All that remains: South Hadley glass artist preserves ashes of loved ones in glass keepsakes

2022-12-17 12:39:30 By : Mr. Devlin Zhang

South Hadley resident Nikki Gibson has started a new glass art business called Memori Glass, where she turns the ashes of loved ones into unique glass keepsakes. STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS

Nikki Gibson places cremains onto a hot glass rod as part of her business called Memori Glass, which turns the ashes of loved ones into unique glass keepsakes. STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS Fine Glitter Bulk

All that remains: South Hadley glass artist preserves ashes of loved ones in glass keepsakes

Pieces made by Nikki Gibson as part of her business called Memori Glass, where she combines glass and Cremains into individualized pieces. STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS

Nikki Gibson creates one of her pieces where she places cremains onto glass as part of her business called Memori Glass. STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS

Nikki Gibson creates one of her pieces where she places cremains onto glass as part of her business called Memori Glass. STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS

Pieces made by Nikki Gibson as part of her business called Memori Glass, where she combines glass and Cremains into individualized pieces. STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS

Nikki Gibson holds some of her individualized pieces where she places cremains onto glass as part of her business called Memori Glass. STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS

Nikki Gibson creates one of her pieces where she places cremains onto glass as part of her business called Memori Glass. STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS

Nikki Gibson holds some of her individualized pieces where she places cremains onto glass as part of her business called Memori Glass. She’s photographed with her glass mentor, Kirin Bourgeois. STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS

SOUTH HADLEY — With millions of people succumbing to coronavirus complications over the past two years, the grief felt by many has been especially intense and prolonged.

In navigating through the emotional toll of the past few years, South Hadley resident Nikki Gibson has started a new glass art business with the goal of helping others to find comfort through the grieving process.

The business, Memori Glass, turns the ashes of loved ones into unique glass keepsakes.

Prior to the pandemic, Gibson, who has been in practice for close to 10 years as an orthopedic massage therapist, never had an interest or even a desire to blow glass.

“People were dying rapidly — it was scary. People couldn’t have funerals and crematoriums were working overtime as a lot of people turned to cremations,” Gibson said. “I wanted to find a way to help people through their grief in a way that I was comfortable with because it’s hard to take on that emotional pain. I learned about this idea of putting cremated remains into glass as a keepsake, and it was like a lighting flash that I needed to do this.”

A native of Cambridge, Gibson has always had an interest in the death industry. In the past, she’d considered becoming a funeral director or a death doula — a person who provides support to someone who is dying and their loved ones.

Unfortunately, she said that none of those careers felt right. She continued to research the field and read about the death acceptance organization The Order of the Good Death. The organization was founded by Caitlin Doughty, a California mortician who hosts a YouTube video series called “As A Mortician.”

In her research, Gibson learned that when people die and choose to have their remains cremated, those remains are reduced to roughly 10 pounds of ash. Those ashes are passed on to family members in a box.

“Some people will have a ceremony to scatter the ashes and others will put them in an urn on a mantelpiece, but that doesn’t always feel comfortable with people,” she said, noting one of her family members kept ashes under their bed for 10 years. “Sometimes people don’t know what to do with them.”

An alternative she’d found through the death positive movement, which encourages people to develop a healthier attitude about death, was to create artwork with cremated remains of their loved ones — both humans and animals.

For the last two and a half years, Gibson has been honing her glass-blowing craft, having first taken classes at Juggernaut Glass in Easthampton. By August, she decided she was ready and looked to Kirin Bourgeois of Bourgie Glass, who had instructed her at Juggernaut and has since become a mentor, for guidance.

Because the grief process evolves, Gibson said the keepsakes are created in a way to mirror that process. The artistic creations are organic and freeform in shape, but can be crafted as a pendant, a decorative marble or sphere or even a skipping stone.

In creating the keepsake, Gibson incorporates the cremated remains with materials like crushed opal and moldavite, which can range from forest green in color to blue-green.

“They’re complex. They’re quite literally meant for a person to get lost in. If you’ve ever gone through losing someone you love, there are days when you just need to focus on something and this is a perfect example of a meditative option. Each time you turn the piece, the light touches them in a different way and you get a different angle,” she said.

Depending on the size and material, keepsakes range from $25 to $150.

Gibson also noted that keepsakes do not have to include cremated remains, and can just stand as memorial pieces. She also can create specialty group items for those who would like to pass out a piece of artwork at a funeral or a ceremony.

“The feedback has been very powerful,” said Gibson, choking back tears. “I’ve had people call breaking down in tears, saying ‘I can keep my brother with me all the time,’ and ‘I can keep my mother close to me.’ It’s so beautiful. Sometimes it’s not a sad memory. Sometimes the right color can bring such joy. There’s so many facets to this.”

In the coming months, Gibson also has plans to dabble in specialty keepsakes using another biological material — semen. Through some research, she’s found that there’s a demand to use the material in unique jewelry pieces.

“I’ve read a lot of articles in newspapers about women who have lost their husbands and had their semen sitting in IVF (in vitro fertilization) storage … They don’t want to throw away the semen and don’t know what to do with it,” she said. “It can be a naughty thing to show for some, but for others, it can be another way to memorialize your partner and the life you had together.”

NORTHAMPTON — For Gina and Heidi Nortonsmith of Northampton, one of the original seven same-sex couples in Massachusetts who sued for the right to...

For Sale: 200 Acres. Build to Suit. You see a lot of these enticements on the highways, and anyone with a wad of cash and a fleet of backhoes...

SUNDERLAND — After the success of the South County Senior Center’s Friendsgiving event last month, the group is now seeking volunteers to help...

All that remains: South Hadley glass artist preserves ashes of loved ones in glass keepsakes

Fluorescent Mica Powder FARMERVILLE, La. — Five Louisiana law enforcement officers were charged Thursday with state crimes ranging from negligent homicide to malfeasance...