The Yorkshire artist turning the ashes of loved ones into incredible paintings

When Lanson Moore’s father, Kev, died unexpectedly in 2016, his family were left contemplating his final resting place. He had always loved Spain, a country he visited on holidays, but instead of booking a flight and scattering his ashes within the landscape brought to life by the brushstrokes of his favourite artist, Salvador Dali, Lanson came up with an idea to encapsulate his memory in a creative keepsake for the family to share.

“My dad always wanted me to do a mural on his wall to re-produce a Salvador Dali picture. He liked Spain and enjoyed going off the beaten track in the mountains. He liked film and literature. He liked creative things,” says Lanson.

Sadly Kev passed away before she was able to start the mural. Around that time she was pursuing a career in art creating private commissions. Keen to support her foray into self-employment, Lanson’s sister asked her to produce some artwork for her home – a place where the family congregated at Christmas.

Creating something special in memory of Kev became part of the family’s conversation. Lanson recalls what she refers to as “serendipity” when one of her sisters gave her some of their father’s ashes.

Lanson thought about the picture her father had wanted her to paint and considered incorporating his ashes into the artwork for her sister’s home.

However, working with ashes was a new medium for her and her internet research proved fruitless in seeking the specifics of the scientific process. Education came through experimentation.

“It was a very scientific approach,” says Lanson. “I have learned a lot about how ashes interact with paints and what works. I mainly use acrylics.”

The thread of textured metallic gold running through her father’s abstract artwork, her largest creation to date at 1.2m, encapsulates his ashes using a special sealing process, yet the evocative meaning would not be obvious to the viewer.

Sweeping brushstrokes of red and yellow add warmth and reflect the colours of the Spanish flag. Rich red and gold recreate the family’s festive get-togethers in the home where it will hang, while acknowledging Kev’s passing close to Christmas.

Lanson explains that the composition incorporated the Salvador Dali landscape. “To make the reference to that, I traced the line of the mountain in the piece and across it.”

She admits she felt a huge sense of responsibility while creating the artwork Abu in Port Lligat. Abu, which comes from “abuelo”, Spanish for grandfather, is what Kev’s grandchildren called him, while Port Lligat is a place he loved to visit.

“I went through this artistic emotional journey. I felt like I was channelling him and he was very subconsciously directing me,” adds Lanson.

Completing the memorial artwork for her father, which appeared in Vogue’s Gallery in the November 2022 edition of British Vogue magazine, inspired Lanson to use her art to help others seeking options for lasting memories of loved ones.

Last October Lanson successfully applied for a grant through Arts Council England’s Developing Your Creative Practice Fund – and is currently on course to complete ten pieces of memorial art for clients.

“People do feel the process I take them through is very therapeutic,” says Lanson, who is hoping to undertake a Masters degree in Art Therapy. “It is not a magic wand, but it has given them something to help with their grief.” She has also produced paintings in memory of lost pets.

Being a mum to a three-year-old son, the most difficult pieces are for families who have suffered baby loss and haven’t had the chance to make precious memories.

She recalls one client getting in touch after seeing her talking about her work on television.

“It is always difficult to scatter somebody’s ashes but I think people who have had a baby loss cannot imagine scattering their child’s ashes somewhere.”

Working closely with families, and through conversation, Lanson collects information to recreate memories pertinent to them and their loved one.

For one family, whose grandparents’ ashes were combined together, Lanson created a vibrant piece of art reflecting the couple’s love of gardening and the Yorkshire places they visited. The silver line running through the artwork maps the River Aire symbolising the scattering of Gordon and Elsie’s ashes in the water at Malham Cove.

She talks about the favourite shade of lipstick that she incorporated into a memorial artwork for a client in memory of her mum.

Three beautiful pieces of artwork exuding earthy tones enriched with blue stand against the wall of Lanson’s shared studio.

She joined the creative hub Touch of Craft, based in Springfield Mills, in Ossett, near Wakefield, after initially working from home when she set up Lanson Moore Art. She had just had her son and decided, after years of study and travel, to follow her art.

Lanson explains that the trio of abstract artworks, for Hannah who lost her father, Keith, symbolise Kinder Scout, Mam Tor and Shining Tor, routes they strolled through their shared love of walking. The colours also reflect her father’s favourite football team.

Lanson’s long-term objective, once she has completed her final memorial commission this year, is to develop Ashes Into Art alongside her other artwork collections which are inspired by her appreciation of nature and love of the outdoors.

“I grew up in a small village and it was my playground for nature – wading through rivers, swinging from trees, being out in farmland with animals, just climbing, digging, walking, building a tree house, it makes you feel completely free. I feel art is like that. It allows you to be creative, there are no barriers.”

Revisiting the visual memories of her six-month stay at Los Cedros, a biological reserve founded in the Eighties in north-west Ecuador, for the art competitions she entered to develop her confidence, re-awakened the possibility of turning her interest into a profession.

“It is one of the most bio-diverse places on the planet,” says Lanson. Living in a bunk house along with fellow volunteers, her role was to carry out jobs such as clearing paths and recording GPS data of species around the reserve.

Lanson incorporated the Los Cedros frog into the artwork for an art competition. She also created her own collection inspired by the reserve for canvases, cushions and homewares.

“A lot of my art was inspired by Los Cedros,” says Lanson, who has supported the reserve through her art which she is now pursuing as a full-time profession after leaving a management role. She is also keen to support the local community and, with funding from Wakefield Council, created a fairy nature trail in collaboration with fencing firm Earnshaws, in Midgley, Wakefield.

“Art is just such a powerful way of expressing emotion and connection that you cannot express through words,” says Lanson, who hopes it will also prompt some important conversations.

“It’s acknowledging and talking about grief, normalising it. That is what I want to do.”

www.lansonmooreart.co.uk​​​​​​