Ceramic Urns

My Spirit Pot concept allows you to display an urn in a very public area, because visitors will only see a hand built work of art. Each is unique. I only use my hands. Each is signed and the name of the pet or person is inscribed into the clay. The main design is based on a combination of concepts from Hopi and Pueblo tribes I've worked with, mixed with French culture. Think of the ashes in the white orb as a spirit keeping the flowers alive. The basket is a French Bread Basket, representing life. These urns can also be used for people or pets, of course. The concept marries two cultures into one unique concept, French and Native American, and provides a beautiful vessel to hold the spirit of the departed. In fact, the name for the urn was recommended by Pueblo tribal elders I worked with later in my career. The Spirit Pot has three parts, each described in this website, (1) the Mother Earth Vessel in which the ashes rest. (2) A French Bread Basket inside which the Mother Earth Vessel rests. The French Bread Basket represents eternal life. (3) Flowers and Leaves, also representing life, symbolically kept alive by the spirit in the Mother Earth Vessel. Taken together, the parts constitute the Spirit Pot Urn. The concept of the "Spirit Pot" was born in France in 1983 while I was studying the works of Van Gogh. I was serving in Paris with the US Mission to OECD, needed a break and went to the grave of Van Gogh and his brother, Theo. As I walked up to the graves, I found ceramic flowers at the foot of each. Ceramic was used because it is a durable substance, even in winter. Water flows between the flowers and doesn't crack the assembly when the fluid freezes. Years later, my parents had to be buried and they chose cremation. Their ashes were buried in a large, manufactured urn with the ashes of a favorite cat named Daisy. Like most urns, the vessel looked like it came out of a machine and was definetly holding remains, which can make people very uncomfortable, especially if they want to place their departed on a mantle or dinner table, instead of under the ground. The "Spirit Post" solves this problem. The French Bread Basket covered in Flowers approach is my normal deisgn; however, I can make this anyway you want. See also the tall vase approach picture.