trail walk; then back to gaze 31 /  by Philip Tarlow

4:47 PM: this morning i walked up north crestone creek trail after an 8 day break and saw just how much of a difference it makes when i wait that long. out of breath; slow, etc. so i'm going to go back to walking every 3 days as long as the weather holds. mikela is still unable to walk because of a pinched nerve, but is improving every day, and i'm hoping she can join me soon.

i did a fair amount of work on gaze 31 today. because of our delightful breakfast guests yesterday, i didn't paint. a one day break is usually agood thing, and this was no exception. the collaged shapes on the right, while they need to be pushed back a little because they pop too much, are just what this painting needed  to remove it from the girl with a pearl earring vibe to the realm of pure painting, where the subject mater is the picture plane and  not the specific image.

kids day in the studio /  by Philip Tarlow

1:43 PM: this morning we had breakfast guests from santa fe. after breakfast we went to the studio & these 2 kids were in their element. they made paintings faster than i could supply them with paper & colors. it was a delightful day, and a much needed break from our daily routine. back to gaze 31 tomorrow.

gaze 31 still in process today /  by Philip Tarlow

2:57 PM: wrapping up for today to get to the afternoon event. she's almost there, and is already recognizing herself as a 21st c. embodiment of the vermeer mystique as seen through my sensibility.

we'll see at first gaze tomorrow what more she'd like.

1:53 PM:  gaze 31 is progressing, edging closer to where she needs to go. i'm about to continue work before stopping to clean up at about 3, so we can be at an event later this afternoon.

BELOW:   left: gaze 31 at noon; right: just now; middle holding one of my favorite materials: bubble wrap.

more work on gaze 31 today /  by Philip Tarlow

DETAIL: gaze 31 at 3:22 pm  mixed media on canvas  32x32"

3:32 PM: that's it for today. i'm in love with vermeer. he proves, yet again, to be unique in his capacity to follow his 17th c. dutch gut in creating timeless, painterly solutions to the everyday reality of now. like bonnard and vuillard 2 centuries later, his vision transcends his time and leaps into the universal sphere. beyond technique; beyond subject matter; beyond the fashions of his time, he consistently goes to the essence of the painterly. 

i'll continue work on gaze 31 tomorrow. 

1:44 PM: all roads, it seems, lead to vermeer! i grew weary of this pained native american visage and returned to the core theme of my gaze series: vermeer. the image is now based upon a detail of the girl with the pearl earring, which single handedly has brought vermeer into 21st c. awareness.  remnants of the underlying image peek through mysteriously, as a ghost image.

i've had my mid day snack, and work continues. 

11:16 AM: i'm about to squeeze my colors on the palette for more work on gaze 31. it's just not there yet. we may see another radical move. if you make too many, they're no longer radical!

what's wrong with this picture? /  by Philip Tarlow

3:31 PM: my 2:30 appointment got pushed back, so i did more work & here's the current state.

 

 

 

 

 

 

1:55 PM: stopping here for the day.it's part of the way there in finding it's identity, and more work is needed. that's a good thing! process; process; process. along the way you let go for an instant and the unexpected, unplanned solution arises. tomorrow amigos & fili (φιλοι) vermeer meets francis bacon?

12:13 PM: current state. but wait! there's more.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11:10 AM:  today i'll be continuing work on gaze 31. there's a problem with his right jawline, but more than that, this painting jumped prematurely to maturity without going through adolescence. he grew a beard before he'd had his first erection. so i'll take measures to recify that, including, frazzling, scrumbling, niff-niffing and whatever it takes to shake things up and deconstruct the staus quo. 

school today /  by Philip Tarlow

this morning we'll be meeting with a class at a local school to introduce them to our product: actionlab360, so that they can begin using it to develop their projects. it's always exciting to meet the kids for the first time. we'll continue working with them throughout the school year, get their feedback and document the whole thing.

about an hour ago i dropped by my studio to pick up the trash. today is trash pickup day. when i gave my first glance to gaze 31, i immediately saw a change that needs to happen tomorrow. his right jawline is un-naturally wide & looks odd at first glance. 

this would be an example of a correction in content, as opposed to shifts in the overall picture plane. you never know; this maight be an opportunity to break up the representational aspect of this painting by collaging in that quadrant, and might end up actually enriching the complexity, and mystery of the painting, in the same way this has occured in all the rest of this series. my attachment to form is a constant, and needs to be balanced with the needs of the whole picture plane, so that the eye is free to roam without getting stuck.

continuing work on gaze 31 this morning/good morning crestone/baca!! /  by Philip Tarlow

                                                                          5 stages of gaze 31

4:35 PM: this is where i'm stopping for the day. i've done a lot since yesterday morning, and my first glance on Friday will let me know whhat's next. tomorrow is not a studio day; we have a morning meeting.

