May 2, 2020 by Philip Tarlow

6:21 pm: it’s been unusually warm for this time of year; like 10-12 F higher than normal. today our high was 78. the normal is 62 and the record high was 75F. So I think as a result of the heat combined with the fact that, in order to avoid stress to my tendonitis afflicted right shoulder, I’ve been making these watercolors, my feet & ankles, are swollen. i have to make the watercolors standing up, so i’m standing in the same spot for hours. so i’ve got to find a solution, which i’ll work on tomorrow.

i started watercolor 39 , but the bottom portion was too blue- heavy, so cropped it & continued working on it as a long-narrow, 6.75” 20”.

11:52 AM: as i had my breakfast and leafed through my big matisse book, i became possessed by the impulse to not launch directly into the next watercolor. what’s the rush, tarlow? and i recalled some sage words of advice from mikela, something to the effect of:

why not make a few studies before you start a new one?

i’m no stranger to that; i used to do it regularly before starting a new painting; especiially with my ‘70’s paintings of greek construction workers.

so i grabbed the nearest pad of white drawing paper and started out by making these 3 studies. from left to right chronologically, : #1, 2 and 3.

lets see where i go next.

watercolor 38 / May 1, 2020 by Philip Tarlow

*watercolor 38* following the additional work i did late this afternoon.

6:07 PM: although i was tired; too tired to paint, i made a few changes to watercolor 38 that really fucked it up. the entire foreground, as you can see in the photo on the right, which was spare and empty; a critical part of the composition.

this is what it looks like following my end-of-day work. so i’m not going to destroy it, but it won’t have a place in the series as presented on my 2020 watercolors page. stuff happens.

3:12 PM:the completed watercolor 38: on the surface it bears much resemblence to the previous works in this series (except for yesterdays experiments.) upon closer inspection and in gazing at it on the wall with the others, it does have something different. it may be more mature; building on whast i’ve learned thus far, it gives the feel of the creek-scape without specifically defining any of the elements. less detail, more flow. as the saying goes (which i made up this morning) what spills over flows over.

1 PM: stage 1 of watercolor 38, following 2 false starts, which i tossed. i’m continuing work on this one & will post updates in an hour or two. thus far, i’d say there appears to be a new, looser energy, likely as a result of yesterdays 3 experiments (scroll down to 4/30/20 post) as the old saying goes: what spills over flows over. that’s not an old saying; i just made it up, along with everything else! you’ve heard of MSU? = Make Stuff Up University.

11:57 AM: following a delicious breakfast of vermont creamery goat cheese with hot pepper jelly and mikela’s famous hummus on toasted bagel, while perusing my matisse book, i began watercolor 38. i’ll post pics a bit later in the day.

whats next?…watercolors 35, 36 and 37 / April 30, 2020 by Philip Tarlow

3:43 PM: this is my final experiment for today: watercolor 37. over decades, i’ve gradually evolved these compositions, both studio and plein air paintings, moving them step by step from being descriptive to being patterns in space, while retaining the familiar forms of rocks, branches & water. this allows us, ideally, us create our own story. for me, as matisse has pointed out, abstraction is a meaningless game unless it derives from natural forms.

this development has been completely organic, in the sense that i never planned for it, and it’s as much of a surprise to me as it will be for you all. after studying matisse for, basically, my whole adult life, i’ve finally begun to comprehend what he was up to, and thus begin iincorporating his lessons in the context of my development as an artist. this also sheds a sharper light on the lessons i received from my mentor, teacher & friend the late yannis tsarouchis in greece during the ‘60’s and ‘70’s. while he never acted the role of teacher, he embodied it, and all you had to do was pay attention. pay attention during those precious visits to his studio; during our drives and walks together, and during his vists to the studio of my then mother-in-law, niki karagatsi, a great artist in her own right.

2:05 PM: here’s the next one: watercolor 36, 10 x 15”

12:50 PM: i’m now working on the 10 x 15” sheets of arches watercolor paper leftover from the larger sheets i used for watercolors 1 through 34. this one popped out after the time i spent with matisse over coffee. if you glance at the matisse quote on the right of the 1st row of photos in the gallery below, you’ll get a sense of where i’m at. i’m also getting some cool ideas for the book i’ve been threatening to write by flipping through the images from his notebooks. text and drawing are combined on some of those pages in a way i can strongly relate to.

11:53 AM: i’ve been organizing my iMac desktop, basically shoving everything into a folder labeled “DESKTOPS.” familiar?

i also transferred photos i shot yesterday on our trail walk, some of which are candidates for watercolors and/or when my shoulder heals, larger oils.

while having breakfast i looked through matisse; rhythm and line, a BIG heavy book someone was selling years ago on the streets of the 16th arr. in paris. i’m posting a few details from that book, along with diverse other photos, including some from our trail walk yesterday. the first pic on the first row is something that’s been sitting on my desk; it’s what happened when i needed to test the nib on one of my two favorite fountain pens.

if and when i make another watercolor today, i’ll post pics later.

watercolor 30 framed / watercolor 33 / & 34 / April 29, 2020 by Philip Tarlow

*watercolor 34* emerged by itself moments ago

2:30 PM: re-invigorated & inspired by who knows what, i made another one: watercolor 34. i have some pieces of 11 x 15” arches watercolor paper left over from the larger ones in the series, and i had the juice, knowing that most often something good comes out of a spontaneous second round. my spirit somehow gets freed up and, for a precious few moments, flies. working on paper of new dimensions helps, switching up my compositional habits. as well, the flonase, which i started yesterday, is kicking in and i no longer have itchy eyes, runny nose, etc. but hey, is there any real way of explaining it when you’re in the flow? just be grateful, right?

