Oliver's Artagraphs

I was moved yesterday by the story of Oliver Byne.  A Sheffield sixth-form student, since he was a boy Oliver's been collecting autographs of leading snooker-players, as they slug it out at the city's Crucible arena during the annual World Championships.  For years, at each event he's waited patiently for players to come and go and these days he's well-known to them; they've been pleased to help add to his collection.

Using his autographs Oliver's created Artagraphs, a series of original abstract art paintings each representing a well-known snooker-player, and incorporating their original autograph within the finished amalgamation.  The images are exciting: colourful, vibrant and energetic.  Many tell stories of particular matches, as their modest creator explained yesterday during TV coverage of this year's Championship.

Oliver's project is for his Silver Duke of Edinburgh's Award, which he achieved in 2011.  For his Gold award, over the next 12 months he’ll be exhibiting his canvases and prints at various venues across the country. On sale will be nearly 1,200 prints commemorating the 2010 World Snooker Championships and its finalists from that year.  A percentage of the sales' profits will be donated to two charities, The Paul Hunter Foundation and Weston Park Hospital Cancer Charity.

Oliver must have spent hundreds of hours creating his paintings, never mind collecting the autographs in the first place.  The result's unique.  Check out his work at: http://www.world-snooker-sheffield.co.uk/1.html