the philadelphia museum through tarlow's eyes /  by Philip Tarlow

7:51 AM: back in colorado, i'm writing this from our hotel on a chilly, foggy morning. while on the plane from philly, i adjusted 66 photos i shot in the philadelphia museum of art a few days ago. it was so wonderful to be able to photograph at will, after our experience at the barnes, that i went a little nuts. so i'm posting a portion of them, which i'll discuss one group at a time. the general theme is my growing belief that it's virtually impossible in a large painting to create the same coherence possible with a small one.

this miro, for example. if you compare it with his larger compositions, containing his universally familiar shapes, perhaps you can see what i mean.while this is a very beautiful miro, it's more "branded" and less subtle, tender  and coloristically interesting than the smaller, earlier work (above right.)  

these observations extend to many oother works i photographed in the museum, some of which i've posted below.

3:36 PM: we're back in colorado, at a furniture shop in salida, trying out chairs for mikela's office. here's a drawing i made last night on our late flight from philly to denver, of a man sleeping. the over-seat lights cast dramatic shadows on his face. combined with they way his entire face relaxed during his nap, he kind of looked....well...dead!

Philadelphia Museum of Art today /  by Philip Tarlow

7:33 AM: today i won't be attending the AMLE conference. it's my opportunity to visit the Philadelphia Museum of Art, with it's rich collection. i'm especially excited to see this unusual titian, as well as the eakens works which my friend wendy says are her favorites.

as the day progresses, i'll post this afternoon or early evening with new pics & impressions from the museum.

 

 

 

 

BELOW: a matisse we saw yesterday at the barnes collection

philadelphia / how will the barnes affect my work when we return? /  by Philip Tarlow

the barnes collection: the small scale work of demuth, upper right and lower left & right,  in particular, as well as alo altripp, on the uppeleft, were a revelation. i'm still integrating and digesting.

6:35 PM: while making the 20 minute walk to and from the conference center i shot some photographs of the beautiful philadelphia skyline. a large rain bearing system just missed the city, but created spectacular skies rivaling what we see at home in colorado.

4:26 PM: drawings made today at the middle school conference:AMLE, in philadelphia:

10:18 AM: some images from philadelphia, where mikela is speaking at AMLE, the National Middle School Conference. top left: a drawing i made this morning of one of the attendees. top center: one of philadelphia's best asian restautants: smapan,top right: tatoo parlor storefront in chinatown. bottom right & left: the barnes collection.

tree 1 /  by Philip Tarlow

5:47: just back from the creek about an hour ago, where i made 3 new plein air gouaches. it's an exceptional day, with warmer than normal temperatures and spectacular light. 

1:44 PM: yesterday i made some additions to tree 1, which is still not resolved. i'm thinking of going out to the creek in about an hour to make a few plein air gouaches; the weather is spectacular, and unusually warm for this date: 56.3, which is about  4 degrees above normal for this date. 

BELOW is a comparative view of tree 1 before (left) and after yesterday's intervention:

tree 1 & tree 2 /  by Philip Tarlow

4:40 PM: today i did work on both tree 1 & tree 2. the latter may be resolved; we walked it over to the house & i'll know tomorrow. i've got to clean up & get going; so i'll write more later.

BELOW: here's what they look like at the end of my painting day:

yesterday afternoons plein air gouaches/continuing tweaks to tree 2 /  by Philip Tarlow

4:06 PM: so i ended up putting together a proposal for an east coast gallery that interests me, but i did do a little more work on tree 1 instead of tree 2, as i had written earlier. as you can see in the comparative images below, i basically lightened the siena ground and painted out the brown underbrush in the lower quadrant. there's more to do, so i'll see tomorrow what happens. i may start tomorrow by going back into tree 2....

12:14 PM: i'm about to get a late start and continue tweaks to tree 2, which in this shot i am evaluating.

updates will be posted as they become available.

DETAIL: 10/29/17 plein air 1

9am: yesterday afternoon mikela and i went to the creek. she helped me carry my painting equipment to the spot i chose on the creek; about a 5 minute walk from the trailhead, and then left me to set up and paint while she took a walk. conditions were near perfect. clear, with that warm late afternoon light i love, no wind. as i set up my little collapsable table, i entered the magical zone where time & space disappear, everything but the light on the landscape and the sound of the rushing water fades into oblivion. about mid way into the experience, something came over me and i began making a sound. it emerged and there was nothing i could do about it. it was somewhere between a bird and a coyote.

tweaks to "tree 2," preparing for plein air this afternoon /  by Philip Tarlow

2:28 PM: about to leave for the creek; here's a comparison of tree 2 yesterday & after todays tweaks (yesterday on left):

1:27 PM: in about an hour i'll go out to paint plein air gouaches at the creek. mikela will join me and walk up the trail. when i'm done i'll meet up with her. here i am preparing 3 new paper surfaces to use this afternoon, taping them to foam core in preparation for todays adventure.

on the upper right you can catch a glimpse of my 4 watch winder, which twirls them to the right, pauses for about 10 minutes, and then to the left, making it unnecessary for me to hand wind them, every morning.

i'll post pics of what i've painted later today. before leaving, i'd like to start making a few tweaks to tree 2, which i'll likely complete tomorrow morning.

starting work on tree 2, 68x18" /  by Philip Tarlow

today i began work on a newly stretched canvas: tree 2, 68x18" unlike tree 1, which is painted on a siena ground, tree 2 is being painted on a white ground. so it's much more stark as an image. the fire scars on the trunk are almost painful to look at, perhaps reminding us of human disfiguration. technically, as with all my work, the foremost quality is painterliness,  a gestural, calligraphic approach that is very much who i am as a visual artist and as a human, and harkens back, i sometimes think, to past lives in ancient china, where my buddies and i made music, paintings, calligraphy and poems in the wildly beautiful mountains, while drinking the local wine. a lively but dangerous time it was, with the looming possibility of falling out of favor with the latest ruler and facing possibly dire consequences; banishment or worse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BELOW: 4 stages of tree 2

making changes to tree 1 /  by Philip Tarlow

noon: BELOW is a comparative view of tree 1 this morning & just now. the blue is lighter; the browns on the bottom are lighter & broken up by twigs, branches & grasses, and the tree itself has more dimensionality and coloristic variance. if i carry out my idea of a series of aspens, they will all be tall & narrow. i've always loved this shape.

11:04 AM: i'm about to make changes to the painting i began yesterday: tree 1. the blue is too strong, as are the browns at the bottom. more pics as available.

10/26/17 tree 1 /  by Philip Tarlow

6:14 PM: as the clouds thicken and we await a few hours of snow, i'm looking at tree 1, which i brought over to the house for evaluation. the blue & brown need lightening, which i'll do tomorrow.

2 pm: this is one of those paintings you want to keep light, sketch-like, fresh. right now, she sings a beautiful melody, and maybe i need to stretch another canvas and start another one.

12 noon: this morning i began work on the 56x12" canvas i stretched yesterday. the image is drawn from a photo of an aspen tree i shot on one of our recent trail walks. more to come in the next few weeks. aspens are oft painted; i think my take will be unique in some ways. back to work now; more images as this painting evolves this afternoon.