N.B. couple helps grieving families honour their loved ones through glass art pieces

A couple from New Horton, N.B. is using their art to help grieving families find peace by moulding creative glass pieces meant to honour lost loved ones.

“It is such an honour that people want to have you handle that and have their piece forever and have it be part of their family,” said Curtis Dionne, who has been creating blown glass pieces for decades.

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Dionne said he learned the art form his mentor, while working as an apprentice in B.C.

“He was a Mexican glass blower from Guadalajara and he really embodied the full tradition of the craft,” he said.

But Dionne said the pieces he has been doing since moving to the shores of the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick are carrying the most meaning.

He and his partner in life, Charlotte MacLeod, work together in front of a furnace at their home in the small community of New Horton.

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“[We’re] making solid glass weights with colour and design and incorporating ashes of people’s loves ones so that they will have a piece of that forever,” said Dionne.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "[We're] making solid glass weights with colour and design and incorporating ashes of people's loves ones so that they will have a piece of that forever," said Dionne.

By moulding bits of the ashes into glass art pieces, the couple is able to make multiple tokens with deep meaning that can be shared with several family members. MacLeod said it only takes a small amount of ashes to make each piece and “people have some and they have actually watched the piece being made so it is more like a ceremony.”

“It is always emotional when you are dealing with that stuff,” said Dionne, who hopes to make more pieces as their business grows.

The couple plans to open a new studio this June where they will also sell more traditional decorative glass pieces in a variety of shapes and colours.

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The studio, called Glass Roots, could not be more aptly named said Dionne, given how they now help families weighed down by grief find peace.

“It really represents the roots of their family and to have them bring it through our studio, it is nice,” he said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It really represents the roots of their family and to have them bring it through our studio, it is nice," he said.