City scenes, like sceneries, are something I tend to photograph instead of paint. But there are exceptions.
One is a winter morning sunrise in Europe, casting its hidden light on the balconies of a high appartment building. It almost looks like night and the veiled sun is almost like the moon.
The other is a vista I saw when looking towards Toronto from Toronto Island. This one is a sunset scene with the lights switched on in some of the apartment and office buildings. Some rooms are unlit and through the windows the red evening sky can be seen.
And there is the sunny reflection of a row of yellow houses in the moat surrounding them, which I found in Zutphen, an old city in the Netherlands. I actually sketched this while admiring the effect of the sunset on the bright yellow walls, and then finished the acrylic painting in the little guest apartment where I was staying.
Especially high-rise apartment buildings always make me wonder. Each balcony, each window represents the home of one, but more than likely, multiple people. Human lives, each with their own dramas and joys. Invisible from the outside. Merely being able to make out kitchen cabinets or the blue lights of a television in the faraway windows. Neon lights in a stairway. Any idea how many windows there are in the sunset image? Just count and imagine all of the people living their life in this scene…
Click in the list below to select and view more backstories of my artworks.