Fannie Allen Design | The Obsessive Observer: November 2014

For break from football this weekend, for just hecka fun, rent the movie "Tim's Vermeer."
Remember the Hockney exhibit?? When I wrote that the art establishment thought Hockney was nuts for suggesting that some of the great Renaissance painters used mirrors & devices to paint in the new realism style...

Tim Jenison decided to devote 5 years to proving this is true, at least for Vermeer's art. Tim is a computer graphics expert, who noticed several key things about Vermeer's art that led him on an amazing journey of trials and discovery. In the end, Tim is able to paint an exact replica of "The Music Lesson." It's tech & art all tied up together in a gorgeous bow -- my favorite kind.

"The Music Lesson" by Johannes Vermeer

One of the many cool things in Tim's story--besides interviews and meetings with Hockney himself-- is that Tim is not a painter. Or an artist. But he is a truly great see-er. The details that Tim sees in Vermeer's art lead him to understand and investigate the artist's process. Learning to see is the #1 important skill for appreciating art.

That "seeing" skill, btw, also helped Tim build a wildly successful business. So it's not just for art.

The evidence is overwhelmingly in Tim's favor: Vermeer was one very clever dude, who used mirrors and mechanical devices he invented, to create stunning artwork.

Does this diminish the beauty, artistry, or renown of Vermeer or his work?
HECK NO! If anything, this elevates Vermeer to perhaps one of the greatest inventor/artists, on par with the likes of Leonardo da Vinci. Vermeer was a true Renaissance man combining several disciplines to accomplish breathtaking beauty.

You'll have a ball watching the movie, check out the trailer:
Trailer of the movie, Tim's Vermeer:

Very interesting day recently, extremes that I completely enjoyed.
First, I went to the San Francisco Fall Antiques Show, "one of the five most renowned art and antiques shows in the world." Not only did I see some rarefied art and objects (at some rarefied prices), they had a SIX pound gold nugget. Yeow!

That evening I went to an opening for several artists from the Artist in Residence program sponsored by Recology, our local waste disposal company -- that is, art made from trash. While the source material (and, frankly, the prices) are rather lower at the Recology show than at the Antiques Show, the ART sure is every bit as wonderful, in some ways even more so.
Click here for more info on the artists and works in the show.
Click here for more on Recology's excellent Artist in Residence program

Quite a day of contrasts, no? Ones man's trash is another man's treasure... well duh.
The Antiques Show will be back next fall.
But you can still visit the Recology Artists show hosted at the Lost & Foundry Studios in Oakland through Nov 22. Don't miss it, you'll find loads of treasures.
Contact The Lost & Foundry to make an appointment to see any of the works:
Lost & Foundry contact page

Here's just some of what caught my eye --
First the Recology Show at Lost & Foundry Studios: