Author Archives for Ellen

Johannes Vermeer

I remember an art school trip to Germany in the late 80s. In a museum in Berlin i remember sitting on a bench in a rather dark room watching enchanted a Johannes Vermeer painting. Today i went through the complete catalogue and saw there are two Vermeer paintings in the Berlin Gemäldegalerie: The Glass of Wine and Woman with a Pearl Necklace. I especially like the latter one. The white washed wall fills the center of the painting. Curtains on the left, the table at the bottom, a chair to the right with a girl staring at herself in the mirror opposite holding a pearl necklace in front of her.

I also do remember drawing the Girl with a Pearl Earring at art school. Together with Whitney Houston and myself. This was in the second year at art school in 1987-1988.

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After the time i said goodbye to the art world, in 1994, Vermeer did stand out as a truly magical painter to me. 1-autoportrait-deux-cercles-xlI don’t like every painting. Only a few weeks ago i saw The Guitar Player in the Kenwood House in London. The Rembrandt painting Portrait of the Artist hanging in the same room is so much better. But i have to say, even though i appreciate Rembrandt and love some of his paintings, they never touched me as the paintings of Vermeer have.

Johannes Vermeer, 1632 – 1675. He died when he was 43 years old. Young by today’s standards. Born in the midst of the Dutch Golden Age. I should read more about this period. I’m pretty sure i did learn a bit about this period at school, but it has faded away.

I have only seen his paintings here in the Netherlands, in Amsterdam and The Hague. I have seen the ones in Berlin and London as well. But that is it. I do hope to see all of them: New York, Washington D.C., Boston, Edinburgh, Vienna, Frankfurt, Paris, Dublin. This gives me a good list to start traveling more.

Below i have a couple of the best paintings. I know Vermeer deserves more text than i could ever write. Other people are much better in describing his techniques, the time in which he live and his paintings. I simply love to watch the paintings themselves.

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Vermeer-Girl_Reading_a_Letter_by_an_Open_Window

A Girl Reading a Letter by an Open Window
c. 1657 – 1659
Oil on canvas
83 x 64.5 cm. (32 3/4 x 25 3/8 in.)
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (Old Masters Picture Gallery), Dresden

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vermeer-little-street

The Little Street
c. 1657 – 1661
Oil on canvas
54.3 x 44 cm. (21 3/8 x 17 3/8 in.)
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

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Vermeer-view-of-delft-small

View of Delft
c. 1660-1661
Oil on canvas
98.5 x 117.5 cm. (38 3/4 x 46 1/4 in.)
Koninklijk Kabinet van Schilderijen Mauritshuis, The Hague

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Vermeer-Woman_in_Blue_Reading_a_Letter

Woman in Blue Reading a Letter
c. 1662 – 1665
Oil on canvas
46.5 x 39 cm. (18 1/4 x 15 3/8 in.)
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

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vermeer-balance3

Woman Holding a Balance
c. 1662-1665
Oil on canvas
42.5 x 38 cm. (16 3/4 x 15 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

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vermeer-paintings-81

Young Woman with a Water Pitcher
c. 1662 – 1665
Oil on canvas
45.7 x 40.6 cm. (18 x 16 in.)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

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vermeer-young-woman-with-a-pearl-necklace

Woman with a Pearl Necklace
c. 1662 – 1665
Oil on canvas
55 x 45 cm. (21 5/8 x 17 3/4 in.)
Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin

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Vermeer_meisje

Girl with a Pearl Earring
c. 1665-1667
Oil on canvas
46.5 x 40 cm. (18 1/4 x 15 1/4 in.)
Koninklijk Kabinet van Schilderijen Mauritshuis, The Hague

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VERMEER-El_geografo

The Geographer
c. 1668-1669
Oil on canvas
53 x 46.6 cm. (20 7/8 x 18 1/4 in.)
Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

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vermeer-kantwerkster

The Lacemaker
c. 1669-1671
Oil on canvas (attached to panel)
24.5 x 21 cm. (9 5/8 x 8 1/4 in.)
Musée du Louvre, Paris

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Vermeer-The_Loveletter

The Love Letter
c. 1667-1670
Oil on canvas
44 x 38.5.cm. (17 3/8 x 15 1/8 in.)
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

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PS. When i posted this, i set it in the World category. But this evening, while i was watching Masterchef on the BBC, i suddenly realized Beauty is so much better. It is different from the other posts in that category, but i don’t mind. The meanings of these category names are subject to change. Beauty!

