FAQ
Our Most Commonly Asked Questions
When her father died unexpectedly and under mysterious circumstances more than twenty years ago, she was disconsolate, and she lived with a gnawing grief for many years. In 2008 one of her closest friends chose to end his life. Not only was she shocked and devastated, but she found that the still unresolved feelings of loss in her father's death had resurfaced all the more powerfully. With a sudden inspiration, she determined that she would make portraits of her friend and her father out of cremated ashes. She has described the feeling of calm and tranquility that she felt upon completing the works and abiding with them in silent communion as life-altering. And she realized that she could offer the same deep solace to others as well. During her lengthy experimentation, she discovered a way of creating an actual relic that both honors the dead and inspires the living with a rich sense of presence, continuity, and connection.
Mosaic Portraits are completely hand-made realistic portraits in a black, white, and grey palette, made out of the cremated ashes of your beloved. The unique process Hatry has developed involves the placement of individual ash particles upon a surface of wax on which they rest gently, until, through several delicate layers of application, a rich and textured likeness is achieved.
Ash Transfer Portraits are realistic portraits made from the cremated ashes of your beloved. Again, uniquely developed by the artist, and now patent pending, this process makes it possible to transfer the ink of a photographic image directly onto a pure and slightly irregular surface of cremated ashes.
Both options are cremation keepsakes made out of ashes:
Mosaic Portraits are made in a mosaic technique (usually made with different colored stones that become an image) in this case the cremated ash particles are affixed one by one onto a substrate. The choice of different shades of gray creates the diversity of hue that results in a portrait, similar to the way that individual pixels contribute to complex images on a computer. Depending on the size, this technique requires up to six weeks.
For the patent pending process of making Ash Transfer Portraits a larger number of ash particles are affixed in a different way and afterwards the ink of a photo is transferred onto that surface. Depending on the size this takes up to three weeks.
The amount of cremated ashes needed depends on the technique and size:
- Ash Transfer Portraits of 5 x 7" require 2.5 ounces of ashes, which is about 5 tablespoons
- Ash Transfer Portraits of 11 x 14" require 4.5 ounces of ashes, which is about 9 tablespoons
- Mosaic Portraits of 5 x 7" require 1 ounce of ashes, which is about 2 tablespoons Mosaic Portraits of 11 x 14" require 2 ounces of ashes, which is about 4 tablespoons.
But you don’t have to worry about that, in the mailing kit you will receive, you will find the right size ziplock bag, and simple instructions.
If you don't have enough ashes, if you don't want to handle the remains, or if you are interested in a different format, please get in contact with us and we will find an individual solution.
Given the modest amount of ashes necessary for a portrait, a Memorial Portrait could easily be made for every family member and even friends.
In deciding to commission a memorial portrait, made out of ashes you don’t lose any options. A quite sufficient quantity would still remain for scattering, preservation in an urn, making jewelry objects (please see madelynco.com) or whatever other means you might choose to honor and remember your loved one.
No, the wooden shadow-box can be equipped to contain the remainder of the cremated ashes, but you can, of course, contain those in a separate urn of your choice.
Everyone who owns a cremation portrait by Heide Hatry has described a profound effect of presence that is “calming,” “soothing,” or “consoling.” Many, especially when they had been suffering powerful grief, have described it as life-changing, as a way of coming to terms with the fact of death, especially when it came upon them unexpectedly.
Graveyards and mausoleums stay where they are, while we do not. Especially in a time of global movement, it seems more appropriate to be able to take our beloved with us when we have to move.
Our cremation portraits look as realistic as a photograph of your loved one, even more so, as it has depth and a texture that photographs cannot achieve, and at the same time, it is your loved one. The effect of that reality is indescribable, and will always be true. You are seeing the person you loved in her or his image, and this knowledge never diminishes, effortlessly enriching your relationship to the image and to memory.
You just send us a note, and you will receive a mailing kit a few days later: (info@iconsinash.com, or call us at 917 932 4999)
You can also ask your local funeral home or crematory. Mailing kits are also available in the National Museum of Funeral History in Houston, at the Merchant's House Museum and at Ubu Gallery in NYC.
The mailing kit contains very simple, detailed, step-by-step instructions. Nothing else is required but a stamp to send it back to New York. Or get in contact with your local funeral home, or crematory, they will be able to deal with this for you.
