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An Invitation to Gaze

A virtual exhibition of paintings by Hannah Barnes
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This blog is a visual, on-line record of my art work and my personal research (guided simply by what I like) into art history and contemporary art.

Most of my paintings on display here are for sale. If you are interested in purchasing a work,
please e-mail me at hannahsjb@live.co.uk

Many of my works posted here are Digital Finger Paintings. For this reason the images have been watermarked. Please, no unauthorized reproductions: If you would like to use any of the images of my works that you see here (or elsewhere) please contact me, I am always happy to help if I can.

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Tuesday 16 November 2010

The Beautiful Dark-Haired Woman
























(Above) The Beautiful Dark-Haired Woman
15cm x 18cm
November 2010
Mixed media (Faber Castel Albrecht Durer watercolour crayons, Daler Rowney Calli calligraphic inks, Windsor & Newton Indian inks, Daler Rowney FW acrylic inks, Caran d'ache Neocolour II water-soluble wax crayons) on 100% cotton rag, acid-free paper (200g).

Who is the lady in the picture ? The clue is in the title, where the use of the definite article points to a generic. It's not a portrait of "a" specific woman, it's a portrait of a type of woman; which type? "The Beautiful Dark-Haired" type. She started as a study after various portraits by Picasso of his second wife Jacqueline Roque. As the painting developed the focus shifted to the painted surface and the image became less specific but it still retains something of a Mediterranean likeness: the beautiful dark-haired type from Italy or with southern European origins... a Mona Lisa ? Or, as it has just been suggested to me, a Nigella Lawson ?