Window Sketch

I came across this rough little sketch that I must have done on an airplane as it was scrawled on the corner of an in-flight magazine crossword page. It's probably at least five years old, so it's a wonder I still have it. It was probably inspired by my first trip to Europe, as I purchased a cheap set of drawing pencils and sketch pad from the Tate Modern museum in London. I then made a few sketches from various hotel windows of the rooftops and cityscapes of Paris and Amsterdam. I remember even doing a couple on the way home from memory, the images still fresh and imprinted in my mind. I got the idea much later to do a painting or series of paintings from the perch of a window, but brilliantly, I thought, including the elements of the window as well. I never got beyond the sketching stage, but eventually came across similar ideas in a couple early 20th Century French paintings. In fact, there was one from a famous artist I wished I could recall, that was an almost identical recreation of my sketch. Perhaps it was just to say, "Hey, look at me. I'm in a fancy new tall building, looking down upon the masses." I'm sure it sounded more elegant in French.

After writing this, I suddenly realized I have actually consciously continued to work on this same theme to the present day. As I may have previously mentioned, over the last ten years I have traveled extensively throughout the US and Canada on a weekly basis, often finding myself in high-rise hotels. Also, I may have mentioned my penchant for exploring the alleyways and nooks and crannies of urban life. I have amassed an extraordinary amount of photos and videos showing voyeuristic views from windows above onto the City/town below, and in some cases, from below, with planes and such passing overhead. I have always intended to assemble some kind of photo/video collage of this, but I think after awhile and without a particular goal, it began to seem overwhelming...or perhaps I'm just, once again, lazy.