Tanja Hutahajan and Jessica Lafreniere were dealt a hand of heartbreak a few months ago when they had to say goodbye to their 15-year-old dog Dakota.
They wanted to do something special to memorialize him, and that’s when they created a ceramic urn in the shape of a house.
Just six weeks later, they found out their other 15-year-old dog Harley had mouth cancer and they had to say goodbye to him, as well. With the urn for Dakota not yet finished, they decided to incorporate elements of Harley into the urn.
“We called Dakota 'ducky', so we put a duck in the house for him,” said Hutahajan. “We would call Harley ‘sergeant sardine,’ and so we have a sign on the house that says sergeant sardine with a sardine can.”
Hutahajan and Lafreniere wanted a special place to keep their beloved dogs' ashes that would be more personal than a regular urn. That’s when they realized other people may want to commemorate their “fur family” in a similar way.
“We know so many people who have lost their pets and this is such a nice way to remember them,” said Hutahajan. “We can actually look at these and it brings happiness to us, as opposed to something that makes us feel solemn and sad.”
As artists and makers who operate Quirk Society, Hutahajan and Lafreniere make housewares and decor using polymer clay and ceramics, but given their personal loss, it’s led them to start making urns.
“Knowing how much meaning goes into it and that’s their place to rest, and how much symbolism goes into it, means so much,” said Hutahajan. “Knowing we can offer that to somebody else to make it a more tolerable experience rather than it all being about sadness is nice.”
Initially launched at the New’bark’et dog festival, they said they had understandably mixed reviews because dog owners don’t want to think about losing their pets.
“It’s part of the life experience and we just hope we can be a nice option,” Hutahajan said. “We told people that we hope they don’t need us anytime soon, but it’s something down the line to have to memorialize them that was made for them specifically.”
The idea to make the urns little houses came from Hutahajan and Lafreniere’s love of architecture.
“A little home is nice for them because it’s their little house in the house,” said Hutahajan. “We can actually add cremains into the clay itself so it’s literally in the urn, too.”
Making urns is still very new for them, but Hutahajan and Lafreniere said they have had a lot of positive response.
“We’ve had some vets show interest in it because they know people are often looking for something a little different, a little nicer, and a little more personal,” Hutahajan said. “It’s a lot of people saying it’s a nice thing.”
Learn more about Quirk Society here.
