Il torrente, end of day 6 (yesterday) /  by Philip Tarlow

il torrente yesterday just after removing blue/pink border

11:34 AM: just before leaving the studio yesterday, I go a call from mikela. she had walks dover to look at the painting, and after she returned to the house she got the the blue & pink border was taking away form the painting, not adding to it. I was beginning. to have the feeling myself, and when I looked at it again with a more critical eye, I confirmed she was right.

that was in the nick of time. had I waited until this morning, the very thin layer of oil paint would have dried & been impossible to wipe off with solvent. so I wiped it all off & brought it to the house, where we both confirmed that was the right thing to do.

BELOW: il torrente on 11/22 (left), mid afternoon on 11/23 and end of day, 11/23 (right)

il torrente, day 5 /  by Philip Tarlow

Il Torrente at the end of my painting day today

3:42 PM: I started my morning placing a seated figure into the composition, which was not at all right & now it’s gone. not even a photographic record.

the I put a very light pink & blue border around the edges, extending to canvas stapled to the sides of the stretcher bars. I think it works, but i’m not completely sure. then I worked into the main body of the composition, adding more patterning derived form the rocks at the creek, & the outlines of branches reflected in the creek.

il torrente, day 4 /  by Philip Tarlow

2:09 PM: a snowy day it is.

DETAIL of il torrente at the end of my painting day today.

moving deliberately very slowly on il torrente. I enriched the blues by adding touches of a darker blue in places. and I enriched the warm grey in the upper central portion, adding some darker marks, like the ones found on the rocks we see at the creek.

not too much more to say.

BELOW: yesterdays version, left & todays and BELOW that, deer in the snow seen out my studio window.

il torrente, day 3 /  by Philip Tarlow

il torrente at the end of my painting day today

2:31 PM: I resumed work this morning on il torrente. my first energy is keenest, as always. my initial impetus to make paintings reflecting both macro & normal distance; details of lichen living alongside or superimposed upon the rocks, branches & water we see on our creek walks.

it’s somewhat of a shock, after making 15 paintings that were all 78x26” to work on one that’s rectangular: 42x48.” I like it. the patterning in this one clearly derives in part from my extended study of taiga & his relationship to natural forms.

il torrente /  by Philip Tarlow

3:08 PM: day 2 of work on il torrente, which is the title of this first painting in the series as well as the name of the series itself.

i’m exploring the potential of combining macro images of lichen growing on rocks shot on our creek walks with other images based upon our walks up the creek. work will continue tomorrow. thus far i’m using oil, oil pastel & crayon, on portrait linen 42x48”.

end of day changes to shinkei/starting il torrente /  by Philip Tarlow

9 PM: yesterday i was making preparatins for torente, an entirely new series inspired by our recent creek walks and by maro shots of the leichen i took last month.

shinkei at the end of my painting day yesterday

6 PM 11-19-19: and today, while working on stage 1 of torente, (the title of this painting & the title of the entire new serie). so what will set it appart from motion series? having just completed the painted the sound of a flute series, i’m in a new space. it’s been emerging over the past month or two. it involves layering, as i’ve been doing over the past few years, creating images that reveal the entire process as just that: a process. without a clearly defined beginning of ending. a slice of life as it happens. we wake up, stuff happens, we go to sleep (more stuff happens). there are moments we remember. they are unpredictable. we can only predict that they will occur. even if you were in solitary confinement, or perhaps especially, there are those moments that will stay with you. that you may write about. there are flashes of light. ah, yes, flashes of light. LIGHT!

they are there, in the evolution of our species; in the flashes of future vision of a species decimated, a planet in extreme distress. more soon….

more work on shinkei /  by Philip Tarlow

a history of shinkei since November 11th. start in the upper left then 2nd row left

at work on on shinkei this morning

12:37 PM: as I prepared my breakfast, I cast glances at shinkei. difficult to know what’s going on in artist’s heads when they’re working on a painting. there are days, like today, when even I don’t profess to know. sometimes, as i’ve said repeatedly, you know with certainty that it’s the painting that’s dictating your moves.bruce hanley said recently in art forum: “…art is a consolation for, not the redemption of, the PTSD of existing.” something to ponder.

every painting has it’s own logic. you know instantly, or I do at least, if that logic is clean, clear….complex in the most simple, natural way; somehow inevitable.

shinkei continues /  by Philip Tarlow

DETAIL of shinkei at 1:20pm

shinkei as it looked at the end of my painting day today

12:54 PM: some trees and a red structure with figures were added to the composition, as well as some strokes of light blue around the mountain peaks & the wavy suggestions of mountain streams flowing through the composition. the green of the trees is a different one than i’ve used in the previous sound of a flute series paintings; lighter, with a bit more blue. there’s a richness, without that overcrowded sensation that existed a few days ago. I may stop here for the day, as we have be a a political event Mikela helped organize for candidate andrew romanoff. he’s got a very good platform and a very big heart. I like andrew.

looking back: September 5, 2010 & more work on shinkei /  by Philip Tarlow

walking the dogs; view from the acropolis. oil on linen, 2010

shinkei at 2 pm

11:53 am: this a painting I did in 2010 and was included in my 2010 solo show at skoufa gallery, Athens

2pm: I re-worked the middle section of shinkei, which had become too busy. tomorrow I need to integrate the middle with the upper & lower areas of the composition, which I hope I can do without disturbing the remaining area of white canvas. this may call for a waterfall!