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The artist who uses tiny coins as her canvas

PA Media Coins with painted miniatures of famous landmarks. In the photo there are a mix of painted and unpainted coinsPA Media
Yvonne Jack, 48, said it took her a few hours to complete each coin

An artist who painted miniature landmarks on old coins said all you need is patience and a good pair of reading glasses.

Yvonne Jack, 48, from Thundersley in Essex, has painted more than 50 designs on coins since 2022.

Her subjects include the Houses of Parliament, the Eiffel Tower and Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa.

Ms Jack was exhibiting a mixture of art pieces at a pop-up art gallery in Southend-on-Sea in 2022 when she was asked to paint four old coins by the woman running the art show.

PA Media The Eiffel tower painted on a coin. A blue sky has been painted behind the towerPA Media
Yvonne Jack has painted a wide range of landmarks including the Eiffel Tower

She said: "The woman that ran the pop-up gallery was doing an exhibition at the Houses of Parliament to celebrate the new city of Southend-on-Sea. "

The woman asked Ms Jack if she could paint some old coins for her upcoming exhibition.

She said: "I did four coins for her and she took them and said loads of people really loved them and then it just became a bit of a challenge to see what else I could fit on this really tiny space."

Ms Jack said that inspired her to see what else she could draw in such a compact space.

She said each coin painting took her a few hours to complete.

In 2023, four of her coins were showcased at the Royal Miniature Society Annual Exhibition.

She said she had submitted five more coins in the hope they might appear at this year's exhibition.

Social media

Ms Jack has posted short-form videos of her artwork across social media platforms and said her viewers have given her ideas of what she should draw next.

She said her followers often wonder how such tiny paintings are created.

"There have been plenty of times when I have just ended up scrapping the whole lot off and starting again," she said.

The first coin she painted was Darth Vader from Star Wars on one side and Yoda on the other.

"I always paint better when it's a subject I enjoy and there have been some that have been horrendous, but I think that is the case with everything."

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