Gable Stones and Ornaments From Soapstones and French Limes

Have you ever seen a beautifully decorated gable stones? Would you have such as a design on yours if you 'd ever need a gable stone?

This is Gert-Jan van Beekhoven, I met him last Saturday on another date with hub near the border in Germany. Yes, he is Dutch, it's just a 25 minute drive from us - we live near the border. We just bumped into his works and I couldn't help my curiosity again.

What made me take notice of his work are these teeny tiny castles made of steatite or soap stones - that's talc in solid form. No wonder he's all powdered up - it's talc. I thought it's hard to chisel or etch those teeny tiny windows on these castles but it's not.

I stuck my pinky on one of those arched doors in his works and asked how on earth does he come up with such idea - or does he have a model he just copied from and he answered spontaneously; " I see a rock and see a castle in it or a figure and I start and the momentum goes on." Happens to every artist - artistry is simple - a gift.

These are made of French Limestones which are sedimented lime. It has colored layers mainly white, cream and beige. It can contain fossils of shells and they treat it with impregnation to prevent it from breakage. Limestones are porous and since it's always wet here, my guess is they impregnate them so they won't absorb water that could freeze in winter, cause breakage and staining and the many other problems that could occur specially if these were used in making gable stones - which would mean - outdoors.

I went through my old files to show you a few hub and I bumped into in the canals of Utrecht while water pedaling during one of our dates years ago.

They're not just under those lamp posts in the canal but also on the houses above .

Oh yes, they're everywhere in Europe and above are just a few of what you'll also find in Amsterdam. When I went to neighboring countries I couldn't help but get awed by the architecture and gable designs and yes, we still have them in some houses in the city.

I checked out the celtic design he was working with and told him I've seen it on what used to be a famous tv series back when I was still in high school and that witches have them as a sign - the three sisters which I couldn't remember anymore - since I think that was 25 years ago and ask what he uses to make them.

Next to it, I saw some polishing tools, rifflers, stone rasps, chisels and sand paper. Pretty handy. He also uses a mallet and some saws to huge chunks of limestones he works with. He said all of his works are customized, the clients asks and tells him exactly how they want it to be and he executes.

Aside from those castles and gable stones which he just does in his atalier, he also makes canes and gardening tools with these pretty limestone accentuations, jewelry, figurines to display in your houses and most of all chess sets! That I didn't see in his display! Bummer!

He also showed me something he likes including in his work. He opened what looked like a jewelry box and tipped one of its wall frame to the left exposing a teeny tiny section I could hide in a piece of something I'd like to keep secret . All of these he explained passionately and proudly.

So, I wonder, do you also see yourself carving a castle in a limestone, too?

Except for the old pics I dug from my old files which I took with my Samsung Galaxy Note 1, I took the rest of the pics with my Samsung Galaxy A3 2016 edition.

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