Skip to content
Instagram Twitter as well YouTube

SculptureBlog

by Koen van Velzen, sculptor in stone and bronze

  • Home
  • About the Sculpture Workshop
  • About Koen
  • Posts overview
  • Projects
  • Videos
  • Contact
Facebook Twitter as well Instagram
SculptureBlog
by Koen van Velzen, sculptor in stone and bronze
vanH | coat of arms

Sandstone has arrived

ByKoen van Velzen 09-07-201308-02-2026

Very quietly, the sandstone for my next assignment arrived. And it is a beautiful, very fine piece of stone. I intend to carve a round family crest in relief out of it. It's a lively depiction with two griffins as shield bearers, mantling, a hat as a crest and a fairly simple shield.

I'm told that the simpler the weapon on the shield itself is, the older usually the family is. Fortunately, the stone has a diameter of 120 cms wide, so all the details are not so puny.

I have asked the quarry for a very firm piece of stone, and that's what they delivered: this is top quality. I like to carve reliefs very much (among other things because that way I don't need to measure as much), and coats of arms happen to be my favorite. And a very good piece of stone as well, What do I want more? A good start for a nice project.

Nasty the next post about this project.

Beeldhouwerijblog.nl is the blog of Koen van Velzen, sculptor in stone and bronze.
Look up my website as well: beeldhouwerijvanvelzen.nl
Follow me Instagram, Twitter as well & YouTube

Report tags: #Bentheimer#coat-of-arms#griffin#sandstone

Similar posts

  • A set of corbels for the Eusebius Church

  • A coat-of-arms in sandstone

  • Two squirrels in red sandstone

    Two squirrels in red sandstone

  • polishing Garden Sculpture Pan

    Garden sculpture 'Pan’ in red porphyry – completed!

  • Two-headed eagle during carving process

    A flying buttress figurine with two pedantic heads

  • completed crocets in Volvic basaltic lava, wet by rain

    Ornaments in basaltic lava for the Utrecht Dom Cathedral

Post navigation

previous previous
Polishing
nextContinue
Ferns completed

Translation

Make this the default language

Archive

Subscribe to this blog by. e-mail

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Most recent posts

  • Minervalaan 5: Installing
  • Minervalaan part 4: Carving the figurines in limestone
  • Prince Carnival, in blue quartzite
  • Minervalaan part 3: reconstruction
  • A gravestone with wreath
  • Minervalaan part 2: Disassembling the statues
  • Minervalaan Amsterdam, part 1
  • Lion's heads and ornaments for Herengracht 380
  • Video tour of the workshop
  • Shivalingams and Paadas, in granite and marble
  • Of Serge van Druten, two athletes and an angel
  • Two griffins with large baroque shield in sandstone
  • Garden sculpture 'Pan’ in red porphyry – completed!
  • Five gable stones for Zeeland widows
  • Working on the Dom Tower for five years!
  • Tim repairs a Bulldog and carves a Rooster
  • A directional arrow in a large basalt boulder…can you do that???
  • Update after two years: five coats of arms
  • A large gargoyle for the Dom Tower
  • Scaffolding visit: last time Eusebius Church

Featured Posts

  • Eusebius | Restoration

    the Supreme Commander-in-Chief (flying buttress figurine)

    Mudra The next flying buttress image is the top one of flying buttress 33. The statues on this flying buttress were carved in 1954 by George van der Wagt, and depict six crippled, blind and lame persons, following the Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount. At the top sits a male figure with a beard, in a blessing posture. This blessing attitude…

    Read more the Supreme Commander-in-Chief (flying buttress figurine)To proceed

  • background | Restoration

    The weathering of tuff

    The rise of Ettringer tuff In the years that I have worked as a restoration sculptor, I have often had to deal with statues and ornaments that were originally carved in tuff and have become weathered over the years.. Most of these cases involved the so-called tuff Ettringer tuff, those in the post-war years…

    Read more The weathering of tuffTo proceed

  • background

    Sculpture 'Surrender’ installed

    Surrender, a symbolic moment A few days before All Souls' Day 2020 I went to my place of birth for a special moment. I was about to install my father's sculpture 'Surrender’ in the cemetery behind the church. My father, Jan van Velzen, had made this sculpture in 2011 when he, was nearly 80 years old. It depicts a young woman who…

    Read more Sculpture 'Surrender’ installedTo proceed

  • Restoration

    Three sandstone lions for three herrings

    For a property in Deventer I was asked to carve a set of lions in Bentheimer sandstone. Two old lions were still present, but they were strongly weathered down. A lion was missing a leg and, like the sandstone falcon, there was a lot of weathering damage on top due to what I suspect was bird droppings. The top lion was only half…

    Read more Three sandstone lions for three herringsTo proceed

  • background | temple

    Another set of Padukas in black granite

    Two years after the first padukas, which you can read more about here, I continued carving the second set of padukas in black granite. Padukas are imprints of the feet of a Saint, but this term is also used for the sandals by which a Saint is revered. In 2014 I have a clay print…

    Read more Another set of Padukas in black graniteTo proceed

Instagram Twitter as well YouTube

© 2026 Sculptor Koen van Velzen
Hosting & Web design Webdiensten ZZP

Scroll up
  • Home
  • About the Sculpture Workshop
  • About Koen
  • Posts overview
  • Projects
  • Videos
  • Contact
Search