A Cambridgeshire man who has been engraving for 10 years, has triumphed in the Hand Engravers’ Association Christmas card competition.
Ibrahim Batchelder entered a design that encapsulated the frozen close-up geometry of a snowflake.
And the winning piece was silver die-stamped by Baddeley Brothers, who sponsor the competition every year. The snowflake design took Ibrahim around four days to complete.
Ibrahim said: “I have been hand engraving for about 10 years, and my favourite part is the level of detail that can be attained, especially with deep relief and carved work.
“I was very surprised to win and the best part was the opportunity to visit Baddeley Brothers and see how they produce their wonderful die stamping and other printing methods. “
Ibrahim is a full-time designer/maker and as well as engraving he also turns his hand to carving, inlay and turning in various materials. He recently completed a fully hand-engraved and inlaid inkwell in bronze, silver and copper based on a 13th century original from Khorasan.
He was born in Vermont, USA and moved to Turkey in 1994. Here he started an apprenticeship as a a woodcarver and went on to gain a Bachelor’s degree in Ottoman art.
After eight years in Istanbul, Ibrahim moved to Jordan, where he participated in the reconstruction of the Minbar of Salah al Din Ayyubi for the Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, working alongside master craftsmen from Turkey, Iraq, Egypt, Indonesia and Jordan.
Ibrahim says is driven by a love of natural materials, the symmetry and harmonious beauty used by The Creator, and works to “bring these back into our daily lives, as many of us are surrounded by a mass-produced, synthetic environment that fails to ground us and nurture our souls in the way only traditional art and crafts can”.
Charles Pertwee, commercial director at Baddeley Brothers, said: “I first met Ibrahim a year ago, engraving the most beautiful sunflower bud. So it delighted us when he won this year’s blind judged Christmas Card competition.
“During the printing process, we experimented with various coloured stocks to create a striking contrast with the silver snowflakes, resulting in the best outcome. The visit was a highly inventive experience.”
