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Combination effort
Artist combines photos and oils for unique portraiture
Longtime Plymouth artist Helen
Yancy, known for her photography and
oil painting, got an early start on her
career path.
“Forever. I've had my own business
since I was 14 years old,” said Yancy, a
13-year resident of Plymouth
Township. She lied about her age as a
teen to get hired in arts, and ended up
marrying the boss's son.
“I've always had a studio in resi-
dence,” she said. “But the emphasis of
my business is still painting.”
She's
online
at
, and is a
past president of the Professional
Photographers of America who's gar-
neredmany awards.
Yancy puts oil paint on photo paper
in her work, noting photo paper works
fine that way. “The canvas is the pre-
ferredway,” she explained. “Andwe do
a lot of restoration.”
She can create a treasured painting,
even from using a Facebook photo.
Yancy wrote her book, “FromOrdinary
toElegant,” as ahow-to.
“It's to encourage people to be
strong in knowing what they do with a
computer is every bit as much art,” she
said. Her “virtual” works are created
with an electronic brush. The “From
Ordinary to Elegant” book is available
onAmazon.
“Why do I do it? Because I can't not
do it. It's me, it's who I am,” Yancy said
of her art which includes extensive
Julie Brown
Staff Writer
Helen Yancy
