worked on 2 paintings today: gaze 32 & 33 /  by Philip Tarlow

3:35 PM: this morning i walked up the trail and had to turn back after 20 minutes. it was 33F & i wasn't dressed warmly enough. my hands get really cold easily, and after 10-15 minutes they were very painful and i couldn't feel them. so from now till the snow closes the trail, i think i'll do afternoon walks. still hoping mikela can join me, but she's still in too much pain from the pinched nerve in her back.

after living with gaze 32 for about a week, we both concluded there was something off in the left quadrant of the painting. the orange & pink were detracting form the rest of the image.

so i did some work on that area, and right now it seems far better. i'll bring it back to the house and see what we both think. BELOW are the before and after pics.

i also worked more on gaze 33, which is still very much in transition. here are before and after pics; i'll do more work tomorrow morning.

continued work on gaze 33 /  by Philip Tarlow

1:04 PM: today is a brilliant day. i got straight to work on gaze 33, in a phase i always find exciting. it's that phase of becoming. neither the painting nor i know what it is. ever aware of my predecessors, my mentors, i move with the tide, allowing their wisdom to filter in how it will. 

the past few days i've had some doubts arise about this series and more generally this direction. i posted the image of a 1997 landscape in gouache on paper of the baca grande where we live on facebook and wasn't expecting such a strong positive response. it made me question whether perhaps landscape is my real strength. but, as i write this, i realize that goes against everything i've been saying about how it's the painting; the integrity and juiciness picture plane itself that's the subject. not the face or the gaze or the landscape.

dramatic sky / starting gaze 33 /  by Philip Tarlow

3:53 PM: gaze 33 is in it's very early stages. all potential. i'm having fun, but i suddenly got very tired. as soon as i finish this post i'm going back to the house to do a castor oil & heating pad wrap for my gall bladder, whch acted up last night due to a ridiculous amount of crestone creamery ice cream i devoured mindlessly while washing the dishes. more tomorrow morning.

10:50 am: a dramatic sky to the south and east, where thunder can be heard from an active storm over the great sand dunes national park as i approach my studio today. i'm preparing to stretch a 36x38" canvas & start the drawing for gaze 33. pics will be posted as the process unfolds today.

school day /  by Philip Tarlow

4:06 PM: today we spent the morning with a class of high school kids in a nearby school, supporting them in preparing to launch into their projects; a process culminating in the spring with a project showcase, to which members of the community will be invited. it was an exciting morning, which mikela led brilliantly, despite ongoing pain from her pinched nerve. i was outside the classroom, where i video taped and conducted interviews with the kids. in a few weeks we'll be going back to two edwards middle schools in the vail valley, where we'll continue working with the kids there. at that point we'll be ready to send all the kids invites to the beta version of our actionlab site and begin getting valuable feedback on what they like, what they feel could be improved and what they think could be dropped out. it's been a long road, but we can see the light and should be able to start selling the product sometime next year, after our all important next round of funding is in place, allowing us to take the next steps in development.

and what about the gaze series? starting gaze 33 tomorrow. pics of my process will be posted as available, as always. i was inspired talking to the kids this morning, using my process of creating paintings as an example to the ups and downs one encounters creating any project, and comparing that to the hero's journey.  at the same time i was giving them a roadmap, i was reminding myself of what i'll be dealing with once i wind down the gaze series and begin a new one.

trail walk ah-ha moment; /  by Philip Tarlow

4:53 PM: this morning at 7 i took my trail walk. the light was exquisite, and i found myself shooting lots of photos with my iphone. i was photographing things i had seen many times, but this morning it registered: this will be the imagery i draw on for my next series of paintings, as the gaze series winds down. will it actually happen? we'll see in the coming weeks. below are a few examples of what got me so excited.

shifting gears /  by Philip Tarlow

2:09 PM: lots of work/play today. the previous vermeer inspired image is gone, and in it's place a riff on one of my beloved fayum paintings. i went over the previous image with a wash of color, then scraped into it. i think i repeated that process 2-3x before being satisfied that i had created the richness in color & texture i desired for an underpainting. the drawing and coloration of the fayum inspired image followed, in a white heat of activity during which i'm always in the "zone." being on the phone with mikela and learning of the latest reports on hillary's incident at the 9/11 ceremony only helped me to remain out of my head and in my body. the root you see me holding in the photo was sticking up annoyingly in the middle of our driveway. i managed to twist it out, leaving a brush-like bit on the end. i dunked it in some acrylic paint & used it to apply calligraphic strokes to the scraped & scrumbled surface, before launching into my fayum riff. you can identify those root-made-marks by making the photo full screen; they are the green strokes you see.

the weather cooperated today, giving me a mostly bright and sunny day, with cloud formations announcing the onset of another monsoonal event, which may give us thunderstorms monday night into tuesday, followed by more fall-like temperatures, with highs reaching the high '60's & night time lows in the upper '30's. it's ideal hiking weather, so i'll be going up north crestone creek trail tomorrow around 7am.

