We’re back with the third post in the artisan urns series. (If you want to catch up, the first post was “Expertly Hand-Crafted Raku Urns Made in the USA” and the second, “It’s an August Time to Celebrate Artisan Urns”.)
Today we’re introducing West Coast couple, Don and Pam, who specialize in making pottery and ceramic urns with historical designs.
Pam is a master potter and art historian. She’ll tell you her fascination is in exploring myths and ritual through time and across cultures. Nature is another source of inspiration for her. The style below features actual pine and berry branches pressed and baked into the clay.
Don came to the work of making pottery cremation urns not out of fascination but out of necessity. Like many others, he lost his IT job when the economy crashed and was told his age (50+) he’d probably never work again. Disheartening news, for sure; but it served him well: today he and Pam have a shared interest and a growing business.
One hand-made cremation urn which illustrates her love of ancient themes is the Celtic Dragon Ceramic Urn for Ashes. The dragon is subtlety intertwined in the Celtic knot pattern, and the 10-12 inch high urn features a tea leaf green glaze.
Another dragon adorns this Chinese Dragon Funeral Urn. Done in cobalt blue, the hand-drawn Chinese dragon has five claws (considered to represent good fortune). It is surrounded by Ming dynasty symbols of power, strength, and good luck.
In addition to kiln-fired pottery urns, the couple also create biodegradable styles, like the Sea Breeze Cremation Urn you see here, made from paper clay (in this case a mixture of Grolleg blended English china clay and natural plant fibers). The fibers strengthen the unfired clay and cause the urn to dissolve rather quickly when submerged in water or buried in soil.
Here at Urn Garden we’re proud of our collection of hand-made pottery cremation urns created by remarkable artisans like Pam, Don, Robert and Ruth. The fourth and final post in the artisan series will feature the work of Steve, a disabled American veteran who has committed his time and energy to making unique cremation urns made in the U.S.A. Stay tuned! You’ll want to see the collection of hand-made memorials produced by his small Missouri company.