 

 

 

 

 

12:42 PM: this is gaze 31 as it looked moments ago, as i continue work on this one, i need to keep reminding myself, "this is a painting!!!" play is key, and it eventually, as we all do, it will find it's identity; it's voice. and that, in a nutshell, is the point of our educational startup, actionlab360: for kids to discover their unique voice as early on as possible.

 

 

 

 

GOOD MORNING CRESTONE/BACA!! morning light falling on millions of years old rocks on our living room table

9:30 AM: today i'll continue work on gaze 31, 32x32" which i began yesterday. below: the first 3 stages thus far:

gaze 31 begins today, especially beautiful afternoon light yesterday /  by Philip Tarlow

stage 2 of gaze 31  32x32" mixed media on canvas

2:16 PM: stopping here for the day, mainly because i have an extremely rare studio visitor at 3:15. i'll resume tomorrow. for now, in this very early stage, gaze 31 is becoming, and as yet has not discovered it's identity. there are still large areas of white canvas, giving one the impression of a sketch. which is not a bad thing; i love sketches!

 

 

 

 

 

12:53 PM: i've begun collaging bits of newspaper & maps & will continue after i take a short break & walk over to the house.

11:59 AM: i just completed the drawing for gaze 31. it's based upon a late 19th c. photo by f/a/ rinehart of a blackfoot named thundercloud. let's see where it goes from here. i think some collage may be next.

 

 

 

 

 

 

7 AM: this morning i'll stretch a new 32x32" canvas and start the drawing for gaze 31. which may be based upon a late 19th c. photo of a native american man with a particularly poignant gaze. i'll post pics as i begin working on it.

yesterday afternoon there was an especially beautifully beautiful late afternoon light on the mountains, perhaps because it was stormy on the peaks, which then cleared and left behind a crystal clear yet moist atmosphere. these are moments constable was always on the lookout for. the light also had a particular quality announcing the imminent arrival of fall, which arrives early at our altitude.

re-stretching gaze 30 and beginning gaze 31 today /  by Philip Tarlow

4:02 PM: saved by the bell! just as i was preparing to move on to gaze 31 & bring gaze 30 to the house, mikela walked over & pointed out something that was bothering her. and she was right. the blue dots on the face were too strong, and were reading like a beard. so , on the one hand, as i said a few days ago, this is not a copy of a vermeer. on the other, her face, which was beautifully painted, had been worked on yesterday with mostly good results in terms of the overall picture plane. but i was too close to it, and needed feedback to see what became immediately obvious. so i tweaked that area, and a result the entire painting has begun to sing it's song now. but the final acid test will be when i bring it over to the house and we can gaze at it in various conditions and in the company of other gaze series paintings. BELOW: yesterday's version on the left, and today's, right.

10:06 am: as soon as i get to the studio, i'll be un-stretching & re-stretching gaze 30 onto plain wood stretcher bars without the heavy masonite so it can be brought to the house this afternoon for final evaluation. i'll start the drawing for  gaze 31. it will be 32x32", and i've not yet selected an image to work from. here's a detail of one of the stages of gaze 26 back in june, which was painted over several times before arriving at the final version. (right) which is based upon a late 19th c. b&w photo of a native american girl.

gaze 30 resolved? /  by Philip Tarlow

2 PM: after walking up north crestone creek trail this morning and then having an unusually long meditation, i arrived rather late at the studio and began work once more on gaze 30. 

not unlike all it's brothers & sisters in this series, it has gone through a long, layered journey. unlike most of it's siblings however, the image has remained the same as the original drawing, based on vermeer's mistress and maid. 

like the others, this is a painting that carries; i'm now looking at it from about 30 feet, and it really works. but it's also very exciting up close. the brush strokes; the patterned colored dots; the collaged maps, as well as the areas where the still wet acrylic has been scraped into with various tools designed, i think, to smooth out fresh grout or cement....these are all very wonderful to enjoy from just a few feet.

now, as you know, when i say "i think this painting is resolved," that's not something you would take to the bank. tomorrow it might well transform completely. the acid teat is always when i bring them to the house, where we can look at them at various times of day & in the company of the others in the series. the trouble is, the painting as is is too heavy for me to transport, since lifting heavy objects makes my hernia act up. (i self diagnosed this based on my symptoms & what i read online). i did go to the ER in salida last week, but their digital exam was inconclusive, and i didn't want to subject myself to yet another ct scan, which exposes you to the same amount of radiation as 500 xrays!!!  

so i need to unstretch it from the masonite mounted on stretcher bars, which gave me the hard surface i need for collaging, to plain stretcher bars, which are so much lighter.