May 13, 2008 02:00 PM Eastern Time 

Ashes to Ashes….Dust to ART!

AMHERST, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As Memorial Day approaches, cemeteries across the U.S. will fill with flags to honor those who died in the service of our country. People who have lost a loved one or an adored pet may be searching for a similarly appropriate way to memorialize their loss. Art From Ashes, a new Internet firm based in Amherst, MA, creates extraordinary memorials by integrating a small amount of human or pet cremains into beautiful, handcrafted glass sculptures, perfume bottles, jewelry or glass-topped walking sticks.

“Our remembrances are discrete enough to sit on a workplace desk, yet are beautiful enough to feature as unique works of art in their own right,” says Deb Brown, who founded the firm with Jane Giat and Jenny Bourgeois. “The cremains are incorporated into the glass in such a way that people don’t know it’s a memorial unless they are told.”

The response of customer Patty Gorman-Bishop, from Florence, MA, is typical: “For nine years I had my mother’s ashes in a drawer, unsure how to display them. I wanted something evocative of my mother, not a traditional urn. I’m so glad I discovered Art From Ashes. I ordered a cobalt blue perennial, which catches the sunlight on my windowsill. It’s vibrant and matches my mother’s personality.”

Of the many animals memorialized by Art From Ashes, none is more famous than Washoe, the first chimpanzee to learn American Sign Language and pass it on to her adopted son. Deborah Fouts, director of the Chimpanzee and Human Communications Institute in Ellensburg, WA, where Washoe was raised, explains, “Because of Washoe’s outstanding and unique qualities, we were delighted to learn about the one-of-a-kind remembrances that Art From Ashes creates. Our Board members were touched and surprised when each was presented with an exquisite piece of art memorializing Washoe.”

“Those who grieve cherish their memories each and every day of the year,” says Giat. “An Art from Ashes remembrance honors the memory of a deceased loved one using the aesthetic to express the spiritual.”

For full information on the distinctive blown glass art memorials available from Art From Ashes, visit http://www.artfromashes.com.