An artist....NOT a peeping tom

Angus Lordie, portrait painter and occasional poet, walked slowly down Scotland Street, looking up at the windows. He liked to look into other people's houses, if he could. It was not nosiness, of course; artists were allowed to look, he thought - no artist could really be considered a voyeur. Looking was what an artist was trained to do, and if an artist did not look, then he would not see. The evening was the best time to inspect the domestic arrangements of others, as people often left their lights on and their curtains open, thus creating a stage for passers-by to see. And the New Town of Edinburgh provided rich theatre in that respect, especially along the more gracious Georgian streets where tall windows at ground floor allowed a fine view of drawing rooms and studies. Of course curtains could have been pulled across such windows, but often were not, and Angus Lordie was convinced that this was because those who lived within wanted people to see what they had, wanted them to see their grand pianos, their heavily framed pictures, their clutters of chinoiserie. (Love Over Scotland, Alexander McCall Smith)

Eric can no longer scold me for looking in peoples' windows when we go on our walks. After all, "if an artist did not look, then he would not see." Thank you, Mr. Smith!