The Griffin. A legendary, magical creature and beloved mascot of Roycemore School. 

At Roycemore, the Griffin is more than just a magical, mythical creature. The Griffin has inspired our culture code of “Griffinity.” Encompassing our namesake mascot, we defined it as: Griffinity: (noun) The quality of being Roycemore-Griffin-like.  Embodying a sense of community coupled with a sense of fun. Magical.  Limitless. Unique. Authentic. Griffinity encompasses the strength, individuality, and creativity of the Griffin, and a sense of potential– of infinite possibility.  

Pawel Nawrocki, Restoration Architect, Master Stone Carver and Roycemore parent has brought the Griffin to life by creating an incredible Griffin sculpture. Mr. Nawrocki’s daughter, Nina, is currently in second grade at Roycemore.

The sculpture, based on the school’s longstanding logo, took about 30 days to create. The time intensive process included several different stages including research, sketching, 3D model in the foam, carving, and installation. Modeling foam helped Mr. Nawrocki to visualize the sculpture. After that step he could carve the figure straight in the stone.

To ease the pressure of transporting and installing such a large and delicate piece of art, Mr. Nawrocki brought some fun to the process. The Griffin was dressed in goggles for travel!

There is a Stone Carvers Guild in the USA with 33 professional members with this mastery. Mr. Nawrocki is one of those 33. He received a Master’s Degree in Preservation of Architectural Heritage. Currently, Mr. Nawrocki primarily works in restoration, but continues to explore creative projects as well.

Today, the Griffin stands about 3 feet tall on a 3 foot base, weighing over 800 pounds. Originally the block of stone he started to carve out was 9 cubic feet of stone and weight about 1400 pounds.

Recently, Mr. Nawrocki created smaller desktop Griffin figurines that will be given as gifts from the Roycemore community. These smaller Griffin statues were cast out of two-piece molds. While the process to make them was much quicker than the large Griffin statue, there was still a significant amount of time and attention to detail that went into creating, sanding, and mounting them on beautiful marble slabs.

Roycemore is incredibly grateful that the magic of the Griffin has been brought to life by a Roycemore family and will be enjoyed for generations to come. Thank you Mr. Nawrocki for sharing your talents with us.

To view more about Pawel Nawrocki’s work, visit http://carvinginstone.com/.

If you are a parent and interested in getting involved at Roycemore, we encourage you to reach out to Sara McGuire, Director of Development, at smcguire@roycemoreschool.org.