Sr. Ruella’s Ministry of Making Urns
Sr. Ruella Bouchonville in the process of creating an urn from clay.
Ruella Bouchonville, OP, has worked with clay for over 50 years and in 2004 began to make cremation burial urns for Sisters and others outside the Congregation. A deep spiritual connection to the natural world plays a role in her ministry of making cremation urns.
Ruella’s desire to create something of the earth and have it be utilitarian, something for which there is a need, led her to create a cremation urn for the Congregation. The design is bulbous in form and is made from clay. “I have great respect for the material I am working with. The clay is millions of years old,” Ruella said. Ruella is very conscious of the natural resources and energy she uses to make the urns, so she gets her materials from nearby suppliers, uses water sparingly, and only fires the urns once. “I try to be as green as possible,” Ruella said. “The kiln reaches 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit, 12 hours up and 12 hours down. That’s a lot of energy.”
Urns are made when a person commissions one. Ruella has information sheets that a person can fill out, and then she talks with her/him to clarify the design and how it can be accomplished. Designs can be very simple to very elaborate. Some have included family crests, heritage symbols such as shamrocks, the Dominican shield, words, and other symbols. To promote a green process, underglazes are used before the firing and paints are used after the firing. Every urn has the name of the person who commissioned it and her/his birthday carved in the outside bottom of the urn. When the urn is used, Ruella marks the person’s death date on the bottom in permanent marker. The process of making the urn can take one to two weeks, depending on the humidity level which affects drying time. Ruella throws the clay on the potter’s wheel making the vessel and a lid. The clay needs to dry until it can be handled to trim the pieces. Then an underglaze is applied, and the urn is left to dry. Next the urn is fired in the kiln, cooled, and painted. The final step is to make a macramé holder Ruella designed to lower the urn into its final resting place.
As Ruella works on the urn, she thinks about the person who commissioned it and what symbols or words were chosen to represent the person. “What did the person want to communicate to others about her or his life? How did the person want to be seen?” asked Ruella. “There is a trust and bonding with Sisters when I am asked to do this.”
Ruella can be contacted at the Motherhouse to answer any questions or take an order.