Sketch of myself by Helen Breger

Portrait in crayon on newsprint by Helen Breger

At 93, Helen Breger is still capturing likenesses wherever she goes, with as little as a child's crayon and newsprint.
We were both recently at her great-granddaughter's fourth birthday and I showed Helen the huge pad of newsprint I was going to give Naomi (the great-granddaughter) and the nifty crayons to go with it when she helped herself to the black and tore a piece from the pad and sketched me right then and there--took all of 15 minutes.
Helen was a noted fashion illustrator for the Chronicle "back in the day" and has never stopped drawing people's likenesses wherever she goes. She was recently in Austria where she had a Birthday party thrown for her, and instead of chatting, she drew every guest there. All of them liked their portraits so much, they kept them.
Helen still teaches, paints, does etchings, monoprints and collographs. She is so supportive and generous with her talents, definitely someone I admire and hope to emulate. She is also coming out with a new book she's illustrated to poems by noted author, Jack Foley. Go Girl!