This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
Graham George Short | |
---|---|
Born | Birmingham, England | July 4, 1946
Nationality | British |
Known for | micro-engraving |
Graham Short (born 4 July 1946) is a micro-artist, living and working in Birmingham, England.
After leaving school at the age of 15 with no qualifications, Graham Short signed up to a six-year apprenticeship at a stationery engraving company in Birmingham. He learnt the art of copper-plate and steel die engraving for the stationery trade - producing embossed letterheads, business cards and wedding invitations.[ citation needed ]
When his apprenticeship had ended, Graham started his own one-man business in Birmingham's Jewelry Quarter, where he spent his career creating stationery for banks, royal palaces, and perfume companies. In 1970 he started to attempt the engraving of The Lord's Prayer on the head of a pin. This developed into a 40-year project which was finished in 2010. This was shown at the Art Lounge Gallery, in Birmingham's Mailbox shopping complex. [1] His first Fine Art exhibition at Art Decor Gallery, [2] Whalley, Lancashire, in 2011 sold out within twenty minutes. This event was followed by a solo exhibition at the Clarendon Gallery, Mayfair, London. His exhibition at the Tony Huggins-Haig Galleries, Kelso, sold out within minutes. [3]
In 2012, his nine-month project 'Cutting Edge' showing the words "Nothing is Impossible" engraved along the sharp edge of a Wilkinson Sword razor blade attracted attention from the media, which led to him appearing in news features. [4] During the same year he engraved a minuscule portrait of the Queen on a speck of gold inserted into the eye of a needle [5] to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.
In 2019, The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) commissioned him to work in collaboration with the Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage. The Poet Laureate's entire 51-word poem was engraved onto a 20mm long and 10mm wide pill. The engraved tablet will be displayed permanently in the new Centre for Cancer Drug Discovery. [6]
In 2020, Short was commissioned to work in collaboration with Brax La Rue, a watch company. Short's microscopic engraving is the ‘hidden secret’ in the mechanism of just one limited edition timepiece. [7]
In 2023, in collaboration with The Forces Network, Short engraved the 405 letters of the World War One poem, "In Flanders Fields" in the eye of a needle. He engraved the poem onto a microscopic piece of metal, scraped from his grandfather's Coldstream Guards First World War cap badge. [8]
In August 2024, in the run-up to a global launch in Germany, Short collaborated with Honor, the Chinese consumer electronics company to present a minuscule 166-word apology on the side of the new Magic V3 foldable phone. The message can only be seen under a microscope. Honor took a dig at rivals, Samsung, in the sarcastic apology to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold users. [9]
November 2012 - 'The Writers Collection' at Clarendon Fine Art Gallery, Mayfair, London, Short unveiled 'Fry's Delight' his latest piece in collaboration with TV Personality Stephen Fry. This piece was later placed in a sale at Sotheby's, London to raise funds for English PEN, [10] the charity that supports and represents imprisoned writers around the world.[ citation needed ]
October 2014 - 'Love, Life and Hope Exhibition' Platinum Galleries Northallerton. [11] Including the first viewing of 'In Flanders Fields' the First World War poem written by Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae.[ citation needed ]
In July 2024, Short's microscopic artwork, 'The smallest portrait in the world of William Shakespeare' engraved on a gold disc inside the eye of a needle is on permanent display at the Shakespeare Centre in Stratford on Avon.[ citation needed ]
From 2011 to 2013 Short created the work the 'Five Pillars of Islam' (The foundation of the Islamic faith) as part of the Fusion collection. This collection of nine calligraphic pieces fused together English and Arabic. The collection attracted interest from around the world and was viewed by over two thousand people whilst on display in Birmingham Central Mosque.[ citation needed ]
In June 2013, Short was invited by Indian artist Nikki Anand, to introduce her 'Euphoria' solo exhibition to the British public for the first time at the Nehru Centre, London. [12]
In June 2015, after four month's work, Short completed the engraving of the Khanda, [13] on the point of a needle.
