WHO AM I?

IT ALL STARTED WHEN..

First things first

I am a textile designer, with a special interest in wet-felting.  I am a member of the International Feltmakers’ Association, Heritage Craft Association, Crafts Council, Wey Valley Workshop, Oxshott Arts & Crafts, CQ Group and The Textile Society, among others. I support the Campaign for Wool and have been a member of Mensa since I was sixteen.

My primary influences are colour and nature.  In addition to my urns and gifts for treasuring memories, I make decorative items for the home and personal accessories with strong use of colour, which I have been selling under the name of flights-of-fantasy for some fifteen years.  My gift-work can be found on www.flights-of-fantasy.com and more recently some items are for sale through Folksy (https://folksy.com/shops/charlescottage) . I also teach felt-making and coiled basket making.

… I was helping a friend choose a resting vessel for her mother. She wanted something she could keep at home and enjoy looking at, but something that could be buried at a later date if she decided to do that.

She found the metal containers on offer too impersonal and ceramic too ‘cold’. She realised she would prefer a bio-degradable option.

We looked at many beautiful designs in metal, stone and ceramic and there is an incredible choice when you start looking but few are eco-friendly!  Cardboard was a possibility, but in the end she settled on wood - being the nearest thing she could find to something bio-degradable and ‘softer’.

But I was left thinking that textiles should play their part.  And so, many months on, I launched Well Urned Rest – the soft option.

Take a moment to think about what sort of urn you would like and why.

Is it for yourself or a friend or relation?

Is it to keep at home or to play a central part in a celebration of life?

If for yourself, do you want to ask your family to choose with you, or would you prefer to choose something you particularly want and use it as a way to talk to them about your other end of life wishes?

Is colour important? Or shape? Or material - although the illustrations thus far are all in handmade felt, I am currently developing textile designs suitable for vegan purchasers - these will be in cotton or linen.

If you live near Surrey, I would like to suggest you follow The Brigitte Trust website as they regularly run Coffin Club gatherings at the beautiful Clandon Wood Natural Burial Ground. These meetings are wonderfully informative and uplifting. The Brigitte Trust also organises supportive and helpful Death Cafes, as do other organisations around the country.