J. Nichols Clay Botanicals

intricate floral designs handcrafted from kentucky tennessee clay. jimy nichols has always led a creative life. majoring in garment design, pattern making and construction, jimy began his artistic career within the textile industry in his hometown of paducah, kentucky. in 1994 began working at a local ceramic shop. this is where his journey with clay and glazes began. “taking what i learned at the ceramic shop, i began to experiment with clay. i started sculpting animal figures like those i had seen in the staffordshire pieces from england. my work then graduated to fruits and vegetables in life-size forms. in studying the fruits, i realized that they needed flowers and leaves to enhance their life-like appearance. while developing the flowers for these pieces, i was asked if i could make a single flower that could be ‘planted’ into a pot as though it were growing. “ motivated by live plants as well as photographs, jimy studies every aspect of a flower to capture the necessary detail t