Who is that girl with the disturbing/hypnotic eyes staring out from under the Angels Ales sign?

This is a question frequently asked and usually inadequately answered by myself.  I saw the original hanging in the National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh in 2005 and was instantly drawn to it.  I purchased a print of roughly the same dimensions as the original picture.  I also tried to mount it in the same way the artist had.  He had painted onto the board so from a distance the painting looked similar to late medieval/Tudor paintings; this made it stand out from the other paintings.  As you move closer then the subject of the painting draws you in until you find yourself staring into those amazing eyes.

The portrait is of Chantel Menard who is also an artist and lives in Los Angeles.  You can read more about Chantel and see some of her work at http://chantalmenard.com/?team=gene

The artist is another American called Sean Cheetham the picture to the right is another of his works called When the Night Winds Wail.  You can see more of his work at http://seancheetham.blogspot.co.uk/.  He doesn’t seem to have been active, on the internet at least, since 2012, a shame as he is a phenomenal artist.