Monday, July 2, 2007 1:48 AM CDT
Silhouette artist 'trims noses, fixes chins' with 19th-century practice
By HERB MEEKER, Staff Writer
hmeeker@jg-tc.com
LERNA -- Joyce Yarbrough loves to draw with her scissors.
The silhouette artist from St. Charles, Mo., on Saturday used small surgical scissors to cut out the delicate features of tiny noses, a curly ponytail and a long braid as she produced black cutouts of children sitting on a wooden seat. As she clipped away, black and white outlines hit the grass under a small canvas tent at Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site.
“I tell people I trim noses and fix chins,” Yarbrough joked as she gently sliced away at a sandwich of black and white papers.
Yarbrough, who has worked with silhouette artwork for 30 years, knows that it is nearly impossible to have young children “pose” for artwork. So she uses the power of distraction by having parents read books or ring a small bell from a small wicker basket.
“It helps entertain them,” said Yarbrough as she clipped out the bangs for 6-year-old Meg Vyhnal, while the girl’s mother, Theresa, read a story about sheep shearing and pointed out lambs in a nearby shaded pasture at the historic site. “You have to distract the children so they’re not paying attention to what I’m doing.”
In a matter of minutes, Yarbrough had produced two cutouts of a bust of Meg’s head complete with her bangs and the graceful lay of her hair. Yarbrough starts on the face with the nose and chin and then sweeps around the head, cutting out bangs. The back of the head is usually the last part completed.
Meg was one of four Vyhnal children -- the others are Jack, a curious 1-year-old; energetic 4-year-old Katie with a curly ponytail swinging to and fro; and proud 7-year-old Nolan, who sat admirably still for his posing -- to get a pair of silhouettes for placement in two oval mattings. Mrs. Vyhnal said the silhouettes will go on display in two households.
“One set will be for our family and another for a grandparent,” said Mrs. Vyhnal, who was taking the children with her husband, Chris, on vacation from Ojai, Calif. “We just happened to come here today when she was doing this.”
There is a strong link to American history with silhouette cutting, Yarbrough said. In the 1700s and early 1800s, it was a “poor man’s art” with cutters traveling from town to town or even cabin to cabin to cut out portraits of entire families. The traveling artists, almost all men in that era, would stay in family residences for days at a time and draw business from neighbors.
To celebrate that frontier tradition, Yarbrough was dressed in early American costume, complete with bonnet and apron. She also stayed up with the frontier era jargon, reminding her customers the historic re-enactors were eating “dinner,” not lunch, at midday.
Examples of her work on display at the tent included adults in historic clothing, such as a woman who seemed to step out of an Edith Wharton novel, as well as impressive still life works.
But she usually has many children on the model’s chair because parents love to capture their features in this special art form. She asks parents not to do something special with a child’s hair so a child’s natural look can be captured in the silhouette.
“I think it is great how she captures their innocence,” said Chris Vyhnal as he looked over the images of his children.
And a good silhouette cutter will also capture the personalities of children, including identical twins, Yarbrough said.
“With twins, I will notice one is more dominant. It might be the way they hold or tilt their head. They will show a difference even in a silhouette,” she explained.
But sometimes, she is producing almost mirror images when mothers and daughters come to her.
Eight-year-old Rachel Due of Charleston had her long dark braids over her shoulders as she posed for Yarbrough. Rachel’s mother, Karen, said that brought back a memory for her.
“My mother had me sit for a silhouette when I had braids like Rachel,” said Karen as she and Rachel’s grandmother, Judith Corbin, watched Yarbrough work.
Within a few minutes, Yarbrough had finished Rachel’s silhouette, complete with a long braid with strands on the tip.
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CLICK TO ENLARGE
 KEN TREVARTHAN(JG/T-C)
Silhouette artist Joyce Yarbrough finishes the details on the silhouette of her subject, Nolan Vyhnal, Saturday afternoon at Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site.
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