Artist ‘overjoyed’ as painted coins on show at prestigious miniatures exhibition

An artist who replicates popular paintings and landmarks on coins has described feeling “overjoyed” after her work was selected to feature in a “creme de la creme” exhibition in the miniatures world.

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.

Ms Jack’s coins form part of the exhibition, which is open until July 6 (Yvonne Jack/PA)

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.”

Yvonne Jack painted Mullion Cove on a coin (Yvonne Jack/PA)PA Media - Yvonne Jack

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 detail.

Deciding what to enter proved to be tricky for the artist and she asked for advice from friends who came up with different suggestions, but she ultimately selected coins based on her enjoyment creating them.

“I always wanted to put the JMW Turner’s Fighting Temeraire as I enjoyed painting it and there’s quite a level of detail with the actual ship – the HMS Temeraire – and Mullion Cove because I’ve been there and so I feel quite connected to that one,” she said.

Ms Jack looking at other artists’ work on display in the exhibition (Yvonne Jack/PA)

“I painted Brighton Pavilion because I was looking for a building that was beautiful architecturally.

“When I’ve shown The Great Wave (coin) to people, they would all say you’ve got to put that one in. I think it’s because it’s a well-known image and people know it so well.”

She also entered her version of St Paul’s Cathedral but it did not make the cut, much to her dismay.

“Mona Lisa nearly got the final cut until the very final day and my other half went, ‘I don’t like that one’ and then it just sowed that seed of doubt in my mind and that’s the one that got swapped out for St Paul’s,” she added.

“I’ll never know if I’d left it with the Mona Lisa, maybe all five would have got in.”

Peter Hayton bought one of Yvonne Jack’s coins which was included in the display (Yvonne Jack/PA)

Ms Jack went to see her coins on display on Wednesday and said the atmosphere was “electric” and fellow attendees made her feel “welcome” and imparted their tips and tricks with her on how to enhance her art further.

“Most wonderfully, I was approached by a society member, Peter Hayton, who asked ‘are you the lady who paints the coins?’ and I said yes and he said ‘well I’m the person who’s just bought one,” she added.

“He had bought JMW Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire. I’m absolutely over the moon to have got a sale on the first day.”

Peter Lord opened the exhibition. He is the co-founder of the Academy Award-winning Aardman Animations studio which is well known for its clay-animated films and shorts, including those featuring plasticine duo Wallace and Gromit.