Established 1961 21 Lifestyle Features Tuesday, August 21 , 2018 Micro engraver Graham Short works to engrave a pin head in his studio in Birmingham, central England. — AFP photos Micro engraver Graham Short works to engrave a pin head in his studio. Drugs and late nights: Micro-engraver carves out niche sing Botox, beta-blockers and the still- the eye of the client’s wife. The customer, a ness of the night, Graham Short pro- Russian oligarch in London who wanted a nov- Uduces miniature engravings like nobody elty Valentine’s Day gift, had made his fortune else. Often dubbed “the world’s smallest in the salt mines of Siberia. engraver”, he hand-carves phrases and sym- Micro engraver Graham Short works to engrave a pin head in bols onto the tiniest of surfaces, from pinheads Harry Kane’s face his studio. to the edge of a razor blade. Selling for Short rose in prominence in Britain after increasingly large sums, the master craftsman engraving miniature portraits of “Pride and goes to “ridiculous lengths” to achieve the Prejudice” author Jane Austen onto four £5 required precision. Short takes beta-blockers banknotes in 2016. He gave them away in a to slow his heartbeat to get the steadiest pos- Willy Wonka-style treasure hunt, spending the sible hand, and injects his eyelids with Botox to notes randomly across the country. One of relax their muscles. The 72-year-old works them was later auctioned for £6,000, while from midnight to dawn to minimize vibrations two others were kept by their finders and from outside. “I know it’s a bit extreme... I’m so another remains in circulation. “I couldn’t obsessed with it,” he told AFP at his home-stu- believe the interest, to be honest,” he said. dio in the suburbs of Birmingham, central Short repeated the stunt this summer, carv- England. “I don’t think anybody else would go ing England’s World Cup goal-scoring hero to these lengths.” He claims he’s the only per- Harry Kane onto six more £5 banknotes. Four son doing miniature engraving and says “that’s are still waiting to be found, another will be what drives me on.” presented to the Football Association and he Once complete, often after months of work, wants to give the sixth to the player himself. Photograph taken by micro-engraver Graham Short, and his pieces are displayed in a lit case under a “They’ve asked me to go to a football match in A normal resting heart rate for adults is 60 Photograph taken by micro- released in London shows a spec of gold in the eye of a nee- microscope, illuminating intricacies invisible to London and present it to him,” Short said. to 100 beats. Short injects his eyelids with engraver Graham Short dle, with a Bible verse engraved on it, reading “It is easier for the naked eye. They are typically bought by art Botox every three months to ensure there is shows an image of Britain’s a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man investors with one piece, a collection of works ‘20 beats a minute’ “no distraction from eye nerves and muscles”. Queen Elizabeth II engraved to enter the kingdom of God”. fusing English, Arabic and calligraphy, fetching Short pushes himself to engrave on ever- Perhaps unsurprisingly, he does not enjoy cre- into the eye of a needle. £200,000 (223,00 euros, $254,000). He sold smaller surfaces, hitting the limits of the human ating his artworks but revels in the outcome. an engraving of Queen Elizabeth II’s head on a body. “The smaller I go, the stiller I need to be. “The best part for me is when it’s finished and piece of gold lodged in the eye of a needle to a I need to be absolutely motionless,” he it’s in the gallery under the microscope and Scottish dairy farmer for £100,000. He also explained. He tried meditation and breathing somebody comes in... and they’re absolutely engraved “nothing is impossible” on the sharp techniques but found them insufficient, so he knocked out,” he said. “I absolutely love it, edge of a razor blade, which sold for £50,000 turned to a regime of exercise-swimming because I know I’ve done something that no- to a gallery in northern England. 