Graham the artist

Heather has sent me some pictures to share with you - she photographed them from printed photos, so they aren't the best quality images, but they do show what a talented man Graham was. There are also a couple of pictures of Heather and Graham together which are really lovely.

Here they are on their wedding day......

 ....both looking really happy.

And I love this one.....

 .....Heather said she thinks they look like Howard and Hilda from Ever Decreasing Circles! I love the adoring way that Graham is looking at her. Happy memories.

As promised, here are some examples of Graham's artwork. He created all kinds of things and was both a brilliant sculptor as well as being able to work in miniature with incredible detail, despite being a big man.

Here is one of his many modelled scenes, this one  of a traction engine.....

 ....he loved to spend countless hours on all the tiny details to make the scenes come alive.

This is another scene, this time of a steam engine room.There's so much to look at in this one...the portrait of Queen Victoria, the peeling plaster on the walls, the ash under the boiler and I'm pretty sure that there's a mouse in there somewhere too. The lights in this scene actually work too though it's hard to tell in the photo.

This picture is of one of Graham's sculptures which is called Miss Patricia. I'm not too sure who she is, but I think she was a commissioned piece. Graham created a lot of bronzes - he did the whole process himself, from the initial clay sculptures through making the moulds and using the lost wax casting method to produce the finished pieces.

He was also creating wonderful pieces like this one, long before the current trends in altered art etc.....

.....this is one to keep looking at over and over again. The stained glass windows, the jewelled crown, the detailed halo. This piece was hung in the Grundy Art Gallery and, typically of Graham, he gave it away to someone who was going through a bad time and who admired his work. 

Finally, take a look at this fantasy castle......

.....it's just a shame about the flash, or should I say "flush"?! Amazing as it seems, Graham created this huge piece to cover the old fashioned cistern above the loo in one of their old flats! How grand to have a floating castle in the smallest room! Heather said it was the main feature that sold the flat when they moved!

I hope you've enjoyed looking at just a small representation of Graham's talents, he really was a great artist.