The thing that brings me more pleasure than anything when making memorials for people, is the symbolic significance they hold. Whether it is an urn for ashes or a garden sculpture, I try to imbue the work symbolically with the essence of the person it represents. This may be through a certain colour, or an inscription, or a shape or form.
The materials used are also very important. If the person was Welsh, I would try and design something using some local slate or oak, if they come from the south of England I would source some Portland or other local stone. A piece of local stone used for a sculpture is a small chunk of the land the person comes from, and speaks of them as well as the place they were born or lived in. It is a small piece of “their world”. We are part of Britain, Europe, the World, but home never leaves us.