Compositions in Sleeplessness

I have been doing a lot of business travel lately, as some of you will know. Lots of hotel stay nights... And in the past year I got asked to use a certain hotel over another, due to a better rate. It has an unfortunate location as the only tall building close to and overlooking a big intersection of a highway with the Washington Beltway. The traffic noise was intense, constant and very disrupting to prospects for rest. The black out, heavily lined drapes did little good. Earplugs muffled the noise some, and I got sleep, but not good amount or quality rest. The hotel was lovely in every other way, including very nice staff. But this location is not good; I tried it three times (stays), and have given up.

But last time I stayed there, I was very sleepless due to the noise, so looking down from the window, I decided to photograph the highways below and all the night lights. Cars like ants, moving in straightlines across the scene below. Some of the buildings had interesting light patterns too. I took some shots from afar and zoomed closer for others. The shot on the right has a close up of the same large building characterized by pale ghostly green stripes as shown at right centre of the last photo, below.

The colors are fun--glowy greens and washed out citrus hues, bright warm yellowish whites, some orangey colors, coolish pinks and of course, lots of red lines whizzing by (tail lights on cars). Against an inky black dark night.

I want to paint these, but have not done it yet, as I write this work travel calls again. But, I think it will be a fun and fresh subject, a good foray into abstraction. I have been looking for good subjects and compositions to take some of my painting in that direction.

Though after I paint them, if you notice they get titles suggesting sleeplessness, you will know why !