parade53 : slight tweak / deciding on image for parade 54 /  by Philip Tarlow

parade 53    48x24"        oil on portrait linen

parade 53    48x24"        oil on portrait linen

 

 

12:10 pm: yesterday afternoon mikela came over & pointed out 2 areas in parade 53that needed slight lightening. anything off in a sensitive tonal painting like this one grabs the eye and takes the attention away. so i tweaked it, and she was indeed right. now the telltale quick glance passes the test, and this painting can be declared resolved.

now i'll move on the finalizing an image for parade 54.

by the way, you will be the first to know the exhibition title ron & i settled on during our phone conversation yesterday: ANO KATO , with the subtitle UPSIDE DOWN.  ANO KATO, in modern greek, literally means  upside down. 

back to creede / exhibition-talk / pik-a-painting /  by Philip Tarlow

6:08 pm: back home. MUCH warmer here in crestone; about 10 degrees F above normal, with a high today of 78F. MUCH colder in creede! the entire  time i was on the phone with the gallery this morning, sitting outdoors on the deck, the tempreature was 41F.

just one more thing about coffee on the fly. i was there long enough to have experienced their rest room several times. it's a themed rest room, in keeping with the name of the coffee shop. here are a few photos:

12:02 pm: go to my parade series page. (link on the right) pick a painting of the 28 in the series that will be used  as an image on the invitation. let me know your choice either by email of on the comments section, below. this may be the first people's choice invitation to an exhibition!

10:35 am: i decided to come with mikela after all, so i'm back in creede, on the deck of coffee on the fly. she was burnt out on the drive, which is 100 miles each way. she also got to practice her 2 minute pitch. if she gets the green light, she can submit for a grant we'd like to get for the alamosa makers space, steamshop, which we're involved in she should be out of the meeting by noon. we'll have lunch & drive hime. if we have the energy, we'll walk up the trail when we get home. tomorrow i'll be back in the studio, choosing the image for parade 54, probably the last in the series. 

a few minutes ago i had a great talk with ron, owner of gremillion & co. fine art. we reviewed the 28 paintings in the series & decided i need to send about 22 of those. monday morning we'll make our final selection, settle on an image for the invitation and a title for the show. more later; gotta get back to editing actionlab curriculum.

parade 53 at the end of my painting day today.....resolved?? /  by Philip Tarlow

7:27 pm: the sky about half an hour ago, with the rising moon on the right.

2:35 pm: i found it difficult in the beginning to get into my zone. mikela and i are rarely apart, but today i decided to stay home and not drive with her to the event in creede. usually we can feel one another's creative process. although she's in the house & i'm 500 feet away in my studio, we are acutely aware of one another's creative process.

so this morning i had to get my bearings before diving in. but once i did, and received an email that she had arrived safely, i was able to enter the zone state and i did good work. this painting may actually be resolved. as usual, i'll know when i walk in tomorrow morning.

 

as i had predicted, the lower 2/3 of the composition balances out the intensity of the figures in the upper left. and the magical transparency of the acropolis museum floor, combined with the shadows cast by the figures, draws you into the painting. it's one of those paintings you simply have to see in person. so i hope a few of you who are reading this will show up at the opening on november 5th, at gremillion in houston. on the LEFT: a detail of the painting.

i think this will complete the grouping of 3 works within the parade series of paintings. i'm ready to move on, in parade 54, to a different image. i just found out that all the paintings need to be in the gallery by the second week in october, at the latest. so the reality is, i only have time for one more before we ship.

creede, colorado /  by Philip Tarlow

9:26 pm: on the drive home from creede, just before the turnoff for crestone, we saw this sky in the west.

may not join mikela in creede tomorrow so i can continue working on parade 53.

12:58 pm: we left the house at 9:20 for the 1.45 minute drive to creede, known for it's beauty and it's summer theatre: creede repertory theatre. we're here for the colorado rural philanthropy event, which runs through Friday. mikela wil be asking for funding for the makers space project we're involved with, called steamshop, in alamosa. i'm sitting at the local coffee shop continuing to proof the actionlab curriculum. i plan on completing my corrections by 9/29, when our IT team, mark & ken will load the curriculum onto the site. and BAM! suddenly, after years of work, the kids in the 4 schools where we'll be testing the product will be able to click in and actually use it! i'll be documenting the whole process, then editing the video to use as an evaluation and sales tool, once we start selling it next year.

BELOW photos from the road and of the beautiful town of creede. the last one, on the lower right shows the coffee shop, on the left, where i'm currently sitting.

skies / continuing parade 53 / yom kippur /  by Philip Tarlow

2:18 pm: here's where i'm stopping for the day. i'll resume work on this painting on saturday, since we'll be at a conference in creede, about an hour & 50 minutes away, for the next 3 days. that bit of orange is cool, don't you think?

12:30: tonight at sundown yom kippur commences. as a kid we fasted & went to temple all day. atonement. what does it mean? my dad spent a lifetime pondering this. and he passed his pondering on to me. mikela just visited and i walked her back to the house. she talked about forgiveness and how, at bottom it's about relationship. something i have to ponder as i continue work on parade 53. by the way, parade 53 is not the final title. the entire series will have more personal & meaningful names. and as i write this, my ipod shuffle has given me ruth rubin singing yiddish songs. this one is called without a needle. the last one, 2 songs ago, was titled this is how a tailor sews. highly unlikely it is, 2 songs by ruth rubin in a span of 10 minutes. is my grandfather the tailor telling me something on this auspicious day. what? what is it, grandpa? what do you want me to know today?

