hey wait-a-minute; a second image? /  by Philip Tarlow

7:06 PM: hanging whatever painting i'm working on our east wall, where we can get 60 feet back, usually works. what we saw immediately was that, it needs some accents, some pop. tomorrow...

1:38 pm: the second image has been introduced on the lower right, but still seems a bit like a non sequitur.  

i felt the original image on the upper left, inspired by vermeer's the love letter, was too good to mess with. but you can't really isolate one area of the picture plane and work on it without adjusting the rest so that the two become one image. i do like the seeming enigma posed by the two women; one casting her gaze up and out of the picture plane, while the other, inspired by vermeer's model in the art of painting,  looks down and away.

as for the relative softness; the lack of sharp definition characteristic of the rest of the gaze series, in yesterday's post i  speculate on whether this has to do with clouded vision in my right eye due to a developing cataract. i just posted this painting to my home page and my gaze page, which gave me the opportunity to compare it with the rest. it immediately struck me how much softer & atmospheric this one is. as a result, my eye glides more smoothly over the surface, stopping here and there, not because of an abrupt transition, but rather to simply enjoy the painterly qualities of a given passage.

gaze 35 at 11:20 am with a drawing for a second image on the lower right

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11:49 AM: it dawned on me, following my own dictum, that the picture plane rules, what's stopping me from introducing a second (vermeer) image into the mix? do that's what i'm about to do; lets see how it turns out.

morning scrumble /  by Philip Tarlow

1:33 PM: early end to my painting day. this is gaze 35 in it's current state, to be continued tomorrow morning. the right half is unresolved. the face & neck area are quite beautiful & probably shouldn't be messed with too much. 

painting with one eye clouded was novel at first, but has rapidly become an annoyance. on the other hand, as i wrote to my friend gary yesterday, sharp & clear is highly over rated, as you can see by looking at late monet. we can't really know exactly to what extent & precisely how his eye issues affected this work. but if you've ever had the chance to view the late water lily paintings, you know what i mean. i'm no monet, but i'm a good painter, deeply attuned to any shifts in my vision. a certain unintended softness has entered the picture, and in my better moments, i like it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

12:17 PM: at work on the newly scrumbled gaze 35 just a few minutes ago....more pics soon....

 

 

 

 

11:42 am: here you see me scrumbling gaze 35 before continuing to paint. more pics as my work day progresses.

let me add that i'm having some vision problems due to cataracts. the one in my right eye seems to be "ripening" as they say in the trade, producing clouded vision in that eye. it's annoying but so far hasn't really interrupted my work, other than making me stop earlier than usual because it gets worse as the day progresses. i have an appointment with my eye doc in 3 weeks to evaluate & determine a course of action. he's very good, and specializes in this area, so i'm in good hands.

introducing a new image /  by Philip Tarlow

2 PM: today i launched back in to gaze 35, introducing a new image, this time from vermeer's the love letter. 

this is not the first gaze painting inspired by the love letter. perhaps this is the painting by vermeer with the most mystery. it is the interaction between the maid, not seen in my painting, and the mistress which gives rise to the conjecture as to vermeer's message. the maid, by her posture (arms akimbo is reserved primarily for men in dutch art of this period) and the look on her face, seems to be maintaining a somewhat superior, even condescending attitude. the mistress, which is the detail of the painting i've chosen, seems vulnerable, questioning. 

BELOW: vermeer's the love letter.

right now, the collaged map dominating the right portion of the composition, creates an abstract counter balance. tomorrow it will likely become more integrated into the whole, giving way to an orange tapestry located in the background of vermeer's composition. it's a good place to pause before re-engaging tomorrow morning.

back in the studio /  by Philip Tarlow

2:28 PM: well, i did do a bit of work on my first day back in the studio. predictably (oh how i hate predictability) i obliterated the previous image. the entire surface was washed over with a very light mauve-ish color, and then collage was applied in 3 areas, one of which was cut from my favorite '40's map of maine, kindly given me by my friend dan. no new image has yet appeared, which is rare. i mean it's rare for me to leave after a days work with no recognizable imagery other than a very faint view of the previous image peeking through in spots.

in it's current "abstract" state, it reflects my love for biomorphic shapes. it sings that song on this overcast, windy day, as i prepare to end my painting day/

7:22 am: 40.8F, humidity 65%, 40% chance rain to snow. Good morning Crestone/Baca! Chances for continued work on Gaze 35: 80%. Here's how it looked when we left, Nov. 10. 

our 3 1/2 drive home was easy & peppered with de-brief comments about our time in the classroom in edwards as well as the dinner we hosted at our friend kat's last night. this morning i'm going to attempt to get back to work on gaze 35; normally it takes a day or two to re-adjust, so this will be a record.

until i'm back in the studio, i'll be reviewing earlier gaze paintings /  by Philip Tarlow

5:19 pm: a very rewarding day at school today. the teacher had the kids in all the classes sit in a circle and offer gratitudes. they were very moving, especially the 5th graders in all their innocence.

today i'm reviewing  details, painted on january 2, 2016, of grey 6, 48x48,"one of the earlier paintings in the series, inspired by vermeer's the love letter. we can't really say for certain that the letter the woman of the house is showing to her maid is in face a love letter. but based on 17th c. traditions, it likely is. this was before i became focused on filling the picture space with a face.

another look back /  by Philip Tarlow

this is a detail of grey 7, inspired by vermeer’s the girl with the red hat, as it looked on january 15. i worked for quite a few days on this 48x24” painting, but i just couldn’t resolve it and finally painted over it. 

