Diane attaches one of many clay petals to form a fuchsia ranunculus flower.

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Winter '09 :: Artist in Bloom
Super Modeling

A bride fell in love with an orange and fuchsia pink Cattelya orchid so Phillips incorporated that into a spectacular bouquet along with red peonies, green Cymbidium orchids, tuberose buds, and peach ranunculus.

Like many other unsuspecting artists, Diane Phillips stumbled into her medium almost by accident. In 2000 the San Jose, California, native took a trip to Hawaii to visit family when she noticed her cousins wearing gorgeous flowers in their hair. Though the flowers looked real, they were actually made of clay.

Phillips, a life-long craft enthusiast and student of ikebana (the Japanese floral design discipline), marveled at the beauty of the clay flowers and intricacy of their design. A year later, stuck in a lackluster marketing job and looking for a creative outlet, she found an instructor who taught floral clay crafting and signed up for training.

“I used to take courses in flower arranging and I’ve always been interested in crafts,” said Phillips. “So, I thought, I’ll be good at this from the start. But it was a real challenge.” However, she proved to be a quick study and a passionate student. In 2003 she founded DK Designs, a company specializing in floral clay crafting.

Diane Phillips of DK Designs creates hyper-realistic flowers from humble clay.

Don’t let the word “craft” throw you off. Playing with Play Doh this ain’t. Phillips’ bouquets and arrangements are so delicate, so organic, and so lifelike that this writer initially didn’t believe they were really made out of clay. Phillips does indeed use fresh flowers as her inspiration and blueprints for her own work “I love fresh flowers,” remarks Phillips, “and when I can find certain flowers I really want to master, I buy them at the market, take photos, and study them as much as I can. One of the biggest compliments I get is when people ask if I’ve doctored up the photos on my website”.

The fact is, her flowers really look that good. In Phillips’ hands, the clay becomes a work of art.

Like the ancient art of ikebana, the origins of floral clay crafting lie in Japan, where a resourceful housewife named Kazuko Miyai began experimenting with clay almost thirty years ago. Teaming up with chemist friend, Miyai created a clay that was malleable to form yet sturdy once it dried. The result was a substance they called ClayCraft.

Black-and-white anemone cake flowers make lovely fresh flower alternatives that also become keepsakes after the wedding.

Using such a malleable medium, Phillips’ floral range is expansive. With just a handful of tools—detail scissors, small sticks for petal rolling, a few molds, and texture brushes—she can render everything from the most basic clay flower (the hydrangea) to the most ornamental and difficult (roses and plumeria). Her current favorites are ranunculi, peonies, and anemones.

By mixing clay of primary colors, she can achieve every color on the spectrum from vibrant pinks to soft creams and subtle lavender. Her wedding repertoire includes bouquets, centerpieces, corsages, boutonničres, flowers for the wedding cake, and flowers for hairstyles.

“I can create [clay florals] for pretty much anything you would have fresh flowers for,” Phillips attests.

Learn why some brides opt for clay flowers over the real thing for their big day in our Winter 2009 issue (on newsstands in December).

Winter 2009 | By Kirk Reed Forrester | Photos courtesy of DK Designs, Debbie Friedrich, Allure West Studios, and Stewart Pinsky Photography