Cremation tattoos incorporate ashes in tattoo tattoo, creating a new type of memory for people who hurt the loss of a loved one.
Kerri Parnell, the founder of the cremation tattoos in the Winnipeg Osborne village, was investigating the history of tattoos and learned that the first tattoos were made with wooden ashes. During that investigation, his grandmother died and gave him the idea of mixing ashes cremated in the ink.
“The first cremation tattoo I did was in myself with my grandmother’s ashes,” said Parnell.
“It was great because my family allowed me to use their ashes to learn and take places and experiment.”
Parnell said there are other companies outside Canada that make cremation ink, but you must send the ashes by mail and wait weeks for the ink to return. Parnell said that the idea of sending ashes by mail was felt impersonal, so he set out to make his own cremation ink.
She spoke with scientists, visited crematoriums and funeral home, and discovered a process to mix the ashes. She said tattoos have been therapeutic for her clients.
“One of the women who lost her husband, said she had her ashes physically, such as Café, to the beach,” Parnell said about a previous client.
“She [tattooed his] motorcycle … and she said ‘I am so grateful not to have to take him physically more’ “.
Sherilyn Lenton became a tattoo of Egyptian beetle on her forearm to commemorate her mother. Coincidentally, she was signed in Creation in seven years of her mother’s death.
Lenton said regular tattoos to honor his mother before, but the cremation tattoo feels different.
“A part of her is now part of me, and that is permanent, and it makes me feel that it is always there,” Lenton said.
Lenton said that losing a father is a difficult time in life, and the cremation tattoo has been therapeutic for her.
“Mixing its ashes with the ink, it makes me feel as close to it as I have been since it died.”
Commemorative tattoos can help the grieving process
Parnell’s cremation tattoos have drawn attention to the Palliative Care sector in Manitoba. Dr. Bruce Martin is a palliative care provider that wants to offer cremation tattoos to some of his patients who are dealing with the loss.
“My clinical practice is influenced by the patients I have attended, but also medical literature,” Martin explained.
“Now there are references in what we call medical literature reviewed by pairs about the importance of memorization through tattoos.”
Martin said adding ashes to regular tattoos can make them even more significant for patients.
“A call that I had only a couple of days ago received a very emotional and crying response that said ‘if I had only known,” Martin said about one of his patients.
“This whole concept of a lifetime link to your loved one is an important consideration.”
Parnell will go to a palliative care conference in Manitoba this September, where you will have a set set to share information with the sector about the benefits of becoming a cremation tattoo.
The cremation tattoo “combines my three favorite things that I love, which is art, spirit and people. So it’s like the perfect recipe for exactly what I want to do.”
A Winnipeg tattoo artist is incorporating cremated ashes into the tattoo ink so that people who have lost a beloved can have that person with them forever. A palliative care provider now wants to offer cremation tattoos to some of his patients who are dealing with the loss.
