present.
After the porcelain bodies are casted, we modify the greenware with the addition of painted porcelain slip compositions and embellishments. We custom color our clay and slips batch-to-batch using Mason Stains in combinations unique to our studio. Using a clear gloss glaze, we cover our wares with this durable skin of glass that enhances the colored porcelain underneath and ensures the functionality of our pots.
And voila- a pot is born and ready to begin its life adorning your home!
S.M. AdamsHaving been born in Chicago, S.M.'s childhood visits to SW Michigan had a great impact on him with its change of speed and wide open spaces. These visits eventually lead him to make it his forever home. The landscape that surrounds him is what inspires his imagery. With S.M.'s background in painting, he views the pot as a canvas in itself. Turning 2-D images into 3-D works of art gives his porcelain paintings a new perspective that he simply could not achieve on paper. These forms are in-the-round works. To see the whole canvas, you cannot stand still-- therefore changing the meaning of the compositions as you view the scenes portrayed in segments.
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Sydney TaylorBorn and raised in the countryside of SW Michigan, Sydney takes the more humble approach of harkening to the medium's ties craft, domesticity, and function. Inspired greatly by women's role in the Arts and Crafts & Pattern and Decoration movements along with the disregarded Americana crafts, Sydney stresses the beauty of the material, the simplicity & utility of objects, and how they influence the quality of daily life. Paying attention to the archetypal associations between the vessel and the function of said vessel, she plays with how pottery can enhance domesticity and nurture you with its contents-- whatever you decide those contents to be.
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