Yvonne Jack started painting on pre-decimal coins – coins struck before the change to decimal coinage in 1971 – in March 2022, with Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and Vincent Van Gogh’s The Starry Night just some of the notable paintings she has uniquely recreated. On June 19, she found out four of her coins were accepted into the Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors & Gravers annual exhibition, which takes place at Bankside Gallery, London, from June 26 to July 6 and showcases some of the best small-scale art. These are her takes on paintings by Joseph Mallord William (JMW) Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire and Hokusai’s The Great Wave, and locations Mullion Cove, a harbour on the Lizard Peninsula, and Brighton Pavilion.
The 48-year-old, who is based in Thundersley, Essex, told the PA news agency: “I’m overjoyed. The process starts with you entering online and then you get chosen for pre-selection, so you take them physically up to London, give them in and give them a little prayer and send them on their way. “The Royal Miniatures Society is like the creme de la creme for miniature artists and the level of detail and commitment put into their work is amazing.
“It’s a real honour to have got four (coins) in.” The miniature depictions each take a few hours to complete and Ms Jack begins the process by painting each coin white to get a base, sticking it to a table to prevent it from moving, and sketching a rough outline before adding in more detai.
