A Micro Series Of Micro Vermeer Works

In the era of Vermeer and Rembrandt, if you wanted to become a professional painter in the Low Countries you first had to do an apprenticeship in the painter’s guild; the Guild Of Saint Luke.  Apprentices would start out doing the lowest of grunt work – maintaining the studio, cleaning brushes, and mixing paints – before eventually moving on to learning the master’s style through copying exercises. Obviously, in my own studies of Dutch art I skipped that first step and went straight to the copying. I blame my impatience. Which somehow, beyond understanding, manages to coexist with my belief in the power of disciplined, repetitive exercises as a learning technique. Would I have done well as a painting apprentice in the Dutch Golden Age? Perhaps not.

Regardless, in honor of the painter’s apprentices of yore, I wanted to do a micro-series of micro-studies of Vermeer’s Girl With A Pearl Earring. These quick (for my work) gestural sketches are an attempt to attain mastery over this particular Vermeer painting. Using pearls, pins, paint, beads, and various lock mechanisms (those vitrines are made from antique strike plates); the seven pieces conceptually and materially flow into one another in a way that I truly love. Perhaps I need more tiny art in my creative life?

The pieces are currently in Aabenraa, Denmark for a show of tiny art pieces called Small Worlds III. I’m hoping that someone buys the whole set to keep them together; but if not, I’ll be splitting up the paintings and listing them on my site at the end of July. If one speaks to you, send me an email and we can discuss putting it aside for you once it’s come back home.