For many years now this Edinburg, Virginia artist has made a specialty of rendering portraits of some of America's picturesque towns and villages. From Annapolis to Victoria, B.C., her townspeople have captured life as it may have been in friendlier, less complicated times.

Working in a contrived primitive style, Helen Jean is known throughout Virginia and the Eastern United States for a unique approach to preserving history.

Canadian by birth, she graduated from Queens University in Kingston, Ontario with a Bachelor of Arts degree. She has taken some fine arts courses but is mainly self-taught. Her first village portrait was the one in which she lived after her husband retired from the Marine Corps - Lantz Mill in Virginia.

Her latest was a wonderful view of Alexandria, Virginia on a December morning after the Scottish Walk.