A Fine Thread

The second in the series ‘The Four Ages of Woman’ is ‘A Fine Thread’
oil on linen, 50x60cm
created for the BP Travel Award 2013 and exhibited within the BP Portrait Award 2014 at the National Portrait Gallery until the end of September



The Lace I used for this painting is a stunning Flemish bobbin lace from around 1640. It is very fine and thin, showing the patterns so popular in the Netherlands at the time. This type of lace is regularly seen in portraiture of the time. See for example the portrait of Maria van Strijp, or the portrait of an anonymous young lady by Isaack Luttichuys and the portrait of a woman by Van der Vliet. 
My model is a friend, a mother and very spirited and active woman. I painted her portrait with as much truth and integrity as I could. I did not change her appearance, her choice of clothes or hair. The only thing I added is the piece of lace, created by someone nearly 400 years ago.


For an organised list of ALL blog posts that I wrote during the BP Travel Award project (2 years), please see this page on my blog!

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