leaning against a large crestone conglomerate rock on our morning trail walk
12:56 PM: at 7:10 am we set out for the creek. the temperature was a perfect 54F and it was partly cloudy, with skies clearing by 8. the creek was fuller and noisier than it has been due to yesterdays afternoon thunderstorms. and for the same reason, the fragrances were heady. hard to believe that so much chaos and violence is occurring in our land. the protests are ongoing, as they should be.
but as we ascended the rocky trail, it all faded and we were left with a heavenly silence, broken only by the bird people and the creek water. a pattern of afternoon thunderstorms, typical for this time of year, when the monsoonal flow kicks in, has allowed our temperatures to suddenly drop from the upper 70’s to the mid 50’s starting around 3-6pm almost every afternoon.
while brewing my morning coffee and making toast, i glanced at the wall adjacent to my kitchen and next to my north facing studio door. on it are a collection of photos, drawings, paintings and an old poster from the benaki museum in athens, at a time when
my late friend angelos delivorrias was director of the museum. some of what you see, starting at the top and going clockwise are: a drawing for a portrait of my grandson philip as a child, which never materialized; a photo i shot in 1980 of david hockney on his deck kissing his dog; my dad at his bar mitzvoh with a gouache study of mikela and her coffee thermos next to it on the left; the marquee of a movie theatre in houston in 1998, advertising our talk about mikela’s just published book, navigating the future; a 1st c. fayum portrait found in the metropolitan museum, nyc next to a small oil study of some rocks; the edge of an old ‘70’s benaki museum poster; pieces of palette with dried paint from a 2006 oil painting, and a page from a byzantine manuscript given to me in the ‘70’s by an old friend. i don’t think i’ve ever shared this with you guys.
so, under the influence of our walk, i made watercolor 79 a few moments ago. like some of the earlier ones in this series, it has a very light touch, with tender tonal transitions and evocative marks indicating light and shadow, water and rock. it could stand as a summary of all 78 watercolors preceding it. it’s more along the lines of a plein air painting than a studio painting, but for various reasons, i could never have done this outdoors. close, maybe, but with less of a contemplative air about it.
highlight & paste this url to view the other 78 watercolors: https://www.philiptarlow.com/new-page-4
OR, simply click on the dropdown menu :2020 watercolors, at the top of this page.