Sadly, my cousin Kim’s favorite cat of all time passed away earlier this year. Rudy.
After years of cherished memories & warm nights snuggled together.
Luckily, her boyfriend Don knew that Rudy was so very special in Kim’s life, and that his passing was a momentous occasion in her life, so he had to be cherished, celebrated & memorialized. With that said, Don called me and asked if I would be willing to create a special, custom urn to hold Rudy’s cremated ashes. How could I say no? Although I’m not a fan of custom orders, this one was so touching & heartfelt… I knew I had to say ‘yes.’

I started by throwing two lidded jars. I knew that it would be better to hedge my bets and make two, knowing that at least one of them would turn out fine. There are so many opportunities along the way for a pot to get messed up, especially when soda firing. So I made two. One lower & rounder, the other taller and more statuesque. Each one was stamped with a nice repetitive pattern.

And then, I decided to customize them with some alphabet pasta letters… thanks to my former student Tracey who turned us onto the simple process.

So I separated letters and tried to find all the ones I needed.

Then I started pressing them into the leather-hard pots… okay, they were on the wetter-side of leather-hard. Along the way, I decided to hedge my bets one more time. To make one for “Rudy” and the second one for a more generic “Kitty.” I like the lower rounder jar better, so I was hoping for that one to be the finished piece for Rudy. But if that one doesn’t work out, “Kitty” would still be a viable option.

Once the letters were all pressed into the clay, I covered them with a band of colored flashing slip. A colored slip band across the jar and another one on the lid… with some accents in each an every stamp.

I left the pasta in place as they dried… and again when I bisque fired them. When the pieces came out of the kiln, they were a little scratchy around the letters where the slip had “built-up” around the pasta. A quick bit of sandpaper did the trick to even them out.

I then covered the stamps and letters with temoku glaze. Filling the indentations completely with glaze.

Then with a damp sponge, I wiped off the top layer of glaze to reveal the patterns & indentations now filled with glaze.

After a quick soda firing, both lidded jars turned out great. I’ve had to keep them “under wraps” for a few weeks so as not to ruin the surprise for Kim. The jars were in my last soda firing, but I had to wait until Kim received her gift before I could post them here

So this one now turns out to be an “extra”…
anyone have any ashes in a box somewhere that need a good home?!

And here’s the one that brought my cousin Kim to tears…
I gave the jar to her boyfriend Don during “Art In The Barn.” He proceeded to give it to her in front of all of us… my parents, her Mom, and more family & friends. She was so touched by the gift that she immediately turned into a sobbing mess. So touching. So emotional. So appreciative. Exactly the reaction one would like to get.  And now Kim’s favorite cat Rudy has a fitting resting place. RIP Rudy.