Niamh Shergold
- When artist Elaine was asked to include cremation ashes in a painting as a memorial keepsake, she was intrigued
- Thinking it was a beautiful idea, she first perfected her technique using her own mum’s ashes
- And after finishing her commission for the client, she’s was indundated with requests for more
Here, Elaine Murray, 54, tells her story in her own words
Blending the blotches of aqua and cerulean onto the white canvas, I stepped back to admire my work.
It was July this year and I’d painted calming blue waves crashing against a white sandy shore.
‘It’s stunning,’ I smiled to myself, pleased.
But unlike the usual abstract artwork, I’d mixed acrylic paints with ashes.
Growing up, I relished arts and crafts.
My parents Carol – an artist – and Christopher were supportive of my hobby, buying me special pens and crayons.
‘You’re a little artist,’ Mum would beam, hanging up my drawings on the fridge.
After graduating from high school, I moved to the city where I worked at a stockbrokers before moving into a media role, working alongside big shot celebrities and television personalities.
Still, I loved making pottery and painting in my spare time.
Years passed and in December 2010, I welcomed my beautiful daughter, Isabella.
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By then I’d quit my job as, feeling unfulfilled, I wanted to devote my life to motherhood and my art.
So I took some art lessons and my passion was reignited.
In November 2019, I lost my dear dad, who was in his 70s. And less than two years later, in March 2021, Mum died suddenly, aged in her 70s too, under tragic circumstances.
I felt like my world had completely crumbled.
Devastated, I channelled all my feelings into my art, painting abstract pieces such as seascapes, and making jewellery.
Ashes to art
When I posted my finished works on Instagram – @byelainerose – people loved what I was doing so much they asked to buy my artworks.
I was ecstatic to be making some money from my passion project.
Then in late 2023, a woman reached out with an unusual request.
Can you please paint me something using my mum’s ashes? she’d written.
I’d heard of cremation jewellery before, but never imagined myself creating art with ashes.
The client wanted a seascape of her late mum, who’d lived by the sea.
It was a beautiful idea and my interest was piqued, but I had no idea where to begin.
I thought about Mum’s ashes in the urn in my bedroom cupboard, and decided to try with her first.
As Mum was an artist herself, it felt like it made perfect sense to turn her into a piece I could treasure forever.
It was important to learn respectful safe handling
But it was important to learn respectful safe handling and the science involved.
Doing research, I learned that cremated ashes have a high PH level, like bleach.
Armed with this info, I worked with a forensic lab to make a special stabilising agent so that the ashes wouldn’t erode or fade the paint over time.
Beautiful seascape
Once the agent was safe and ready to use, I was racked with nerves as I combined a small amount of Mum’s ashes with paint.
But, trusting the process, stroke by stroke, I turned her remains into a beautiful seascape.
Hanging up the finished piece in my kitchen, tears poured down my cheeks.
It was like a part of Mum was with me while I cooked dinner each night.
I painted another work in the shape of a heart as another type of keepsake.
With my cremation pieces of Mum complete, I felt equipped to take on my client’s request.
I sent her a plastic pouch for her to add in a teeny amount of her mother’s ashes, which she then posted back to me.
‘We spoke about her mum’s traits and life story’
We also spoke in depth about her mum’s traits and life story, which helped with my vision for the piece.
Getting to work, I felt like I was sharing an intimate moment with someone I knew well, even though we’d never met.
Painting a similar seascape to Mum’s artwork, I used a blend of blues and greens to capture the cool colours the client’s mum loved for years living by the coast.
‘I adore this,’ the woman said, shedding happy tears when she saw the work.
After sharing a photo online, I was suddenly inundated with requests for similar pieces.
Since then, I’ve incorporated people’s ashes into hearts, and scenes such as gardens and meadows.
It depends on what places or hobbies the person enjoyed before their passing.
One client spoke of fiery colours like red and yellow while sharing their deceased loved one’s story.
So with their permission, I created a memorial piece inspired by a volcanic eruption, signifying rebirth and revival.
Family pets
And it isn’t always humans – some people’s closest family are pets!
Using a photo of the animal as the foundation, I paint over the image with my special formula.
One of my favourite parts of the process is learning about the deceased person’s life, and knowing how much they are still cherished.
It’s safe to say there’s never a dry eye in the house when I put brush to canvas.
Isabella, now 14, is so proud of what I do and is quite the keen artist herself.
I like to imagine my talented girl will one day, way in the future, put me in a painting too.
Now having created over 30 memorial pieces, helping keep people’s memories alive is such a privilege.
By honouring them through art, and keeping them in our hearts, they’ll always be with us.
Visit ash2art.com
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