PHOTOS: Cutting Silhouettes is her Passion

Carol LeBeaux  is an  87-year-old dynamo with a love  for cats, people and art. She has a passion for life which is reflected in all that she creates, and a smile that lights a room.

Lebeaux is one of only 20 silhouette artists in the United States, three in New England, and she will be at the fundraiser scheduled on Feb. 11. The money raised will help to send the members of Operation Friendship to Europe.

Lebeaux began her artistic career while attending high school in New York.

“Both my brother and I attended the High School of Music and Art in New York founded by Fiorello LaGuardia, the then mayor of New York,” Lebeaux said. “As part of the curriculum each student had two hours per day of art or music. I chose art. It was a marvelous school and many famous people started their careers there.”

From there Lebeaux went to college and then onto the Art Students League of New York. She met her husband, a veterinarian from Shrewsbury, through a mutual friend and soon found herself working with her husband in the animal hospital he owned in Leominster.

“I worked with my husband in the animal hospital for awhile,” Lebeaux said, “but I was missing my art. I started back with portraits first, but thanks to a generous crafter, I learned the art of silhouetting at a craft fair, and was immediately taken.”

Lebeaux now has roughly three events per month as well as an active mail order business.

“I am 87 years old, making my own living, and having the time of my life,” Lebeaux said. “I love what I do, and I have a wonderful son who helps with the housework, cooking, and cutting of coupons so I can do what I love.”

Although her son is not a silhouette artist, artistry does run in the family.

“This is a self portrait of my great-grandfather,” Lebeaux said as she shared an oval frame filled with a smiling artist. “He was a portrait artist also.”

According to Lebeaux there is no such thing as being taught to create silhouettes.

“If you can draw people, the rest is just cutting,” Lebeaux explained.

Lebeaux has had the privilege of creating lasting keepsakes and memorials for many in her career, and all she asks is that you make a miniature family tree on the back of the silhouette so generations from now, folks will know who is represented.

“Silhouettes often last for generations, “ Lebeaux said. “People regularly come to me and say we have this silhouette, but we don’t know who the people are. This is easy to fix, write the names."

Lebeaux, a self-proclaimed animal lover, regularly creates silhouettes of beloved pets.

What is the most unusual memorial she’s created?

“A family lost a beloved chicken named Honey, and I cut a silhouette of him as a memorial.”

Lebeaux will be in Grafton from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 11. Slots are available in ten-minute intervals and the funds raised go to Operation Friendship. She can cut silhouettes from a photograph.

“In ten minutes, I create the silhouette, a duplicate (in case grandparents, or others want them), I glue, and I mat or frame the piece. I also bring a camera in case I need to capture someone uncooperative that I can cut out later.”

Lebeaux notes that she endeavors to capture the essence of the person and hopes her work will become a lasting keepsake for generations.

If you would like an appointment on Feb. 11, call Betty Coleman at 508-839-4362 or email betty@vastmarcom.com  Prices start at $33.

For more information on Carol, visit her website.