should resolve gaze 30 today /  by Philip Tarlow

                                                   4 PM:gaze 30 at the end of my painting day

                                    YESTERDAY                                                                JUST NOW

2:36 PM: " i'm anxious to get started with what will likely be just a few last strokes to gaze 30..." that was me at 11:36 this morning. so whenever you hear me say something like that, don't buy it. translated into tarlowspeak, it means: i'm about to launch into a total re-work of this painting, mostly because i yet again fell into the trap of thinking of this as an accurate translation of a vermeer painting, along the lines of a fanciful contemporary copy.

it ain't that. it's a tarlow painting. at a time in his trajectory when he's into deconstructing form; introducing unexpected, rogue elements which provide the original image a new environment, where, for example, an "unintentional" blue brush mark can reverberate in the way, i fancy, casals' cello reverberates when he plays a note from bach's cello concerto so woven into the depths of his spanish soul that it stands bach on his head. one minute it's bach; the next it's jazz.....makes you quiver. weaves your cumulative life experiences into a pattern you hadn't until then noticed. truth be told, that's what i'm about. i may not achieve it, but i sure as hell can try.

 

 

 

 

 

11:36 AM: today was egg day, when judy brings her most excellent just-laid eggs to the kiosk. they're gone in 10-15 minutes. so i'm a bit late getting started, but, unlike yesterday there's a great light & i'm anxious to get started with what will likely be just a few last strokes to gaze 30, before preparing to get to work on the next one in this series. i can see that her hair, on the far right; the bit to the right of her hair clasp, needs work. i think that's about it. i'll post pics when the revisions have taken place. this is a view from a little table in the studio; a good spot to drink my matcha tea (beautiful bowl made by my friend dan) and evaluate the painting, which hangs straight in front of my on my east wall.

overcast day...more work on gaze 30 /  by Philip Tarlow

2:38 PM: mikela came by & gave me some good feedback. based on that, i made more changes; below are the before & after pics. see if you can pick out the changes; before on the left, after on the right.

12:45 PM: i made some good tweaks and additions to gaze 30. areas i worked on: hair; ear; nose & lips; earring here's the before (left) & after (right). i may continue for another hour, while my energy is still good.

10:41 AM: i'm about to launch back in to gaze 30. better, tiptoe back in. my focus will be fixing her ear and giving more accents to her hair. very slight changes. ooops, the sun just broke through; time to take advantage of the improved light & get to work. here's the initial drawing, done on august 22,  and the current state of the painting:

meeting day / gazing at gaze 30 & preparing for tomorrow /  by Philip Tarlow

12:40 PM: we had a 10 am this morning, and another meeting re: actionlab at 2. so i just walked over to the studio and am gazing at gaze 30 whilst typing this post.

i can see a few things i may want to do tomorrow, but nothing radical. no scrumbles; no collaging it's a delicate one, and requires me to be in top form, squeeze out my colors, and just paint. i'm already planning the next one, with will likely depart form the square format & be 48x24."

mikela is slowly but surely improving from the pinched nerve in her back, and we may be able to walk up the trail together in a week or so. she's moving about more easily, but has to lie down & rest frequently. 

more work on gaze 30 today /  by Philip Tarlow

1:34 PM: i'm moving ahead slowly with this one. today i worked on her hair and the beautiful clip holding her bun in place. the collaged elements and the patterned blue and grey vertical stripes i made on the canvas, after completing my preliminary drawing in graphite, are for me an essential element in the delicate balance of the picture plane. i'm not completely happy with her ear, which i'll do some work on tomorrow. overall, there is, in person, a fragile balance right now, and the vintage '40's map of maine, given to me by by friend dan, plays as much of a role as any of the details of her face. i am changing up the context, bringing vermeer into the territory of graffiti and weather worn outdoor advertisements, as much as the faded frescos of pompeii. there is something airy, and it has a bit of the flavor of a preliminary sketch, executed rapidly and with the certainty that comes from a lifetime of drawing.....except for that damn ear!

diving back in to gaze 30, with gusto! /  by Philip Tarlow

2:32 PM: i got quite a bit done, considering i'm going back & forth with editing video & painting! the painting in it's current state reminds me of one of the "unfinished" plein air paintings in the gere collection, shown in the national gallery of london in 1999. their guiding principle was to take the painting as far as they could in one sitting, and then call it a day. the thought was, if you try to come back & pick up where you left off, the conditions will be very different. so, since these were meant to be studies and not "finished" paintings, that became the accepted practice. the seductive beauty of paintings such as this one by closson, painted in about 1824-9, is for me irresistible. so whenever i get to a stage such as the one you see here, i am strongly tempted to leave it as is.

