Eddi Leet

Ceramicist

©Haide Rannakivi ja Kati Vaas

Crystal ceramics

Eddi uses a very old technique of crystal glaze
He likes geometrical forms and floral patterns
His tableware is inspired by women

Eddi Leet is a mechanical engineer by profession but became an artisan after being an apprentice to the Norwegian master ceramicist Carl Olaf Olsen. After his two-year apprentice learning how the whole ceramic studio operates, he set up his ceramic studio in 1995 and started teaching local Estonian apprentices. He travelled and worked together with Urmas Puhkan creating various clay installations in several countries and representing Estonia. With a mechanical perspective, Eddi creates fascinatingly poetical and extraordinary ceramics that inspire many around him. He has won several Baltic wheel throwing competitions and is regarded as the master of the clay squeezer. One of his hidden talents is not only creating beautiful ceramics but also building kilns for ceramicists.

Interview

©Haide Rannakivi ja Kati Vaas

What do you enjoy most about your craft?: I love it when my work is aesthetically pleasing and peoples' reactions to my work. Over the years people have expressed the emotion they feel when they receive my works and that inspires me a lot.
What inspires your work?: I am inspired by women! Geometry with all its amazing shapes and forms from lines, ellipses, sinusoids to hyperboloids. Once I untangle these forms and add for instance a cylinder to a woman's hat shape, I can form and create a beautiful vase!
What are your signature techniques?: I use a very old technique of crystal glaze. With this method, I can form crystal flowers and fish scale patterns on my ceramic pieces. Besides that, I master the clay throwing technique that I also teach to all my apprentices.
What does “well made” mean to you?: A well made object for me is one that I want to hold in my hands, touch, and look at. It needs to be fascinating enough to pull you closer to it. It's also the positive emotion that is put into the creation process of the object.

Eddi Leet is a master artisan: he began his career in 1993 and he started teaching in 2003