Ashes With Art
From Siobhan's early memorial glass to one of the UK's leading specialist memorial jewellery studios.
The story behind Ashes With Art began in 1996, when Siobhan Jones founded her glass studio after graduating from the Surrey Institute of Art & Design. From the very beginning, memorial work formed part of the studio and was originally known as Ashes in Art, with Siobhan receiving requests to create glass pieces containing cremation ashes. Some of the earliest pieces were memorial bowls and necklaces, created alongside her wider work as a glass artist.
It was an unusual idea at the time. There wasn't really a market for memorial glass in the way there is today, and the work initially grew through individual commissions, recommendations and word of mouth. As people began asking what else was possible, Siobhan went on to create wall art and other bespoke memorial pieces.
When the memorial work became much bigger
By 2012, Siobhan had more work than she could personally take on and lead times were becoming longer than she was comfortable with. Ashes in Art was growing too, and it was becoming clear that a specialist business entrusted with people's loved ones' ashes needed a very different approach from a traditional art and design studio.
Something needed to change.
Over the following years, Siobhan developed plans for Ashes in Art to operate separately, with its own processes, systems, safeguards and specialist team. The aim was not simply to create a separate brand, but to build a business specifically around the responsibility of receiving, caring for and working with people's ashes, while allowing Siobhan's wider art and design business to continue independently.
In 2016, after several years of planning and considerable investment, Ashes in Art began operating independently from Siobhan's designer glass business as a dedicated specialist operation.
As Ashes in Art continued to grow, the existing business was incorporated as Ashes in Art Ltd in 2017. The company was later renamed Ashes With Art Ltd, and the business continues today under the Ashes With Art name.
Ashes With Art today
Today, Ashes With Art has specialist studios in Worthing and Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter. Jewellery design and manufacture, CAD design, glass work and the specialist processes used to incorporate ashes are all carried out in-house by our own team, supported by dedicated operations and customer-care staff.
The business is considerably larger than the studio Siobhan started in 1996, but the personal nature of the work hasn't changed.
Families are trusting us with something irreplaceable, often at one of the most difficult times in their lives. We never forget that. Being trusted to create something a family can keep close using their loved one's ashes is both a responsibility and a privilege.
Today our team helps thousands of families each year, creating memorial jewellery and glass in our own studios for people across the UK and around the world.
And it can all be traced back to the first memorial glass requests Siobhan received more than 30 years ago.