making porcelain clay with cremains

[PaulineNL]

Disclaimer - I am a total newbie. I have a Brent CXC pottery wheel and Skutt kiln (KM 1027-3)  that I gifted myself last year but I am still just learning how to use them.  I recently found a post from a year ago about making things using cremains. I have read all I can about adding cremains to glazes. I am also interested in trying to figure out if cremains can be used in place of bone ash for porcelain clay? PartingStone has created a proprietary product that add some sort of binder to cremains to create small stones. I have not been able to uncover what that binder or process of creating the stones is. My intention is to use my mother's cremains to make a couple palm-sized ceramic hearts for my sister and I. At first I was just going to glaze a couple stoneware hearts that I form. But when I heard about the possibility of creating porcelain with the cremains, that seems even more meaningful.  I purchased some kaolin and cornwall stone substitute. The proportions that someone in the forum mentioned was bone ash 50, kaolin 25, cornwall stone 25. But I am sure the actual process is more complicated. Does anyone have any experience with any of this? 

[Min]

Hi Pauline, my condolences for your loss.

If I was going to try this I'ld run some experiments using animal bone meal, like the stuff you get for gardens. Probably need to crush it unless you can find a source of fine bone meal. As an alternate trial I wonder if you mix animal bone meal with a white epoxy putty if that would might work instead of a fired process?

Please do update us on your results, this painful topic doesn't come up often. 

(I'm going to expand on the title to reflect content a bit more)

[neilestrick]

The problem is that cremains aren't a fine powder. They're rather chunky, with lots of variation in particle size. In order to use them successfully as an ingredient in a clay or glaze, you'll probably need to mill them down to a consistent powder. If you don't have the means to do that, consider a non-fired method like Min mentioned, or even fusing them to the interior of a pot.

[LeeU]

Depending on personal aesthetic, they may also be simply embedded (rubbed on, pressed down) the external surface of a piece, over or under glaze, or no glaze, with choices made regarding clay body, form, other surface treatment. I used the cremains of a dear NY friend to texture a small hedgehog that sits on a display shelf  (out of easy reach). I'm convinced he smiles at me every once in a while.