11:51AM: although i did manage to make the drawing for gaze 30 yesterday, the day was predominantly devoted to editing video for a wednesday presentation of actionlab360.

by the end of the day, i was going nuts, feeling the need to get physical, the way i've been engaging with the paintings in the gaze series. this morning, although i do have a bit more editing to do, i just dove straight in to collaging over the drawing for the gaze 30 canvas, and the beginning to paint. i'm so excited i can barely contain myself. and why should i? thank god, i'm not in a profession where containing oneself is necessary.

the image, for now based upon vermeer's woman with a pearl necklace, is, right now quite mysterious and engaging. ones focus shifts from the overall drawing, indicating that the entire canvas is filled with a detail of her head; to the only area where paint has been applied: her ear, with it's hanging earring.

editing & starting gaze 30 /  by Philip Tarlow

2:01 PM: we have an important presentation on wednesday, so i'm focused on editing the clips from the may showcase in the vail valley middle school we worked with. i made the stupid mistake of trashing the old imovie so i could use the new one, which is far inferior to the old one. and you can't get the old one back once you trash it! so this is the THIRD time i'm doing the same edits on one clip about visitor feedback to the showcase, simply becasue once you go to a different window while you're editing, your edits disappear!!! OY

fortunately, mikela called while i was in the thick of this struggle. since i couldn't edit & talk at the same time, i went to my easel and made a preliminary drawing for gaze 30, which you see here. i don't know if i'll have time to continue on this new painting before our wednesday presentation; lets hope!

away from my studio today /  by Philip Tarlow

8:58 AM: i won't be in my studio painting today. these are a few details from my gaze series, which is ongoing. it's likely tomorrow i'll start a new one. there may be more vermeer inspired imagery.

editing day /  by Philip Tarlow

5:00 pm: today was devoted to editing actionlab360 video clips of the middle school showcase this past may in the vail valley. the kids were using an early stage version of our product & the showcase was a big success. i shot lots of video of the event, as well as interviews with the kids & some of the visitors; mostly parents. 

it definitely feels odd to be in the studio, sitting in front of my desktop all day without putting brush to canvas. i did get a lot done on imovie, after panicking for a moment that i had lost everything i'd edited. 

as you know if you're a regular, all the paintings in my gaze series; over 20 so far, have layers of paintings under the final version. sometimes 6-7 or even 8! i've never worked that way before, and i have no idea how long it might last. here's an example of one of the layers from gaze 20. it's the head of a little person, drawn from a velasquez lets get back to the easel tomorrow!

continuing work on gaze 23 /  by Philip Tarlow

2:53 PM: i did extensive work on gaze 23 today, following an invigorating conversation with my friend harwood, at gremillion fine art in houston. he had the 3 paintings i shipped top the gallery in front of him, and we explored his perception of them. my favorite thing he said about them, which i wrote down is that they are "between stasis, becoming & resolution; they dance in that space."

the imagery in gaze 23 is now drawn from a late 19 th c. b&w photo of a native american girl.her gaze communicates complex layers of meaning, which can be traced back to her awareness of the genocide taking place.

8:09 AM: i'll get to the studio around 9:30, and plan on continuing work on the many-layered gaze 23. updates will be posted periodically, as usual, during my day of painting.

RIGHT: detail of gaze 23 as it looks before getting to work today.

grappling /  by Philip Tarlow

1:38 PM: this is the current state of gaze 23, after collaging & then painting into it. i'm late for a meeting, so i may have to continue in the morning.

the image is currently based on a 1st c. AD fayum portrait, but it's at a stage where anything might happen....

12:15 PM: feeling my oats. didn't they used to say that? well, i just now had my complex oatmeal, with too many ingredients to list, and launched in to gaze 23 with, shall we say, gusto. here's what it looks like when i'm in the thick of it. collage is being applied; brush marks have been made......the process is in high gear.

with gaze 16  july 5, 2016

9:01 AM: today i'm grappling with something my recentconversation with ron, owner of gremillion fine art in houston, where i show my work, brought up. where am i going with the gaze series? i'm looking at the ones we have here in the house, and i may be edging towards a deeper understanding. i'll update from the studio after i meditate.