Love This! Window Views by Sarah McKenzie

One of my favorite paintings is "Wind from the Sea" by Andrew Wyeth. My stepmom and I saw it in a museum together when I was young, and we both loved it so much that she bought a print and had it framed for my bedroom. It shows a view out of a window and a curtain blowing in the breeze, and there's a sense of serenity, sadness, and simplicity in it that I haven't seen in many other paintings. I love it. 

Since seeing that painting, I've been attracted to paintings of windows. The view out of a window often feels intimate and expansive at the time time, and you feel that you're seeing the world from someone else's perspective--a little sneak peak into another life. 

However, what I find intriguing about today's featured artist, Sarah McKenzie, is that she paints windows in a different way. From inside, you can't see much of a view outside of her windows--the view is blocked by a curtain, another building, more windows. Or, you glimpse her windows from the outside, again, not seeing inside of those windows, but instead, viewing a reflection, a sense of emptiness and solitude, a somewhat sad beauty in the symmetry of the often industrial, forgotten, cracked windows themselves.

Although the window view is removed, I still find McKenzie's work to be really soothing. I love her color palette (mostly cool blues, whites, and creams), I'm amazed by her ability to capture light, and I am awed by her patience, as I'm sure it's crazy difficult to paint so many hard straight lines (as seen in her factory window paintings). 

You can take a peek into (or out of) some of McKenzie's windows below...

Don't you want to see more? I want to get more information, to see into her windows, to see the building and setting and neighborhood as a whole--but I think that's the power of McKenzie's work. She just gives you a slice of the view, and that slice must speak for itself.

Want to see more of McKenzie's fabulous work? Check out her website. 

I hope you're able to find beauty and creativity in the unexpected today. Take a glimpse out of (or into) a window and absorb the view (or lack thereof). Pay attention and notice the world around you. Take it all in--the good, the bad, and the ugly. 

I'll try to do the same ;)