I was recently asked to make a few hundred clay Tuberose’s and this is the technique I came up with.  Any clay will work. The clay I have used here is one of my favourites for modelling with, its Earthstone Special 160 from Valentine Clays.

Fired to 1060c (Cone 04).

What you will need:

1. Clay
2. Something to rest them on like toilet roll.
3. Some like a skewer stick if going on stems.

Making the Petals

You will need 6 petals.

1. Grab a ball of clay about this size:

Ball of clay

2. Roll it into more of a sausage shape:

Sausage Shaped Clay
3. Flatten sausage to create this petal shape:

flatten clay petal edges

5. Stand the petal up showing veins at the front:

One petal to set aside

 

Making the Center

1. Roll up tiny sausage shapes and group together to make stamens:

tiny sausage shaped clay for stamens

Putting Flower Together

1. Put the petals around the center remembering you need 6 to fit:

putting petals around center

Three should fit half way round like this:

2.Turn it over and smooth over petals and twist and turn to create a tidy back:

Underside of Tuberose

3. If they are going on stems poke something like a skewer stick up the stem and wiggle around:

4. Gently push over the edges of the petals:

bending petals over

Voila!

As you can see I have a nice stand with holes on ideal for letting them dry. But you could just lean them over toilet rolls.

Ceramic Clay Tuberoses