Recently, my mom has been enjoying a detailed history of her family since arrival on the American continent (prior to the American Revolution) researched in great depth by a scholar at West Point. Prominently featured in the book (and not at all the first time I have seen it) is the family coat of arms. One of the most prominent elements, apart from the vertically split blue and red field, is a griffin passant in argent (silver).

The griffin is a mythical chimera with the head, wings, and front claws of an eagle, and the body of a lion. Griffins are associated with a range of positive traits, including vigilance, strength, and courage. There is also some associated Christian symbolism.

I thought it would be fun to do my own heraldic-style griffin as a carved eraser stamp for my mom’s birthday. I did some with the silver ink and some with black. I also experimented with using watercolor pencils to create a parti-colored background similar to the coat of arms.

The left half of a landscape-format piece of paper has been colored blue with watercolor paint, and the right half red. Stamped in metallic silver is a left-facing griffin (a beast with the head, wings, and front claws of an eagle, and the body of a lion) passant (standing flat with one claw raised) surrounded by a rectangular border. The carved pink eraser stamp that made the impression , stained with black ink, is standing on one long edge in front of the lower left corner of the print. The background is handmade black crepe paper (chirimen).
Griffin Passant Hand-Carved Eraser
The left half of a landscape-format piece of paper has been colored blue with watercolor paint, and the right half red. Stamped in black is a left-facing griffin (a beast with the head, wings, and front claws of an eagle, and the body of a lion) passant (standing flat with one claw raised) surrounded by a rectangular border. The carved pink eraser stamp that made the impression , stained with black ink, is standing on one long edge in front of the lower left corner of the print. The background is handmade black crepe paper (chirimen).
Griffin Passant Hand-Carved Eraser

There is a short video with commentary and some of the process of making the griffin prints.

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