Dream Sketch: Books, Chair, Fire, Water

I've been drawing from dreams, choosing a few that stand out, especially after much time has lapsed. Many of these dreams are long and segments of them overlap, so in each I've decided to focus on selected key parts. In this dream what stayed with me was this scene. A chair in a narrow room with art books stacked on and around it. The left wall is on fire and through the right water comes into the room. I am mesmerized watching to see which; the the fire or the water, will reach the chair and the books first.

I drew it first as I remembered, getting all the essential elements. The feeling is there, although the scale seems off.

I allowed some distance in this sketch and still retained much of the feeling of the dream scene. While I like the openness and shape of the window on the right, the perspective is wrong.

More distance and better perspective and the chair is far away. I begin to wonder if it wouldn't be more elegant to simplify.

Better? I'm not sure if I'm satisfied with how the books are arranged. They seem to lead the eye in a semi-circle and out of frame. Also, this way it is more of a still life instead of an interior landscape.
I'll likely do both, but in the meantime another sketch or two, or ten, is on order.

All images ©2015 Katherine Kean