Technique vs. Talent

I used to work with a girl that I felt was a snob when it came to art. I mentioned how much I liked Bob Ross and how I thought it was so neat that so many people were learning to paint. She harrumphed and told me emphatically that there was quite a difference between technique and talent. I always thought that was such a snobby thing to say and I never found out why she was so adamant about this point of view.

I have always felt that you could be extremely talented, but if you were unaware of certain techniques, that you could be stifling the creative process. It drives me crazy to spend hours trying to figure out how to achieve the look I am going for. Does it make someone less creative if they use an established method in their art? I think not.

All that being said, there are definite techniques used in making flowers using Clay Craft air dry clay by Deco. I'm not saying that this company invented these techniques at all, I'm just mentioning them because the book I am using (Clay Art for All Seasons) is so very useful and has introduced me to techniques that I know I will use over and over again.

So with no further chatter, here are my flowers...


This is a bud vase with roses that I made using the book mentioned above.

Here is a calla lily. All of these flowers dry to a very lightweight papery/velvety, almost foam finish. They seem to be reasonably durable and I am sure I will continue to make more in the near future.

If this clay is something you want to experiment with, but don't want the expense of the actual Clay Craft product, try Delight modeling compound by Paperclay. It is, as far as I can tell, almost identical to the Clay Craft compound, except it only comes in white. The Clay Craft compound is really nice and performs beautifully, but it is a bit pricey.

Since I've been learning technique and making flowers for an entire week, I need to move on to something else. I need bright colors and I need to make jewelry and I need to make something funky. So with all that in mind, I'm off to the studio to be creative. Hopefully I will be able to combine technique with talent and come up with something fun.

It's almost the weekend, so tie up all those loose ends and prepare to have fun. Take care and don't forget that there is an artist in each one of us. Embrace that artist within.