We use the same careful and conscientious system as crematories: the cremated ashes are marked at any given time with a name tag, from the moment they arrive at our facilities until they are sent back to you. Every precaution will be taken, and every care exerted to insure that no errors are possible.
An Ash Transfer Portrait in the size of
5 x 7" costs $650, and in the size of 11 x 14" (about life size) it costs $1,200
A three-inch-deep wooden shadowbox equipped with regular glass or plexiglass is included in the price. This patented technique allows a much faster way to connect the ash particles, and to transfer the likeness of your beloved one onto that surface. The turnaround for this technique doesn't depend on the size and takes usually two weeks from receiving the ashes. But please ask, as it depends on how busy we are .
The ICONS IN ASH Mosaic Portraits technique is very meticulous: every single particle of the ashes is individually placed on a bed of wax substrate that connects with the ashes. Each portrait consists of thousands of particles, and it takes about six weeks to create a single portrait.
A Mosaic Portrait in the size of 5 x 7" costs $12,000 and in the size of 11 x 14" (about life size) $25,000
A high quality three-inch-deep wooden shadowbox equipped with museum-quality glass is included in the price.
If you don't have enough ashes or if you are interested in a different format, please get in contact with us and we will find a solution.
We think everybody who would like to have an ICONS IN ASH memorial portrait should have one, so if you can’t afford it, please get in touch with us and we will try to find funding.
Please ask your local funeral home, crematory, or Ubu Gallery for their preferred payment method. If you buy your Memorial Portrait directly from us, please send us a check, order it on the website, or get in touch with us.
Your payment has to be made, as soon as we will have received the cremated remains and the image you'd like us to use.
The portrait will be shipped by USPS. Hand delivery is free in Manhattan; delivery to any other location will be priced individually, and if hand delivery by plane is required, we will charge air fare, cab or rental car costs, hotel fare if necessary, plus $15/hour for the time needed to deliver it, from the point of origin.
Please look through the photographs of your beloved one and upload your favorite photos to info@iconsinash.com. The photo can be an image at any age in her or his life – that is completely up to you. We have three requests though: the photograph should be in the highest resolution you have (300dpi would be great), the face needs to be fairly prominent and if possible, the mouth should be closed. If you are insecure which photo to choose send us a few and we are happy to discuss which might produce the optimal result. You can also number the photographs in the order of your preference. Heide Hatry is a very experienced portrait artist and can readily assess the perfect image for your chosen size and technique.
Heide Hatry invented the Mosaic Portrait technique in 2008/2009, so it is impossible to say with absolute certainty, but if you imagine a candle that has collected dust when it was burning, those particles never come off, so we assume that the portraits, too, will last forever. Egypt Fayum mummy portraits for example (naturalistic painted portraits on wooden boards, using a wax-based encaustic technique of integrating pigment) have survived 3000 years (you can see them at the Metropolitan Museum of Art), assuming that reasonable care is taken.
The technique of the new patent pending Ash Transfer Portraits was invented in 2018. So there has not passed much time, but we have done extended research and are sure that they will last as long as a regular artwork, like an acrylic painting for example, assuming that reasonable care is taken.
The portraits are displayed in deep wooden shadow-boxes, equipped with museum-quality glass. They can be hung on a wall like a painting, rest upright on a table, pedestal, or mantle-piece, in a glass display niche in a cemetery, or basically wherever you prefer.
Your Memorial Portrait is an artwork and should be treated like one: never hang it in direct sunlight, don’t expose it to moisture, and maintain it at normal room temperature.
It is not terribly fragile or susceptible to damage, but it can collect dust very easily, so it should never be removed from its frame. Naturally, in the event of an accident, it could be restored, though that would involve a lengthy process and additional expense.
If you need to transport the Mosaic Portrait, we suggest to always keep it laying face up.
There are a few locations where ICONS IN ASH portraits are exhibited permanently:
At the National Museum of Funeral History in Houston, at The Merchant's House Museum in NYC and at Ubu Gallery in NYC.
You can also email us at info@iconsinash.com for more locations in your neighborhood or call us at 917 932 4999.
Please email us at info@iconsinash.com or call at 917 932 4999, and we will send you a list of funeral homes we are working with, or ask your local funeral home or crematory to get in touch with us.
Please email us at info@iconsinash.com or call at 917 932 4999.
Please email us at info@iconsinash.com or call at 917 932 4999.
Again, please email us at info@iconsinash.com or call at 917 932 4999.