Memorials by Artists is a new venture which arranges commissions with many of the best letter cutters and memorial artists working in Britain.
The idea behind Memorials by Artists arose from my own experience in trying to find someone to make a good headstone for my daughter who died in 1985. I discovered that it was still possible to have a memorial that was well designed, beautifully carved and with fine lettering. The whole process of finding this out took a long time, and involved a great deal of searching and trial and error - in deciding what we wanted, in finding someone to design and carve the stone and discovering what was allowed by the church authorities.
Although the majority of memorials will probably continue to be made in stone, many other possibilities exist. I have a register of artists working in other media who will make private or public memorials of any description. One could commission, for instance, a single ceramic tile, a pane or a whole window of engraved or stained glass, a stone seat, a wooden bench, a sundial, a bird bath, a sculpture, a fountain or a folly.
Memorials by Artists will, I hope, help to increase public awareness of the possibilities for memorial design and encourage artists and craftsmen and women who work in stone and other materials.
Memorials by Artists will take responsibility for the job being done, from the first contact up to the fixing of the memorial. This of course does not exclude clients from being involved in the project as much as they wish.
A finely produced 40 page booklet is available for L3. This contains 20 pages of photographs and several articles, for example, 'A History of Memorial Design', epitaphs, suitable stones, etc. Harriet Frazer, Memorials by Artists, Snape Priory, Saxmundham, Suffolk IP17 1SA (tel 0728 88 8934).