Published on March 23, 2016 at 6:00 by
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Lullaby

The library used to be one of my favourite places to go. But it’s been years since i’ve been inside. To look for books. I don’t read that much anymore. And really, i do think i read most books i wanted to read and which are available in the library.

I loved poems from W.H. Auden. There was this thick book, it might have been Collected Poems. I got it like three four times, at least.

I do admit, this was how far my poetry went. Over the past year i did read the poetry page in the NRC on Thursday. But i never really dived into it.

Today, when i was going through my old present pages on lfs.nl, i came across this poem i published there on 31 December 1999, Lullaby.

Lullaby

Lay your sleeping head, my love,
Human on my faithless arm;
Time and fevers burn away
Individual beauty from
Thoughtful children, and the grave
Proves the child ephemeral:
But in my arms till break of day
Let the living creature lie,
Mortal, guilty, but to me
The entirely beautiful.

Soul and body have no bounds:
To lovers as they lie upon
Her tolerant enchanted slope
In their ordinary swoon,
Grave the vision Venus sends
Of supernatural sympathy,
Universal love and hope;
While an abstract insight wakes
Among the glaciers and the rocks
The hermit’s sensual ecstasy.

Certainty, fidelity
On the stroke of midnight pass
Like vibrations of a bell,
And fashionable madmen raise
Their pedantic boring cry:
Every farthing of the cost,
All the dreaded cards foretell,
Shall be paid, but from this night
Not a whisper, not a thought,
Not a kiss nor look be lost.

Beauty, midnight, vision dies:
Let the winds of dawn that blow
Softly round your dreaming head
Such a day of sweetness show
Eye and knocking heart may bless,
Find the mortal world enough;
Noons of dryness see you fed
By the involuntary powers,
Nights of insult let you pass
Watched by every human love.

W. H. Auden (1907-1973)

Summary and analysis.

I had to think about the category into which i would place this post. First i picked Beauty. Still good. But i decided against it and picked World. And then i thought stupid me! it should go in Books and TV!

Published on March 22, 2016 at 6:00 by
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I Would Stay

I Would Stay, a song from the Dutch band Krezip. They played this song on their Pinkpop gig, where it was extremely well received. The video clip was compiled of footage of this Pinkpop show. I remember talking with a friend about the band, about this song. One of the best Dutch singers, he called Jacqueline Govaert. A very young band at the time, with this killer hit. They have split up. I still enjoy this song.

I Would Stay – Krezip
If this is true, I thought then, what will I think
Will I stay but rather I would get away
I’m scared that I won’t find a thing
And afraid that I’ll turn out to be alone, but I

I have to learn, have to try, have to trust I have to cry
Have to see, have to know that I can be myself, yeah

And if I could I would stay
And if they’re not, not in my way
I’ll stare here in the distance
But I’ll grow up to be just like you, yeah
I’ll grow up to be just like you, yeah

I see it all I’m sure but
Do I know what’s right
I thought I knew but it turns out the other way
I am scared that I won’t find a thing
And afraid that I’ll turn out to be alone, but I

I have to learn, have to try, have to trust I have to cry
I have to see, have to know that I can be myself

And if I could I would stay
And if they’re not not in my way
I’ll stare here in the distance
But I’ll grow up to be just like you, yeah
I’ll grow up to be just like you

I want to tell you
Why would I try to
You are all that I can see now
Why would I try to

And I want to tell you
Why would I try to
You are all I can see now
I know i’ll try to

I have to learn, have to try, have to trust I have to cry
I have to see, have to know that I can be myself

But if I could, yeah, I would stay
And if they’re not, not in my way
I’ll stare here in the distance
But I’ll grow up to be just like you, yeah
I’ll grow up to be just like you
Like you

The clip

The story behind I Would Stay (Dutch)

Published on March 21, 2016 at 6:00 by
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A walk in Rotterdam: the Park and along the Nieuwe Maas

On this lovely spring day i went out for a walk. I went through the city center towards the Museumpark and crossed the Westzeedijk to the Park. Many many birds! I even see some parakeets flying. A heron was walking stately, occasionally eating something. I sat on the ground for a bit, watched it walking a big circle around me. That is when i saw the parakeets flying too.

