The Art of Clay Flowers by Heartmade
CLAY FLOWER ART
In recent years, apart from traditional craft decoration options such as ceramic ornaments, glass furniture or the most often used – artificial flowers made from paper, satin ribbon or nylon, Nha Trang handmade lovers are becoming increasingly enamored with a new type of flower created from clay.
Originating in Japan, the art of making clay flowers is widespread in Korea, Thailand and Malaysia, and was first introduced to Vietnam in 2007. Even though Nha Trang is not a big city, the art movement here is quite active and Clay Flower Art is on the rise..
At the first sight, it looks so easy to fire up a creation. However, it requires so much skill, preciseness, patience and creativity to turn lifeless clay into soulful flowers, especially when your only tools are simple scissors, brushes and a paper tray.
To discover more about this interesting type of art, Discover Nha Trang went to meet an artist, Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhi – the founder of Heartmade Nha Trang (276 Ton Duc Thang) who is leading the way with this art style in Nha Trang.
- DNT: Were you the first person to bring Clay Flower Art into Nha Trang?
- Ms. Nhi: There are quite a few people doing it in Nha Trang, and I wasn’t the first person to introduce it here. However, Heartmade Nha Trang is the first official Clay Flower Brand in the city
- DNT: We know that your major (Accounting) is nothing related to art, so what brought you to Clay Flowers?
- Ms. Nhi:
Oh. When I was child, I was always interested in drawing and painting, and I kept this up through my teenage years. I have always had a dream to become a designer and create something unique. But upon deciding on a career path, I realized that my family didn’t have enough money for me to pursue my artistic dreams as the school fees for the university course was very expensive.
After graduating from university, I worked as an accountant for a tourism Company, but I soon realized that the love of art was still burning in my heart and I had a constant urge to find my place in the world of art. So I quit my job, and Clay Flower Art just became my new calling.
- DNT: What is the most difficult challenges you have faced in your Clay Flower Art journey?
- Ms. Nhi: Well. Because I never studied art, so it was very difficult for me to work with colors. Unfortunately, color is also the key point of creating the Clay Flower. It took me so much time to understand colors and I’ve been learning from my mistakes constantly and trying to improve each day.
- DNT: What do you think that are the key points in creating a beautiful clay flower?
- Ms. Nhi: For me, I need to understand the structural features of each flower to choose the most suitable mixture of clays. Usually, the other makers only use one type of clay (Thai or Japanese) to create their artwork, but I prefer a combination because I believe that each type of clay has their strengths and weaknesses. If we can take advantage of their positive characteristics, the finished piece looks so much better.
For example:, Japanese Clay can provide better realism when we look at or touch it because it is not as glossy as Thai Clay. However, Thai Clay is 5 times cheaper than Japanese Clay, and its glossiness is perfect for the small features on the surface of the artwork, and really makes it stand. Besides that, how we color our artwork is very important. Everyone will have their own style of coloring, and a perfect combination of colors is one of the main ingredients to creating a beautiful piece.
– DNT:
What are your plans for the future?
– Ms. Nhi: Now, I really hope that I can use my experience of Clay Flower to help handicapped children to find some new hope in life. If any of them are interested in this type of art and would like to learn, I am more than happy to share it with them.
In addition, I am researching to create a new artwork from Clay that will be a 3D painted, which is a combination of painting and clay flower art.
Heartmade Nha Trang – 276 Ton Duc Thang Street, Nha Trang
Ms. Nhi: 01222 584 443
