night time....capturing an image.....the empire of light....no 7.....magritte

 i have a poster of a magritte painting that a dutch friend gave me over 35 years ago....found it in the studio....and here it is....

the title of the painting escapes me....its nocturnal....a house  in a tree.....in this shot over a fireplace......it is an image that has been hidden from my consious view...  title "time transfixed".............this idea has appeared in some form in the stone raft mural.....i have just thought of where i placed the print ....over the fireplace.....just like the rene magritte painting of ...the train....it was pure chance.....surrealism

some years ago i did some small watercolour studies at no 7 in the yard at night....problem......how do you see the colours you are using...you need light...but that distorts what you are looking at......choose paint blind...no light....choose colours as you think fit...from memory of the layout of the colours in the trays.......its a fascinating problem to solve....one of my favourite paintings is the empire of light by magritte...which i have usewd in the saramago novel mural ....the stone raft.......here are a series of photos of no 7... my house...at night...im am intrigued by being outside and looking in....what is the story.....what is going on.........it is a theatre....a theatre of dreams....nocturnal visions........at night everyone is esconced in their home....curtains close off the outside world....some people however leave their curtains open.....giving us a glimpse of their private space....this is not voyeuristic in any way......the darkness is a quiet...almost private environment...most people will walk along the street...not really looking....the light from the windows illuminates the pathway...even if you look in...its brief....fractions of a second....

no 7..the residence....nightime theatre... the story......the house stands in an area of darkness...punctuated by light eminating from the windows...the darkness envelopes the light...heightening the drama..the windows are focal points....there are glimpses of the interior....these glimpses are the identity of the occupants....a private world....we can imagine....ws can summiise....we can wonder....

what is the function of this room..........its the dining room....there are no clues...theres a fireplace...if yoiu look carefully therea clothes horse hanging from the ceilling...you cant help thinking...who lives there...what is going on......will someone come into the room...........it is a drama ...sometimes devoid of people....but people live in the house....the light is on....someone appears and disappears in an instant....perhaps with a cup of coffee....or in a dressing gown....click.....lights out....bed.......end of act 1....

do the contents of the room...the house....give a clue as to the occupants.........as we have sbeen sitting in this room we have watched people over the past 30 years look in at us the goldfish...this room has brightr green walls...a bright blue ceiling...with 3 chinese paper kites on the wall...........we know from comments that peolple are intrigued by the objects on view...we didnt put them there for others to see...nevertheless they have been seen....people build an image stroke picture of the occupants...we are all guilty of this fantasy...we make presumptions.....