If you’ve ever wondered how a Dying loved one’s request could become a calling, episode 440 of Grief and Happiness is for you. Ceramic artist Rae Delai shares how a promise to her dying aunt led her to leave Nursing and open White Lily Urns, crafting memorial pieces — including a teapot urn for a young woman lost to anorexia and a reef urn that becomes part of the ocean.
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
(00:55) Rae’s path from 30 years in nursing to becoming a full-time ceramic artist
(01:27) How her dying aunt’s request for an urn led to White Lily Urns
(08:30) Why Australian culture — and even most potters — avoid making urns
(13:54) The meditative discipline of clay: why you can’t create while angry
(14:33) How clients find Rae’s work and why most of her urns ship overseas
(16:38) The personal stories behind her urns, including a dragon urn for a teen who died by suicide
(19:00) Designing a custom teapot urn for a young woman who died of anorexia
(22:26) Why ceramics are like crystals — and the surprises every kiln firing brings
(24:28) How grieving clients choose an urn in the moment, without overthinking it
(25:40) The reef-friendly urn Rae created for her own grief, built to become part of a coral reef
Rae Delai is the ceramic artist behind White Lily Urns, a memorial pottery studio in Atherton, Far North Queensland, Australia. After 30 years as a nurse in intensive care, midwifery, and palliative care, she took up pottery as a creative outlet — and when her dying aunt asked her to make an urn for her ashes, Rae found few handmade options existed in Australia. That gap led her to leave nursing for a full-time business making custom urns, capturing each loved one’s story with input from families. She now sells through her website and Etsy as White Lily Urns, shipping worldwide.
On the episode, Rae drew on her nursing background and her craft to discuss death, grief, and the comfort of creating something meaningful from loss. She described Australians’ general discomfort with death, even among potters, and how nursing taught her to sit with grieving families without absorbing their pain. She shared personal projects: a teapot urn for a young woman who died of anorexia, a dragon-faced urn for a teen who died by suicide, and a reef urn made for her own grief that dissolves into the ocean. She closed on the centeredness clay demands and the realities of running her business alone.
Connect with Rae Delai:
Let’s Connect:
The Grief and Happiness Alliance
Book: Emily Thiroux Threatt – Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief
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