Martin Frost
Vanishing Fore edge Painter
Heritage Crafts Maker of the Year
WINNER
Contact
Heritage Crafts Maker of the Year 2017
Martin took up the craft of vanishing fore-edge painting in 1970, continuing an English tradition that dates back to the 17th Century. Since then he has produced over 3,300 edge-paintings, many of which have elaborate multiple and split images on each book. Many of the antique books that he works on first require careful restoration which he does to ensure that both the paintings and book survive for further centuries.
About
Martin comes from an artistic family; his father was a portrait painter and his mother managed an art store. He trained in Theatre Design, working on large-scale backdrops and costumes, then to graphics in the newspaper trade, but eventually found his niche when his friend Don Noble showed him how to create magical vanishing Fore-edge Paintings.
A vanishing fore-edge painting is where the leaves of a book are fanned and an image applied to the stepped surface.
If the page edges are gilded or marbled, the painting miraculously disappears when the book is relaxed. When the book is fanned again it magically re-appears!
Mini craft gallery