10:29 am: about to resume work on parade 53. starting early so we can take our creek walk at 2. here are some sky shots from last evening and this morning, as well as a photo of several parade series paintings hanging in our west living room. we have a 40% chance of rain today, which is reflected in the panorama i shot this morning from our deck (1st row left)

yesterday's promised parade 53 process pics / continuing work on this painting / what's a "mahl stick?" /  by Philip Tarlow

3:20 pm: here's where parade 53 is at right now. i got a late start, so i might work just a bit longer than usual. this is a strong image, and the lower 2/3 of the composition will balance out the strong presence of the figures you see here. i can't wait to get my hands on that lower portion, with it's reflections, transparencies and subtle fugue-like play of greys and ochres, punctuated by the stuccato of the glowing lights and structured by the criss crossing floor supports, which encase the elements of the glass floor modules, brilliantly designed by the architectural firm: bernard tschumi. parade 48 & 52 are also based upon photos of this museum. they can be viewed on my parade series page, link above right.

 

what's that i'm holding in the shot on the right? it's a mahl stick. here's the definition:

 A mahl stick is a stick or thin pole about a metre in length (three feet) with a ball-shape pad at one end, used as an aid in painting, particularly in oil painting. A mahl stick is useful when painting detail or when painting in a large area where the paint is still wet and you want to avoid touching the surface accidentally.

11:48 am: trying to get to work, but i wanted to post these parade 53 process pics i promised yesterday. click on each & mouse over for my comments on each. more when i have progress pics.

more pics from yesterday's creek walk/ stretching parade 53:preparing to paint /  by Philip Tarlow

2:21 pm: i worked till just now, when i felt the juice leave. gotta listen to that juice. can't push it. i had an interesting morning, documenting every step of my process getting the canvas stretched and ready to paint, squeezing out my colors. and the whole time thinking about your support. that's right, you! those of you who visit my blog on a regular basis, you are literally supporting and enhansing my process of creation. i'll post the pics of my prep work for this painting later in the day. right now, here's a look at day one of parade 53:

3:18 pm: by the way, my audience size increased just now; don't know if it had anything to do with my comments vis-a-vis your support and the difference it makes. gotta go do some actionlab editing right now and will continue later, when i post the pics of my process with commentary..

10:39 am: i'm at the studio, about to stretch the canvas with the completed drawing for parade 53. if i stay focused, i could start painting in an hour.

BELOW: more pics from our creek walk yesterday. click on an image to read my comments:

north crestone creek walk-yesterday & today / parade 53 /  by Philip Tarlow

7:04 pm: just returned from another walk up the creek. i'll post more pics tomorrow; for now here are 2 horseback riders from saguache, about 45 minutes on the west side of the valley. and on the right: a painter would have a hard time creating patterns as beautiful as these.

3:09 pm: i completed the drawing a few minutes ago. the image is based on the series of photos i shot in 2010 of the interior of the then new acropolis museum in athens, greece. tsarouchis (go to my story page for details on the late greek artist yannis tsarouchis) used to tell me : if a particular subject or image continues to move you deeply emotionally and excite you visually, go for it. and that's the case here. i can't wait to get my brush going on this painting. the drawing is a little hard to make out, but if you click & make it full screen, you'll get some idea.

2:42 pm: 2:13 pm: you know robeson? wanna cry? watch this youtube biographical video


7:21 am: still on our summer schedule, we had all the windows wide open last night. this morning it was 37F, and i'm having to dress really warmly to make coffee.

i'll be making my final choice today for the image i'll use for parade 53, then starting the drawing.

yesterday afternoon we took another creek walk; here are some pics:

zeroing in on the image for parade 53 / learning from the great vuillard /  by Philip Tarlow

2:13 pm: you know robeson? wanna cry? watch this youtube biographical video :

1:22 pm: found the image; doing the drawing. LISTENING to PANDORAJAM: john jacob niles singing barberry ellen.do oyu know him? highly individualized singer, no longer living. first heard his voice and learned of him form my 1st girlfriend, when i was 16. a haunting, high pitched voice he had, with lots of passion.

1:24 pm: an unusual day. this morning i completed organizing and printing out 7 pages of images of all the parade paintings to date and got them to the PO. i sent them to ron, owner of gremillion & co. fine art tin houston, so that he can have time to review them and discuss which pieces to send for my show, opening nov. 5th. it's easier than trying to review them online and gives him time to look at them all, consider the sizes & shapes, etc.

below, i stand next to my easel with the newly completed parade 52. and on the right, the work of vuillard, a painter i always turn to for inspiration.

parade 53 will be 24x48, and i'm zeroing in on an image right now. more soon....

this morning / what's up today? prep for parade 53?? /  by Philip Tarlow

12:39 pm: here's the completed parade 52 with 2 details.

11:39 am: here's what i saw upon entering my studio this morning. seems resolved, but i'll cast glances throughout the day, as i decide on the image for parade 53.

7:30 am: ABOVE: left-an early parade painting hanging in our house. it's 16x16" oil on portrait linen. it definitely points the way to more recent versions of the parade series, which will be shown in my upcoming solo show at gremillion & co. fine art, houston, texas. and on the right, our sky this morning at 7 am.

when i arrive at the studio later this morning, i'll determine whether parade 52, shown here on the right,  needs more work or is resolved. 

if it's resolved, then i begin preparations for the next in the series: parade 53. as it gets closer to the date of the opening, nov. 5th, i have more awareness of the fact that, sometime in the next 4 weeks or so, work on this series will end and i'll be focused on shipping the paintings to houston and, in the next week or so, deciding whether or not to create a small book with an online company introduced to me by a publisher friend in crestone. as well, i'd like to put together a short presentation consisting of a selection of the many stills i have of the process of creating this series. that includes stages of each painting, palettes from each painting, etc.