 

on march 20, i attempted another version on a 48x48” canvas. it was almost there, but i was still not completely happy with it, so it too was painted over. right now, there are no paintings in my gaze series inspired by the girl with the red hat. 

 

is there a 3rd attempt coming? we return home on saturday, and once i’m back in my studio we’ll see what direction gaze 35 takes. i’m fairly certain the current image will be painted and collaged over.

 

the process i’m engaged in with my gaze series is somewhat new for me. in 2014 i did make a series of abstract collages with layers of images laid over one another. but i’ve never done something like this, where a representational image is completely obliterated and replaced by another, then another………

 

it’s an adventure, and i love it. i may even be addicted to it! and when i go back and look at some past iterations, i do feel some sadness at beautiful images gone.

 

a look back /  by Philip Tarlow

early stage: gaze 27 38x38" acrylic & collage on canvas

1:52 PM: here's an early stage of gaze 27 as it appeared on july 5 of this year. it was inspired by a photo i took of our friend tamar cooking dinner at a friend's house. it was ultimately painted over, and the final version looks like the image you see below, on july 14. it was inspired by a 1st c. fayum portrait of a man, found buried it it's sarcophagus deep in the sands of egypt. he now adorns the north wall of our west living room.

dylan thomas/ st. philips day /  by Philip Tarlow

7:53 PM: today is st. philips day, so chronia polla to my grandson philip and to me as well!

7:21 PM: a rich and full day in the classroom, with pithywise comments; rib poking; explosive laughter; gluing painting & pasting; innocence & rabble-rousing instigative-majik. 

7:31 PM: and all the while i reflected upon gaze 35. how, once we get home, she would disappear and transform into another face; another gaze. perhaps one of the students will replace her. i do have one in mind. and here is a preview:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7:25 am: 

Dylan Thomas with his wife Caitlin in 1946. It is now considered likely he was misdiagnosed with dilirium tremens, when he was actually suffering from severe pneumonia. He was given morphine, which made no sense and further suppressed his breathing, leading to his death. Here is a quote from Early One Morning, in which he describes his experience in Mrs. Holes Dame School:
"Never was there such a dame school as ours, so firm and kind and smelling of galoshes, with the sweet and fumbled music of the piano lessons drifting down from upstairs to the lonely schoolroom, where only the sometimes tearful wicked sat over undone sums, or to repent a little crime – the pulling of a girl's hair during geography, the sly shin kick under the table during English literature."

he was my idol as a teenager. other kids had elvis on their walls; i had dylan. i knew some of his poems by heart, and never tired of reading under milk wood over and over, drinking in the intimate feeling of a welch village. 10 years later i discovered a version of this intimate, quirky feeling in the town of chora on the island of andros, in greece. the aroma of fresh baked bread and cheese pies; the local intrigues; the small very individualized shops, which included a lame shoemaker who made me a pair of boots in exchange for a sign i made for his shop. it was how i imagined thomas' village. and here's how under milk wood begins: 

 

It is spring, moonless night in the small town, starless
and bible-black, the cobblestreets silent and the hunched,
courters'-and-rabbits' wood limping invisible down to the
sloeblack, slow, black, crowblack, fishingboatbobbing sea.
The houses are blind as moles (though moles see fine to-night
in the snouting, velvet dingles) or blind as Captain Cat
there in the muffled middle by the pump and the town clock,
the shops in mourning, the Welfare Hall in widows' weeds.
And all the people of the lulled and dumbfound town are
sleeping now.

you can find the entire play here: http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0608221.txt

preparing /  by Philip Tarlow

2:45 PM: amazingly, i was able to get some work done on gaze 35 today! i say amazingly because normally on the day before a trip, and especially when we're expecting dinner guests, i'm in a state & can't even think about painting.

it's in a very interesting place, and will just have to wait till we're back to evolve to the next stage. while her eyes are not visible, this does not detract from the intensity of her gaze, and may actually increase it.

my attempt with this one, technically speaking, has been to keep it very fresh; so, for the moment, no collaging or layering has taken place.

 

 

 

 

 

10:45 AM: this morning i've been preparing for our trip to edwards, where we will once again be working with the kids at the middle school. as usual. i'll be videotaping while mikela gets them onto our updated site, so that they can begin using it to move ahead with their projects.

i always take way longer than mikela in my preparations for leaving. i take more stuff, which i never end up needing, as well as being responsible for packing up all our coffee making stuff.

i was hoping to get in some more work on the new gaze 35, which may or may not happen. we'll see as the day progresses. 

gaze 35: blank canvas /  by Philip Tarlow

2:33 PM: this is the first stage of gaze 35. it's always a seductive surface when there's so much white stace and your eye fills in the rest. let her rest tonight and lets see where she goes tomorrow morning.

venus maybe? jupiter? perhaps!

 

 

 

 

 

1:21 PM: just did a preliminary drawing for gaze 35. it's based on a detail of "a lady seated at the virginal." more pics once i begin painting.

12:10 PM: today, following last night's momentous events, we are all faced with a blank canvas, with the potential to become a masterpiece or a piece of crap.

further updates once i begin the drawing....