First painting done in 1999. Around 120 now done to end of 2007.

Beauty, wonder ... imagination.

In search of those answers.

I guess, in life, we are all searching ... searching for something ...  searching for many things.  Some are searching for just simply, ‘anything’.

The idea behind the painting, ‘Window To The Stars’ came simply from the depths of my mind.  It was undoubtedly influenced by my own bedroom window, which is upstairs, facing the North - a window through which I can see the stars every clear night.  There is something absolutely magical about the night sky when all around has quietened and most are sound asleep.

To seemingly be the only person still awake at that hour - an hour when all ones daytime problems have been left far behind - and, almost as a reward for the efforts put in during the day that is now gone, we may be privileged to a most wondrous view.

Nothing moves.  It is as if the whole Universe has come to a standstill ...  seemingly hanging, motionless.

So peaceful.

The first ‘window’ painting consisted of the window, the bare room itself, including rough timber floor, walls and ceiling. Shortly after I added the light hanging from the ceiling and picture hanging on the right side wall.

The work measured about 8 in by 4 in.

It was many months later that the concept of adding the bed and a man sleeping in it occurred to me. A chair on the opposite side of the room balances things.  And a book to signify our search for knowledge.

Later, a girl is substituted instead of the man, and sometimes a cat has been added, to pose a further question.

Most paintings show a single bed, implying the person sleeps alone. This adds to the feeling of peace as there is no added distraction of demands of a partner.  It allows one to leave behind the ‘physical’ and concentrate on the ‘intellectual’.  Although, we must remember, to find answers, we need the best of all worlds and this means we must bring with us the past world of the ‘physical’. To really be able to feel this it is essential that one has known what it is like to be ‘together’ as well as, ‘alone’.

I experimented in changes to the shape of the window frame itself but never found anything that even remotely equalled what I already had.  In other words, the window shape was perfect from the start.
Summing up: Beauty and wonder of the night sky ... searching for answers (the book) ... tired from the days efforts, turned over and gone to sleep. But, as escapes us, as mortals, the answers we seek are right out there ... in that Universe. The answers are, also, right in front of us - if we could but see them.

Why have I painted so many ‘windows’?

It is because I strive for perfection. I want to one day paint the perfect ‘window’.  We accept ‘art is a journey’.  ‘Window to The Stars’ is also a journey within itself.

And ... if I can paint that perfect ‘window’, in it you will be able to SEE those answers that we search for.

Peter Norvill
2008

Window on the Deck.
Lay on your back on the
floor of the deck and look
up at the blue sky with
patchy cloud moving
across quickly and the
Window will seem to
be falling