Tiny gold Lord's Prayer engraved in eye of needle by Birmingham artist

Each of the 273 letters are half the width of a human hair, says Graham Short

An artist who goes to extreme lengths to produce microscopic works has etched the Lord's Prayer onto a speck of gold, inserted into the eye of a needle.

Graham Short said he hoped he'd be remembered for his latest creation.

The Birmingham artist has previously produced what is thought to be the world's tiniest nativity scene and a picture of the Queen on a pinhead.

He uses Beta Blockers to slow his heart while working with a microscope at night to avoid vibrations of traffic.

"If a lorry went past outside it would feel like an earthquake through the microscope," he told BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester.

Artist Graham Short slows his heartbeats in order to create the tiny engravings

The new engraving consists of 273 letters each 50 microns high, he explained.

"The thickness of a human hair is 100 microns - so each letter is half the width of a human hair."

Describing the piece as his greatest work to date he added: "It's the one I want to be known for, to be remembered for."

He said the piece, worth an estimated £250,000, would be sold one day but he would be displaying it to schoolchildren first.

"The primary schools are the best ones," he said. "The 15-year-olds aren't impressed - they know it all at that age."

Cheltenham Gold Cup winners have been engraved onto the head of a nail

Mr Short's extreme lengths to stay still while working involve him taping a stethoscope to his chest in order to engrave between heartbeats and also having Botox.

"Every three months I have a course of injections into my eyelids and that ensures there's no distractions from eye nerves or muscles when I'm working," he told BBC Hereford and Worcester.

"I know it's unusual."

Another recent work features an engraving the names of all the winners of Cheltenham Gold Cup on the head of a horse-shoe nail.

"Somebody pointed out to me that had I waited until this year's race in four weeks time, it would be 100 years of the race - so I'm going to hang on and hope last year's winner wins again and then I won't have to put their name on," he said.

The Nativity scene is engraved on a speck of gold in the eye of a needle