Lorien Stern comes from Ojai, a small town in Southern California. She recently received her BFA from California College of the Arts in Oakland, where she focused on ceramics, painting, claymation, screen printing, wood turning, piñatas, and egg batiking. Experimenting in various mediums, her animal urns are what caught my eye. They combine white ceramic animal heads with turned wood and are simultaneously whimsical and sophisticated. Whether used as actual cremation urns or merely objets'd'art, they are definitely unique.
“Penguin Urn” (10” x 3.5” x 3.5” Ceramic and American Poplar 2013)
“Alligator Urn” (8” x 3.5” x 3.5” Ceramic and American Poplar 2013)
“Bear Urn” (10” x 3.5” x 3.5” Ceramic and American Poplar 2013)
“Horse Urn” (10” x 3.5” x 3.5” Ceramic and American Poplar 2013)
“St. Bernard Urn” (9” x 5” x 5” Ceramic and American Poplar 2013)
“Bull Urn” (12.25” x 6.5” Ceramic and American Poplar 2010)
Lorien Stern (above) now lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. (image courtesy of Facebook)
Lorien works in has a fun series of large and small "animal heads" that you should check out at her website.
Shop her etsy store here