 

 

 

BELOW: 6 stages of gaze 32, starting yesterday morning through just a few minutes ago. they're in chronological order, starting on the upper left:

12:14 PM: as it turns out, it's not going to be either of these two. pics of my process shortly.

9:06 AM: i'm not happy with the image in gaze 32, so after i meditate & arrive in the studio, more changes are in store. i don't know what direction they'll take yet, and as always, that's exciting for me. right now i'm leaning in the direction of a riff on another fayum portrait; the two BELOW are strong candidates. this means lots of scrumbling, scraping & collaging are in store.

taking gaze 32 to the next level /  by Philip Tarlow

12:54 PM: on this stellar colorado day i arrived a tad late to my studio after going to pick up judy's excellent eggs. i got straight to work on gaze 32, documenting the entire process thus far. i just had my pancake break and am casting critical looks at the painting, hanging on my studio's east wall. it's strong. stronger than it's siblings. this is the first time i've focused on vermeer's milkmaid. after the girl with the pearl earring, this is perhaps his most widely recognized painting. 

i've isolated a portion of her head, revealing her deep concentration on her task of pouring the milk from a ceramic pitcher into a larger ceramic bowl, located alongside a freshly cut loaf of bread.

as in so many other vermeer paintings, she faces a window, which casts a strong, beautiful light on her face & body. the original hangs in the rijksmuseum in amsterdam and measures 1.45.5x41 cm. the tones are warm, which is reflected in gaze 32. our inability to see what's she's up to creates a mysterious air; she looks contemplative...almost meditative. the paint is applied boldly. hals came to mind as i was working. not sure where i'll go from here. it would be unusual for me not to scrumble & collage over it, but my sense is to leave it for 24 hours & let her make up her mind.

stretching canvases for gaze 32 & 33/ a look back: 2005 drawing /  by Philip Tarlow

4:08 PM: this is a very early color sketch, which i'll continue to work on tomorrow, as our excellent roofer completes the leak seeking/repairing job he started today. the image is based on vermeer's milkmaid.

 

 

 

2:45 PM: the canvas has been stretched, albeit with a few annoying wrinkles, which will come out when i re-sketch once the painting is resolved. the image here is drawn from vermeer's the milkmaid. i'll post pics of the ensuing stages as available.

 

 

 

 

1:09 PM: now that gaze 31 is resolved, i'm stretching 2 new canvases:32x32 & 36x38" for gaze 32 & 33. can't wait to get started, and as usual have no idea what they'll be. but they know, and that's what counts!

drawing in pencil on paper, 8 1/2x5 3/4" 2005

here's a drawing i made at DIA (denver int'l. airport) in 2005. i draw as a way of thinking, and have many sketchbooks filled with them.

trail walk followed by a few important tweaks /  by Philip Tarlow

2:59 PM: this morning i sallied forth up north crestone trail creek. it was chilly, and i wore my fleece jacket, neck warmer & wool hat, which of course i shed once the sun was up . invigorating, as always, and filled with beauty.

having gaze 31 hanging in the house last night & this morning, we both spotted a kind of deadness in her eyes, so i brought it back to my studio and did a few tweaks. here are yesterdays version, on the left, and how the painting looks right now, following my tweaks, mostly to her eyes, a bit to her mouth and i introduced her ear above the earring, which may still need a little work.

1st look says "not yet philip" /  by Philip Tarlow

gaze 31  32x32"  mixed media on canvas  at 2:23 p.m.

2:23 PM: just made a few tweaks, but i think it might be best to wait till tomorrow morning to make a decision on whether or not gaze 31 is resolved.there's a lot i love about this painting in it's current state, but lately i feel a strong pull to deconstruct the image when it becomes this coherent. of course the collaged pieces on the far right do let the viewer know there's something more to this painting than a revision of vermeer's iconic image going on here. question is: do the biomorphic collaged elements on the right fully integrate with the face on the left? not only that, but do they really add anything? right now, i'd answer "yes" and "yes." 

1:10 PM: i did a fair amount of work. you can see from these comparative photos that the white strip on top, which was bothering me, has been modifies so that it doesn't run all the way across the width of the painting. as well, i could see there was something off in the positioning of her left eye, so i completely wiped it out and re-painted it; one of the advantages of acrylic. the lights & shadows on the entire face have been worked on as well. now that i'm looking at it on my studio wall, i think it's improved as a painting. mikela will walk over soon and we'll see what her feedback is....later: as usual, she was spot on, so i'll be doing some work on this one as soon as i have a little snack.

with gaze 31, 32x32"  yesterday afternoon

10:57 AM: the always critical 1st glance gave me an immediate needs more work message. so i'm about to squeeze out my colors & get going. pics will be posted periodically.