somewhat sille, that's me!

Saw this image of this painting, The Milkmaid by Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer, in a link from my FB feed this morning, and immediately it felt like meeting someone from the past but you just can't put your finger on who the person was.

All I know is that I've seen this in a book when I was younger, but I just can't remember which book. Maybe one of those kids' encyclopedia I used to leaf through.

I remember however being fascinated by it, because it looks so close to a real thing, and I'd wondered how on earth the painter captured those details with just a brush. I remember scrutinizing it for anything amiss just so I could say, aha, you missed a spot! but to my naked untrained eyes, this was awesome.

I guess somewhere in me is a painter who would never be because I don't have the knack for it. I'm more than happy to be on this side, admiring and appreciating.