When i walked further on through a path through some blue flowers blooming between the trees i went out and sat below a huge tree near the water. It was lovely.

I went out the way closest to the Nieuwe Maas and walked along the quay. I took the tram back home.

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Erasmus MC
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Parkflat
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The Park
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Parkzicht. In the early 80s i used to go out here, dance till the morning light, sit on the porch and listen to the birds waking up.
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A nameless flat
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The heron
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Sitting at the foot of a tree looking up and around me
Published on March 18, 2016 at 6:00 by
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Soda bread

I do enjoy baking my own bread. Sofar i used the recipe for the rye spelt bread i posted here in January this year. Only when i had a cold for a week or two, i bought bread in the shop. Today i made another bread, for the first time: soda bread.

I have read about soda bread before. I know it is quick to make. You do not need to knead the bread and let it rise for an hour or more. It is a chemical process, with baking soda and a sour milk.

So today i checked my stocks and went to the shop: i needed buttermilk and more wholemeal flour. I had decided to use the recipe in the Guardian on the How to cook the perfect soda bread page.

The one thing i changed is the treacle. I don’t have it. I’m not even sure we have that ingredient here in the Netherlands.

OK, i just looked it up. It is most likely the same as keukenstroop. Which we do have. I’m not a big fan myself, or better said, i never bought the stuff. Anyway, i used two tablespoons of honey. Works just as well.

Ingredients

  • 450g coarse wholemeal flour
  • 50g rolled oats
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 level tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 tbsp treacle
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 450ml buttermilk (or sour milk, or milk with 1 tbsp lemon juice)
  • 1 tbsp melted butter, to finish

I did buy the buttermilk from the Weerribben. This is made in the old fashioned way. Originally buttermilk is the liquid which is left behind after churning butter or cream. In our present day supermarkets it is more common to have buttermilk that is soured with different cultures. I’m not a big milk fan, i never drink it. I did taste the buttermilk though and i did enjoy the taste. I’m not going to drink it that much, but still 🙂

Making the bread is really easy. You do need to heat up the oven to 200C first. Once the oven is warmed up, put all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and whisk together. Make a well in the middle. Stir the honey and buttermilk together than pour this into the well. Stir this very quickly together with a fork, later on with your hands. Shape the dough into a round, cut a deep cross into it. Bake for 50 minutes to an hour. After it is baked, brush with melted butter.

You can not keep this bread very long. This is the one issue which has prevented me from making it. I ate it with the leek potato i made earlier this week. Tomorrow i will get more, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Not sure it will be good to eat on Friday. We will see.

Published on March 17, 2016 at 6:00 by
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A work day

Today i did some work. I had some css work this morning and a design job in the afternoon. I tried to keep it simple. Often that is the best way to handle it.

I did go to the supermarket this afternoon. I bought two more leeks. I wanted to make a leek and potato soup. Very simple recipe. Fry some leek, i used two. Add a sliced clove of garlic. Add a liter of hot water, two cubes of broth. Two handfuls of potatoes, sliced in half a centimeter width. Let it simmer for around twenty five minutes. Added a bit of cream. Yummy.

Tomorrow i’m gonna visit my mum. Not sure i will walk from the train station, depends on the weather.

I hope you will have a nice day. Enjoy it!

*kiss*

Published on March 15, 2016 at 6:00 by
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Bowl and jug

It is so hard to draw. The more i look at something small and seemingly easy, like a bowl, the harder it gets. To draw the shade and light, to draw the reflections. Apart from the shape.

Photos are a lot easier. Focus, click, done.

It is not about getting the picture though. It is about looking and deciding. Not anywhere near something good. Just a sketch.

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Published on March 14, 2016 at 6:00 by
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A walk in Rotterdam: around the Plas

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A children's pool. Empty in early March.
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The Kralingse Plas
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A bike path, grass, foot path, reed, trees, sky.
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A big tree
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Tree stumps with moss near the water
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Two birds
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Tree
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Hazy view
Published on March 11, 2016 at 6:00 by
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