The Letter

 

The past months are all about Johannes Vermeer and the exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, so it was no surprise at all that the March challenge of 'Goed Gezien - Goed Bekeken' was about the letters in  many of the paintings of Vermeer.

We are challenged to imagine what the women depicted are reading or writing.

For my contribution I decided to imagine what 'the woman writing a letter' could be writing about.

The translation of the text is here:

Dear Godmother,

Thank you very much for your beautiful wedding gift.

My happiness knows no bounds, now that I have received such a beautiful present from your Silver City.

Receiving your gift was a highlight of the day, which could only have been surpassed by your own presence. Your covering letter made it clear that only a very unfortunate set of circumstances prevented you from handing over your gift in person.

I hope that your husband has since recovered from the unfortunate incident.

My husband is also very pleased with your gift and also sends his thanks.

Dear godmother, thank you for the salt and pepper set.

Yours,

Janneke

Added to the text I made a graphite drawing of an antique Silver pepper and salt set, using images from the internet as my inspiration. 

Our Silver city is Schoonhoven, not far from where I live. For the text I supposed that the lady writing (the newly wed one) lived in Delft, the city of Johannes Vermeer and her godmother lives in Schoonhoven.

The last line of the text is a hint to a comic scene/song that was popular in The Netherlands when I was much younger. I hope the other members of the association will understand.

The information about the materials I have used and the size of this work can all be found in my Tumblr blog.  If you are interested in my work, please contact me.

Rainy Days or no rainy days.....

This month I have promised myself to make the most of the prompts given for WorldWatercolourMonth. The weather is hot and sunny so being in my studio for hours is not a very great way to pass the time. I am painting 'quick ones' and these are great opportunities to be experimenting with my materials.

Today's prompt is 'Rainy Days' - something we have not had for weeks now. That is how the idea of the letter to Santa came up and was turned into a painting.
I have used a sheet of watercolour study paper - not the kind of paper I can use for a painting with lots of water. 
The drawing of the paper, envelope and pen was made first, then I started painting the wooden desktop using the wet-on-dry technique. The drawing desk in my studio was my model. 
After that the paper, envelope and pen were painted, the pencil lines for writing were added and when everything had dried I wrote the letter to Santa and the envelope. Some of the pencil lines were erased, as would have happened in a real letter.

If I were lots of years younger and an American girl I might have done something like this in reality - I think.
As I am not a young girl anymore I enjoyed thinking up this plan and executing it.

More information (materials used, availability, contact information, etc) can be found at my website www.jannekesatelier.webs.com