For artist Bryanna Marie, paintings on canvas are yesterday’s news. Instead, she uses pennies and other coins as the backdrop for her impressive paintings.
Bryanna Marie is a Tucson-based artist who has a long-standing fascination with painting on tiny surfaces.
Her artistic career began in 2007 when she started working as a tattoo artist. Then, in 2014, she gained attention when she displayed a minuscule 3×3-inch painting. Since then, she’s transitioned to even smaller spaces and now does her work on pennies — and other currencies — with 1-inch diameters.
In an interview with This Is Colossal, Bryanna explained that she ties the subject of her oil paintings to the origin of the coin. For example, she paints an image from her trip to France on a Euro coin or an image of the Irish hills on an Irish penny.
During another interview with Goodkin writer W. B. Cornwell, the artist also discussed the evolution of her artwork. She explained that she’s always felt drawn to the combination of oil paint on a copper backdrop, so it was natural for her to create miniature paintings on pennies.
Initially, it was difficult for her to paint over President Abraham Lincoln’s face. Now, though, after so much practice, she’s started to see him as “part of the overall works.”
In the same interview, Bryanna also credited her daughter as being the biggest supporter of her work. She said that her daughter asks daily if she’s painted anything new and provides insight and ideas for future projects. She also assists with titling the paintings and collects pennies for her mom’s paintings so they can be “lucky as well as pretty.”
Those who want to learn more about Bryanna can visit her website or order prints of her work here. Her Instagram account also features images of her latest pieces.