Ren Lee studied animal physiology and graphic design in college, pursued careers in design, identity, specialty foods and finally, ceramics. After completing her MFA at Utah State University in Logan, Utah, she went to work in Los Angeles in the design studios of Saul Bass/Herb Yager and the Weller Institute for the Cure of Design, which was amazing and wonderful until graphic design stopped being a profession and became an app, at which point she compromised and became a creative director, then a corporate executive, got a PhD in marketing, advertising, consumer psychology and cultural anthropology and taught advertising at the University of Texas. She started making ceramic spirit figures to balance her karma in 2008, then in 2017 moved to California where she now lives and breathes ceramics, teaches handbuilding classes on Sunday mornings at Clay Hand Studios, and serves on the board of directors for the Association of Clay & Glass Artists of California and the San Joaquin Clay & Glass Association. She lives and works in Fresno CA and serves two rowdy dogs and a superior cat.