S & J Clay Flowers

We are originally from Manassas, Virginia. We sculpt and hand-paint our floral arrangements from a specialty clay. The majority of arrangements are orchids, but we make several other flower varieties as well. Our flowers come in a variety of sizes for your choosing. Whether you are looking for an arrangement for your home or office space, as a keepsake for a special occasion, or as an exclusive and unique gift, we have a flower arrangement for you. Since our flowers stay in perfect condition nearly forever, our flowers have earned the nickname of being “forever flowers”.

We mainly sell our flowers at various arts and craft shows in the Northern Virginia and the Washington DC Metro area. However, for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are working hard to expand our online sales and limit customer interaction to keep everyone safe. In light of this, we are very excited to announce a recent expansion into the Wilmington, North Carolina area. Come see our flowers first-hand at Johnson’s Nursery Corporation!

Unique hand-crafted flowers

Our arrangements of clay flowers are crafted using techniques Sunisa learned in Thailand.  The arrangements consist entirely of clay with the exception of adhesive, paint, and thin wires that support the larger pieces.  The clay we use is a mixture of a special Japanese clay and a Thai terra clay.  The clay is not fired; the arrangements are air dried and the final product is slightly pliable, though a bit fragile.

Constructing the flowers and arrangements is time consuming and involves several steps.  We first mix the clay with oil paint to give the clay its base color.  Next, we flatten the clay and then individually cut and shape the petal and leaf pieces using specially designed tools.  After the pieces air-dry for about 24 hours, we hand-paint the pieces to match the fine detail and subtle shading of actual flowers.  We then assemble the various pieces into whole flowers, adding stems made of clay supported by wire.

Finally, we place the individual flowers into a pre-selected pot, a piece of driftwood, or another medium.  The base can greatly enhance the character of the arrangement, and we take great care in matching the base with the arrangement.