The Intuitive Reasonings of Jessica

When I got out of Spanish class this afternoon at 2:15, I was met by warm, happy sunshine. "What a perfect day to go to the Fort!" thought I. But alas, I had art class from 2:30 to 5:30, so my hopes were dashed. Somewhat dejectedly, I made my way to the Forestry Products Building and climbed the stairs to the art studio.

As class began, my professor announced that he had forgotten to bring slides today, so we would just have a work day. This was very disappointing to me because I had not brought my current project to class. All the sorority girls raised their hands simultaneously and asked in unison, "can we work outside today?" The professor obliged, and they all grabbed their art pads and boxes of colored pencils or pastels and skipped outside happily.

Left in the room were two girls, two guys, myself, and the professor. I considered doing some work in my sketchbook. After flipping through it once or twice and feeling very uninspired by the dull studio, I asked the professor when he would like us back inside if we worked out of doors. "Five," he replied. I looked at the clock. It was only 3:00. I smiled and walked out of the studio.

Very soon, I was biking away from campus on State Street. The Lafayette air began to be camouflaged by the sweet smells of flowers, fresh air, and cow manure, and the scenery of brick buildings gave way to corn fields and wild flowers. Several miles on the beautiful country road finally led me to the Fort. Once my bike was locked securely to a tree, I was wading in the icy cold Wabash with muddy feet. The river was so beautiful in the warm sunshine even though it was as brown as ever.

This is the first time that I have skipped class for an unnoble reason, but every minute was worth it.

So, Vermeer is my new hero. I still very much admire the amazing Pablo Picasso, but lately, my inspiration has been coming from Vermeer. His use of light is beyond compare. Take this painting for instance:

While this painting has become well-known recently because of the movie of the same name, its aesthetic qualities should not be overlooked. The face is very delicately crafted--we can immediately discern that she has soft smooth skin, moist lips and shining eyes. The cloth is also well-done. The fabric wrapped around her head seems to be stiff--the creases are harsher than those on her dress. The light on the shiny pearl is similar to that on the brass bucket in The Kitchenmaid. However, this painting is different from most of Vermeer's other works in that the background is solid black. In most of Vermeer's interior scenes, he takes great care to make the background fit the subject, such as in The Kitchenmaid. Here is another painting that Vermeer makes great use of the background:

Woman in Blue Reading a Letter, 1662-63

In this painting, an expectant mother is reading a letter by a window. We can assume that the letter is from her husband--the father of her child. The map on the wall suggests that her husband has traveled abroad.

I hope you all now have a great appreciation of this fine artist.