Pet ashes into pottery? it’s not first the question every grieving pet-owner thinks about after losing their pet.
Once you’ve consoled the kids by telling them Spot’s gone to a better place, there’s always the issue of what to do with the body.
Now Brooklet-based actor and quirky entrepreneur Joss McWilliam has come along with a novel solution: Turn your pet into a piece of pottery.
"My mate Mark Warren actually came up with the idea," Joss said yesterday. "He’s a ceramic artist and all-round creative guy, and he decided to experiment using cremated ashes as glazing on pottery."
For $220, Joss’ company Ash Glaze Ceramics will glaze an urn with some of your pet’s ashes, then seal the rest inside.
The process works surprisingly well, creating an interesting organic texture.
A veteran actor, Joss is best known for his role in the 1984 film The Coolangatta Kid and has appeared in many a classic Australian television drama including Blue Heelers, Water Rats, Pacific Drive and the Adventures of Skippy.
These days he does mostly stage acting and is currently performing in Hamlet with the Queensland Theatre Company, appropriately enough as a grave digger.
But with the downturn in Australian theatre and television production, he also has been forced to look to other sources of income.
"It’s just a matter of me trying to make a buck," he said. "Last time I went to Centrelink I told them I’d rather eat dirt than go back on the dole."
While some people find the idea of turning pets into art weird, Joss reckons William Shakespeare got it right in Hamlet when he wrote: "In all the world, there’s nothing, neither good nor bad, but thinking makes it so."
Joss likes the idea of having a permanent, physical reminder of a pet, made from its essence, and is even keen to put his own pup, Eddie, on the mantelpiece eventually.
However, even Joss has his limits: "Mark’s experimented with human ashes as well, but I find that really disturbing."
Pet Ashes how they arrive for your pet urn
Most people who decide to have their pet cremated do so for several reasons- they don’t have a permanent home where they can place their pet in their own final resting place.
Where can I buy Urns For Pet Ashes?
Now our family pet has passed away, and the kids are adamant that they want to have her cremated as well so that they can keep the ashes nearby so Peaches will always be with us.
Paw prints and other keepsakes
Keeping a pet’s ashes or ordering one of those garden stones that look like grave markers just aren’t my style. I do have all the old license and name tags from dogs I’ve lost through the years.
Companion Bracelet Art from Ashes was the first company I ever featured in my Pet Memorial category. Now, almost two years later, they are still the only company I hav fef e there.
When Placing Your Pet’s Ashes in an Urn
When you are putting your pet’s ashes in the urn, it is a good time to focus on closure. The way to keep this experience positive is to create a ritual around the act. -Gather up photos, toys, blankets, etc.
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