The tiny world of a Russian artist

Valeriy Dvoryanov's works must be magnified to be seen

A Russian artist from the western town of Cherepovets has taken the production of miniatures to the extreme.

Valeriy Dvoryanov creates oil paintings of famous people and other subjects on poppy seeds, grains of rice and mineral slivers.

His biggest work to date is a picture of the Titanic, on a 2-mm-long mineral sliver. Russia's Channel One TV reports.

Heartbeats

But "most of his masterpieces" can only be seen under a microscope, when magnified 20 times, the TV says.

Some works take a year to complete

Dvoryanov is especially proud of a series of portraits of famous Russians of the 19th century.

He took one year to complete a portrait of the poet Aleksandr Pushkin, working between beats of his heart.

"The slightest pulse, the slightest movement of the hand spoils everything," he told the TV. "Then I take a new seed, prepare it again and start again, and so on until I succeed."

One of his works is inscribed with the words: "I have loved the sun all my life and always wanted to paint the sun" in letters a fraction of a millimetre wide, painted using a sharpened human hair.

Labour of love

"Maximum concentration and peace of mind are needed to create miniature masterpieces. An artist must create in an atmosphere of love," says his wife. "I praise him for five days and admire him for two days."

Miniaturisation is the name of the game

In addition to the micro-miniature paintings, Dvoryanov has produced a special collection of miniature pistols and guns, which fits into the palm of his hand.

The collection - some of which contains working parts - has been valued at 30,000 dollars by French experts.

"But the master refuses to sell his works of art. He just gives them away," the TV adds.

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.