Samantha Hahn's A Thousand Ships

I'm absolutely in love with the work of Samantha Hahn. I love all of her creations. But the watercolors? Be still my heart!  Her recent exhibition at Gallery Hanahou, A Thousand Ships, is of particular interest today. The perfect title of the exhibition comes from a Christopher Marlowe quote: 

--"Was this the face that launch’d a thousand ships 
And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?
Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss" 

Yes, this exhibition features portrait style depictions of Helen of Troy. It also featured portraits of infamous women like Coco Chanel, strong female literary characters, and.... bloggers.  The first painting featured above, for example, is blogger Leigh Pennebaker of Marvelous Kiddo.  Yes, blogger women amidst Helen of Troy (Iium sounds nicer to my ear) and Scout Finch. I have to say, I love the idea. I think for a lot of us these bloggers are such intimate characters in ongoing, modern-day stories, not so different from our beloved literary characters; and many of them share that creative element, as well. I wonder if Samantha is friends with any of these ladies? That would just increase the charm even more, wouldn't it-- real life friend- heroines being celebrated alongside beloved fictional ones?  And then when I see the portraits, my heart swells at just how darn pretty they are. And then.... there're the names. 

The name of the artist, Samantha, is really a favorite lately. I think it's a classic, but it's having been worn by women of my generation with much more frequency than names like Ruth, for example,  might make it feel less than fresh, except that it does feel fresh.  I would love to see this name on more new people! I also think it makes a stunning middle name option for more daring and/or sparsely syllabled first names. 

Below is the infamous Holly Golightly of Breakfast at Tiffany's.  (I think Holly is poised for a big comeback, too.) 

Here's a shot of a wall at the exhibition, full of Samantha's beautiful water colors.

On her beautiful blog, Maquette, you can find her full portfolio, stocked with more amazing paintings. Here are some  favorites:

And now for some of the names featured in her latest exhibition. Again, I love finding both the portraits and names of bloggers alongside beloved female designers, and characters:

Helen
Daisy
Alice
Scout
Finch
Lorelei 
Lara
March
Holly
Kate
Caroline
Isabele
Walker
Louise
Magenta
Edith
Coco 
Molly
Delores
Garden
Janene
Abby
Lorena
Joanna
Susie
Mary Jo
Ez

You can go here to match the names/titles with their brilliant, stunning paintings. You may even still be able to snag one. I'm off to try for one now!



(images: 1 and 2. 3, the rest)