10,000 meters daily-and beta-blockers. “When one else can do.” — AFP I’m working, I eat them like sweets and I can ‘Love’ on a grain of salt get my heart rate down to 20 beats a minute,” Short left school aged 15 with no academic he said. “Then I try to engrave when I’m qualifications, but got an apprenticeship with absolutely dead-still between heartbeats.” an engraving company before starting out on his own. He spent decades as a stationary engraver for clients including the royal family Photograph taken by micro-engraver Graham Short shows an and department store Harrods. In his spare image of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II engraved onto the head time he tried his hand at miniature engraving, of a gold pin, to commemorate her becoming the longest first working under two magnifying glasses and reigning monarch. now using a microscope. His first project, carv- ing the Lord’s Prayer onto the head of a two- millimetre-wide gold pin, took decades to complete as he juggled his business and family life. “When I finished that I couldn’t stop look- ing at it,” the father-of-two recalled. “It had taken over my whole life.” As traditional engraving work dropped off in the digital age, Short began to devote him- self entirely to his miniature craftsmanship. He has created 48 works over the last 15 years, he estimates, some made to order. Among the most eye-popping was engrav- ing the word “love” onto a grain of salt, which Photograph taken by micro- was then balanced on an eyelash plucked from engraver Graham Short shows a spec of gold in the eye of a needle, with a Bible verse engraved on it, reading “It is easier for a camel to go Photograph taken by micro-engraver Graham Short shows an through the eye of a needle image of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II engraved into the eye of than for a rich man to enter a needle. the kingdom of God”. I designed,” the Emmy-award winning design- Bob Mackie designs, er told Reuters of the cruise on the Queen Mary 2 ship. Items offered for sale include a US actor DeVito to get lifetime black gown worn by Lauren Bacall, a pink including Cher outfits, satin dress worn Julia Louis-Dreyfus and sev- eral ensembles created for pop star Cher, with whom Mackie has collaborated for several achievement award in Spain to hit auction block decades. These include a marigold jumpsuit and spaghetti strapped gown the singer wore rom Cher’s colorful caped outfit for the for “The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour” in the comic actor Danny DeVito, the star of year at the festival since 1986 to “a great film per- 1974 Oscars to a coral gown and bolero early 1970s. Each are estimated in the $3,000 “Twins” and “Batman Returns”, will sonality in recognition for their work and career.” Fworn by Carol Burnett on her television - $5,000 range. receive a lifetime achievement award Past recipients include Gregory Peck, Robert De show, creations by fashion and costume US There are also custom-made outfits worn by at the San Sebastian film festival in Spain next Niro, Bette Davis, Susan Sarandon and Meryl designer Bob Mackie will be up for grabs this actress Raquel Welch and rock star Tina Turner month, organizers said yesterday. The 73-year-old Streep. The 66th edition of the San Sebastian festi- November at a Los Angeles auction. The 79- on sale. “When you do thousands you don’t will also attend the festival to promote his latest val, the oldest and most prestigious in the Spanish- year-old, who has dressed some of the biggest have favorites,” Mackie said when asked if he film, “Smallfoot”, a 3D animated comedy adventure speaking world, takes place from September 21 to names in entertainment, will preview a selec- had a preferred creation. “I could say they are in which he provides the voice for a yeti. In a 29 in the picturesque coastal city in northern tion of his gowns, jumpsuits and costumes on a like my children, I love them all, but they’re not statement, San Sebastian festival organizers said Spain. DeVito, who won an Emmy for his turn as transatlantic cruise to New York which sets and I don’t love them all.” Julien’s Auctions will DeVito has “led a versatile career” in theatre, film the despotic dispatcher in “Taxi” in the late 1970s sail from Southampton on Sunday, during hold the “Property from the collection of Bob and television spanning almost five decades, in and early 1980s, currently stars in the hit television which Mackie will also talk about his work. Mackie” sale on Nov 17. — AFP which he was worked with top directors such as comedy “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”. His “We’re going to talk and answer questions Tim Burton and Francis Ford Coppola. DeVito will film credits include 1975’s “One Flew Over the and auction off...a sketch every day, and usual- receive the festival’s Donostia Award on Cuckoo’s Nest,” 1988’s “Twins”, “Batman Returns” ly they’re drawings of a star in a costume that September 22.