Ars Gratia Heraldica

Local artist with over 25 years experience researching and painting Achievements of Arms.

Hello, and thanks for taking the time to look at this page.

I am a local artist with over twenty-five years experience of researching and painting Achievements of Arms. The shields in the picture below depict every heraldic device used by every King and Queen of England since Edward the Confessor and were drawn and painted by me, on locally sourced reclaimed wood which I cut and shaped myself.

I might take a little longer to produce my product than one of the many franchises you might see in shopping centres, craft marquees and tourist traps, but though I say it myself, I make a far better product!

Each coat of arms will be thoroughly researched to make sure that the heraldry you receive is relevant to you. Of course, I cannot promise to paint your family coat of arms as there is actually no such thing in English heraldry. What you receive will be a coat of arms once registered to a family who shares the same spelling of your sir name and to whom you may be in some way connected.

In contrast, the type of franchises you see in the high street are typically manned and operated by people who have little or no understanding of the subject. The product you receive will typically be placed on a piece of machined wood with a carbon foot print larger than my products. The heraldic design on that piece of wood is simply a computer-generated transfer, it stopped being art a long time ago and you'll typically pay in excess of £60 for something smaller than a piece of A4 paper.

The heraldic decoration you receive will be painted on to wood which has been locally sourced and reclaimed from unwanted furniture. Your Coat of Arms once had a life as a tree, a piece of furniture and now as a piece of art. This helps to keep the cost down, the cost to you, me and our environment! All my work is backed with baize /felt and fitted with a brass Mirror Plate to help guide a pin or picture hook in to the drilled and counter-sunk recess.

In the course of my research, I will naturally discover some interesting facts about your ancestors, this will be included in my research.

A typical plaque will cover the area or will be cut from an area equal to A4 and costs just £50 and takes a week to produce from start to finish.

Larger paintings are available but prices vary depending on the amount of detail and therefore the time taken to produce. Please contact me on 07906 011090 for a no obligation enquiry or message me here.

Thanks again!