Artist Uses Cremation Ashes to Create Unique Memorial Paintings With Personal Meanings

Artist Gary Harper uses cremation ashes to make personalized paintings for grieving families – SWNS

An artist is using cremation ashes in his paintings to create unique memorial landscapes that grieving families can personalize as a way to remember loved ones.

Gary Harper began painting professionally just two years ago and was inspired by the loss of his cousin to respectfully experiment with blending a small amount of ashes into his artwork.

He holds consultations with families to learn about the deceased and any their favorite memories, focusing on landscapes with a personal connection.

The 33-year-old from Liverpool began painting while at college and developed a love for still life and landscapes.

It wasn’t until he became an occupation therapy assistant in a psychiatric hospital that he saw first-hand the profound effect art could have on people.

“I held an art therapy session with a patient and we made so many paintings together,” said the 33-year-old. “I was guiding her through the process and I realized how much I enjoyed it.

“A month later, I picked up the brush and started painting for myself. The piece was abstract sunflowers and the feedback I got was overwhelming.”

Artist Gary Harper uses cremation ashes to make personalized paintings of landscapes or still life – SWNS

While painting in his free time in December 2024, his cousin Donna passed away from cancer.

“It was so close to Christmas and it was really emotional.

A year later, he was painting some seascapes when the thought crossed his mind that he could add some ashes.”

In November 2025, Gary painted his first Ashes to Art commission, aiming to provide a personalized memorial in acrylic paint for the bereaved.

“It was lovely the family trusted me,” he told SWNS news agency. “It’s a respectful process.”

“I do a consultation with the loved one, learning everything about the person and what they enjoyed.

Artist Gary Harper uses cremation ashes to make personalized painting SWNS SQUARE

“Visually the family can see where the ashes have gone, rather than scattering them.”

Gary’s canvases start at 12×12 inches (30x30cm) for $135 (£100), but he works with the family so they can afford the perfect picture.

“The reaction I get is joy, initially. Then it gets emotional.

“It’s a humbling experience to know you’ve helped someone through the grieving stage.”

“Some people scatter ashes and then there’s nothing left.

“With a painting, when it’s done, the family can feel the painting texture with the ashes, so they can still ‘feel’ the person in the painting, especially if it’s a place they used to love.”Learn more at the Gary Harper Art website. Artist Uses Cremation Ashes to Create Unique Memorial Paintings With Personal Meanings

Read More........→February 18, 2026

This Ancient Man's Piercing Hazel Eyes Drew Almost $1 Million in 'Mummy Portrait' Auction

Mummy Portrait of a Man from Roman Egypt Flavian Period, circa late 1st century A.D. – Courtesy Sotheby’s

Sotheby’s recently sold a painting of a man from Roman-controlled Egypt in the first century CE that experts suggest represents the dawn of realistic portraiture 1,200 years before it appeared in Italy.

The image is part of a family of works known collectively as the Fayum Mummy Portraits, all of which were found during 19th century excavations at a site called Hawara in Egypt’s Fayum region.

The portraits were placed atop mummified remains like masks, and were painted with pigment mixed with melted beeswax on wooden panels. Over 900 have been found, and some have been auctioned.

This portrait of a dark-skinned senior with graying hair, piercing hazel eyes, and a large lower lip recently brought in $889,000 with fees. Though they were painted and entombed in Egypt, the subjects could be Romans, whose nobility could afford both mummification and portrait commissions.

The nose might give the man up as a Roman; the substantial bridge being a feature of the Italian race still today. Others are perhaps less obvious.

What unquestionably stands out is the true air of realism in the work—one gets the feeling all at once that the man truly appeared as he is portrayed.

“It invites you to want to know more about him and to feel his presence,” said Alexandra Olsman, a Sotheby’s specialist in ancient sculpture and works of art.

Roman domination of Egypt came only after Macedonian domination of Egypt under the Ptolemaic dynasty. Whatever skin/eye color and features the ancient Egyptian race had, the population in the major cities would have long been altered by intermarrying with northern Mediterraneans.

It’s not known whether the sitters were painted in death or life, or some state in between of infirmity. Olsman told CNN that with the sincere connection through the eyes, it would seem unlikely to be the artist’s interpretation of a dead man.Sotheby’s has sold over a dozen Fayum mummy paintings over the years, and this one along with another featuring a curly-headed, younger man, commanded the highest bids. This Ancient Man's Piercing Hazel Eyes Drew Almost $1 Million in 'Mummy Portrait' Auction

Read More........→February 13, 2026