In August 2017, the 'Faith Exhibition' was shown in Kelso, Scotland, before being taken around Britain. Miniature engravings from Sikh, Islamic, Hindi, and Christian religions were shown. 'Otche Nash' the main prayer of the Russian Orthodox Church - engraved on the head of a gold pin measuring 2mm across, was on view to the public for the first time.[ citation needed ]
In April 2019 the '99 names of Allah' were engraved on the head of a gold pin measuring 2mm across. All 99 names are taken from verses of the Quran to describe Allah's attributes. This was a four-month project. [14]
In 2022, Short engraved what is believed to be the world's smallest nativity scene in the eye of a needle. This was exhibited at a Nativity Festival at St Laurence Church, Northfield, Birmingham. [15]
In January 2023 he completed The Lord's Prayer, engraved on a speck of gold, inserted into the eye of a needle. [16]
In December 2016, Short engraved a portrait of writer Jane Austen on the transparent section of four polymer banknotes which were then circulated in a giveaway. Classic quotes from Emma, Pride and Prejudice, and Mansfield Park have also been engraved onto the notes, around the writer's portrait.[ citation needed ]
The four notes were distributed across areas of Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. [17]
The £5 note found in Northern Ireland was sent anonymously to the Tony Huggins-Haig gallery in Kelso by the finder. She asked that the note be given to a children's charity. It was auctioned in London in December 2017 where it realised £5,000. The proceeds were donated to the BBC Children in Need charity. The auctioneers, Morton and Eden, waived their fees and donated this to the same charity. [18] [19]
Swimming has been a major part of Short's life. In 2001 he set a new record in becoming the Champion for 200 metres butterfly at the European Masters Championships in Mallorca. He broke the British and European record in the 1500m Freestyle in the first session of the ASA National Masters Championships 2016 at Ponds Forge, Sheffield. He knocked nearly four seconds under the previous record time of 22:08.91. He swam 22:04.97 to claim gold in the 70–74 years age group. [20]
In 2019 Short secured the part of Ned in the short film, Ned & Me. The film, sponsored by the British Film Industry is destined to be screened at the 2020 'This Is England Festival' in Rouen, France. The film has also been accepted for The Aesthetica Film Festival in York. It is also a BAFTA Qualifying Festival for British short films. At the 2021 FICBU International Film Festival in Spain, Short was awarded 'Best Actor' for his portrayal of Ned in 'Ned & Me'. [21] [22]
In 2023, Graham Short’s second film, ‘Dog Run’ written and directed by Lorna Nickson Brown, picked up the ‘Best European Short Film’ award at the Catania Gold Elephant Film Festival in Italy. [23]
Walter David Jones CH was a British painter and modernist poet. As a painter he worked mainly in watercolour on portraits and animal, landscape, legendary and religious subjects. He was also a wood-engraver and inscription painter. In 1965, Kenneth Clark took him to be the best living British painter, while both T. S. Eliot and W. H. Auden put his poetry among the best written in their century. Jones's work gains form from his Christian faith and Welsh heritage.
South Yardley is a largely residential area in east Birmingham, England about 3.5 miles (6 km) from the city centre, and one of the city's 69 electoral wards.
John Raphael Smith was a British painter and mezzotinter. He was the son of Thomas Smith of Derby, the landscape painter, and father of John Rubens Smith, a painter who emigrated to the United States.
Willard Wigan, is a British sculptor from Ashmore Park Estate, Wednesfield, England, the son of Jamaican immigrants, who makes micro miniature sculptures. His sculptures are typically placed in the eye of a needle or on the head of a pin. A single sculpture can be as small as 0.005 mm (0.0002 in).
Anthony Frederick Augustus Sandys, usually known as Frederick Sandys, was a British painter, illustrator, and draughtsman, associated with the Pre-Raphaelites. He was also associated with the Norwich School of painters.
Miniature art includes paintings, engravings and sculptures that are very small; it has a long history that dates back to prehistory. The portrait miniature is the most common form in recent centuries, and from ancient times, engraved gems, often used as impression seals, and cylinder seals in various materials were very important. For example most surviving examples of figurative art from the Indus Valley civilization and in Minoan art are very small seals. Gothic boxwood miniatures are very small carvings in wood, used for rosary beads and the like.
István Orosz is a Hungarian painter, printmaker, graphic designer and animated film director. He is known for his mathematically inspired works, impossible objects, optical illusions, double-meaning images and anamorphoses. The geometric art of István Orosz, with forced perspectives and optical illusions, has been compared to works by M. C. Escher.
William Marshall was a seventeenth-century British engraver and illustrator, mostly known for his allegorical portrait of King Charles I of England as a Christian martyr, which was published as the frontispiece to the Eikon Basilike.
George Worsley Adamson was a book illustrator, writer, and cartoonist, who held American and British dual citizenship from 1931.
Nasser Azam is a British contemporary artist, living and working in London.
Garrick Salisbury Palmer was an English painter, wood engraver, photographer and teacher.
Thomas Oldham Barlow was an English mezzotint engraver. His prints helped to popularise the works of painters like John Phillip and Sir John Everett Millais.
Godfrey Emanuel Lundberg was an accomplished engraver during the early part of the 20th century. He is most noted for his hand engraving of the Lord's Prayer on the tiny head of a gold pin that was displayed at the 1915 Panama–Pacific Exposition in San Francisco and won a gold medal in engraving. He engraved the pin in Spokane, Washington between 1913 and 1915.
The Cobbe portrait is an early Jacobean panel painting of a gentleman which has been argued to be a life portrait of William Shakespeare. It is displayed at Hatchlands Park in Surrey, a National Trust property, and the portrait is so-called because of its ownership by Charles Cobbe, Church of Ireland (Anglican) Archbishop of Dublin (1686–1765). There are numerous early copies of the painting, most of which were once identified as Shakespeare.
Rosemary Kilbourn is a Canadian printmaker, illustrator and stained glass artist known for her work in the wood engraving.
Vanley Burke is a British Jamaican photographer and artist. His photographs capture experiences of his community's arrival in Britain, the different landscapes and cultures he encountered, the different ways of survival and experiences of the wider African-Caribbean community.
John Henry Robinson (1796–1871) was an English engraver.
Alison Kinnaird MBE, MA, FGE is a glass sculptor, Celtic musician, teacher and writer born in Edinburgh, Scotland. She is one of the foremost and most original modern glass engravers in Scotland.
Micro miniature is a fine art form. Micro miniatures are made with the assistance of microscopes, or eye surgeon tools. It originated at the end of 20th century.
James Bostock was a British painter. His work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1948 Summer Olympics.