Thursday 14 April 2016

Graham Short,

is a master engraver,


not a title that is easy to earn, amongst his clients are the Royal Household, the Scottish Parliament, The National Gallery, Rolls Royce, gunmakers James Purdey & Sons, Chanel and Vivienne Westwood amongst others, what makes him so special is the fact that he is known as 'the world's smallest engraver' for his miniature art masterpieces, Graham Short has spent almost 50 years honing his craft, going to physical and mental extremes to produce the finest-quality miniature art engravings in the world, 

 take this one, engraved on a fleck gold,


placed in the eye of a needle,

 all 278 letters of the Lord's prayer engraved on top of a domed 2mm gold pin,

 for football fans, the FA Logo engraved onto a football stud surrounded by the names of every English footballer who has ever scored a goal during the world cup finals, but this skill takes extreme dedication to produce his tiny masterpieces, Graham works in complete silence, because even the slightest sound could produce vibrations that might ruin his work, He steadies his right arm by securing it with a strap attached to a piece of heavy machinery, His mobile is switched off, and he mostly works at night to avoid the vibrations of vehicles passing in the street, starting at midnight, he works through the night until five or six in the morning, and continues for three to four nights in a row, until he gets too tired and his body clock needs readjustment,


as much as he tries to eliminate distractions, there is one vibration that Graham cannot silence – his own heartbeat, but he’s come up with an ingenious technique to work around that as well, Graham tapes a stethoscope to his chest and places the earpieces in his ears, keenly listening to his own heartbeat, with his carving tool in hand, he waits motionless, for as long as 20 minutes, until his heart rate is at its lowest, then, listening intently, he only makes a carving at his stillest moments – in between heartbeats, age has finally caught up with Graham – these days he has to consume potassium, magnesium, and beta-blocker pills to get his heart rate to drop as low as 20 beats per minute, to keep his eyes in top shape and hold the muscles in place, he gets botox injections every few weeks, a price to pay but what a talent Graham truly has, to see an in depth article about him and his work have a look here.


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