Micro artist creates Van Gogh art gallery in a watch

By James Gamble via SWNS

A renowned micro artist has recreated a trio of Vincent Van Gogh's works on a watch, each smaller than a full stop.

David A. Lindon depicted three of the late Dutch painter's most famous works at a mind-bogglingly microscopic size to found the world's first-ever wearable art gallery.

Each of the Starry Night, Sunflowers and Self Portrait paintings took the artist - who uses a microscope and works between heartbeats to keep his hands sufficiently steady - two months apiece to recreate entirely by hand.

The fragility of the pieces means a mere sneeze or a cough could wreck months of intricate work in an instant.

Though the unique watch is available for sale, it's on a 'price-by-application' basis.

Individual micro masterpieces by Mr Lindon are priced at as much as £36,000 ($45,747) a piece.

Using specialized tools and techniques honed over years of practice, he crafts the artworks using strands of Kevlar, carpet fibers, pieces of ceramics, crushed micro pigments, precious metals like gold and platinum as well as gemstones, diamonds, emeralds and rubies.

Each of the Van Gogh paintings is painstakingly balanced atop the tourbillon of the watch, which rotates with the device's rhythm.

Lindon and Edward Hammond, the managing director at Hammond Galleries, collaborated on the Van Gogh Trilogy watch to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam this month.

The wristwatch will also feature as the centerpiece of the new "Inspired By… Vincent" exhibition, held at Hammond Galleries Contemporary Art in Shifnal, near Wolverhampton, next month.

The Van Gogh watch is the first in a series of unique art watches containing Lindon's works, with Banksy, Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso trilogy watches also in the works.

On the minutiae of his craft, Lindon, who credits his steady hand to a previous career in the Ministry of Defence working with complex equipment, explained: "It is no exaggeration to say that everything connected with making the microscopic art is hard and complex.

"It is a real challenge to control my hands and my breathing, let alone create something almost literally out of nothing.

"I must slow my breathing down to steady my hands.

"I keep my heart rate as low as possible as a single twitch from my fingers can wreck months of work."

On the risks involved in his micro art making, the Bournemouth resident added: "Earlier this year I ripped Picasso’s Weeping Woman into pieces when I was painting her for the micro masterpiece series of classic paintings.

"My hands still jump a little as my heart beats, so I work in a rhythm between each pulse.

"There is a danger that static electricity can unexpectedly snap the art away as if by magic.

"I can accidentally blow it away, with a sneeze or a cough.

"Even a breath of wind from an open window can make it fly away and disappear for ever.

"Once a piece is lost, you can spend hours hunting around for it with a magnifying glass in your hand - and still never find it.

"Having been trained to work on small complex devices I had developed steady hands and a good deal of patience.

"I still think I’m mad to sit still for hours staring into a microscope day after day.

"I often have to force myself to work at the microscope, as the work is extremely tough and tiring.

"It is physically and mentally draining with frustrations and unexpected challenges around every corner.

"What keeps me going through the long hours is seeing my work finished and the look of wonder and astonishment on people’s faces, when they see my art in person for the first time.

"This Van Gogh masterpieces watch is truly unique and I am thrilled to be able to offer it to the public."

The wearable wristwatch is available to view and purchase at Hammond Galleries from July 1.