1:57 PM: watercolor 33 completed moments ago.

12:58 PM: at work moments ago on watercolor 33

brownies with walnuts, just out of the oven

11:59 AM: as i’m getting into watercolor 33, i baked brownies. they look burnt, but they’re not. so far i’ve made 2 false starts of watercolor 33, which i ripped up.

8:21 AM: as you may have noticed, yesterday was one of those rare days when i didn’t paint or post. the previous night i was awake the whole time with seasonal allergies and the next morning i was totally out of it. i spent my time in the studio catching up on paperwork and reviewing creek photos for the next watercolor, which i’ll start today. by the way, working on a small scale is definitely helping the tendonitis in my right shoulder, and i’m hoping that in a month or two, i’ll be able once again to work on larger pieces in oil.

i placed watercolor 30 in a simple frame and hung it in our master bedroom. looks quite handsome, wouldn’t you say? it’s hanging catty corner to a painting i made of mikela some years ago. i’ll resume posting todays studio process in a few hours, when i complete my morning stuff here in the house & walk over to the studio. i started flonase and antihistamines yesterday, so i got an almost full nights sleep & am in much better shape this morning.

watercolors 31 and 32 / April 27, 2020 by Philip Tarlow

3:20 PM: today i located a photo of the ice-bound creek i had shot a while back. i liked it so much that i ended up making 2 new watercolors based on that photo. in watercolor 31, white gouache color was used a fair amount, so the medium should really be described as watercolor and gouache. 31 was the first version i made, and it’s considerable more detailed. i was moved to make the second one for exactly that reason. 31 gave me a good feel for the composition, and in 32 i was able to riff on that understanding & do something with a lot less information and a lot more space. i’m certain that when i show them in an exhibition, opinions will be split as to which is the better piece. there’s no right answer of course, but my aesthetic makes me lean more towards the more spare 32.

watercolor 30 completed / April 26, 2020 by Philip Tarlow

1:30 PM: avoiding the ever present temptation to do more and more, i allowed watercolor 30 the breathing space it asked for. the forms on the right, which could have evolved into solid rocks, are a counterpoint to the denser, more developed areas of trees, sky and rocks on the left side of the composition. the reflected trees transition into flying rocks and loose bits of fragmented sky…..

watercolor 30 / the myth of narcissus / April 25, 2020 by Philip Tarlow

2:39 PM: i started watercolor 30. it’s more complex than many of the others and will take at least another day to complete.

this one is inspired by a photo i shot on one of our trail walks back in november, 2019, when covid-19 had not yet manifested. the trees and sky were strikingly reflected in an area of the creek where, protected by a group of rocks, the water had pooled, creating in effect a perfect mirror.

this one requires lots of patience and can’t be rushed. it’s as if watercolor 29 brought me to the brink of chaos, and i needed to return to a more realist interpretation of this theme. it turns the landscape topsy turvey, harkening back to my ano kato ( topsy-turvey in greek) series, which you will find by clicking on the dropdown menu “works” and then on ano kato. or, just use this link: https://www.philiptarlow.com/best-left-unsaid

it also evokes the ancient greek myth of narcissus. in this case, it’s the trees rather than the face of narcissus reflected in the pool. will they, like the ancient character who gave his name to the disease our president suffers from, fall so in love with their image that they draw closer and closer, fall into the pool and drown?

a disrupted day to start watercolor 29 / April 24, 2020 by Philip Tarlow

3:40 PM: TODAY WAS A CRAZY DAY.gotta get going on our walk, so i’ll write about what happened later. this watercolor is obviously not complete & be a throwaway.

7:08 PM: so, upon reflection, what happened today was instructive. looking at it right now on the screen, it ain’t so bad, just different. where are those elegant negative spaces? looks like the war of the octopii!

or an interstellar storm.

actually, if you look closely at certain areas of the creek, they kinda look like this!

until tomorrow my friends.

a correction to my 4/22/post / watercolor 29 / April 24, 2020 by Philip Tarlow

*watercolor 28* in our entryway this morning

this reveals how much *watercolor 28* pops out when viewed with some of the previous ones

7:44 am: a couple of days ago i made remarks regarding zen buddhism. i mispoke when i said “enlightenment could be seen as the ultimate knowing.” a good friend, who is a practitioner of zen buddhism corrected me. she said “enlightenment is the ultimate letting go of all knowing.” i did have the feeling, when i wrote that post, that i was venturing into territory far beyond my knowledge and experience.

i’m still integrating watercolor 28, going back and forth as to whether it’s a big step in the right direction or a mis-step. stragely, as it appears on the screen here, i find it appealing, even exciting. in person, it’s somewhat shocking, as it is when viewed on my east studio wall, in the context of the previous watercolors.

as mikela pointed out when she first saw it, the branch on the left, going up to the circular form (also a branch) is key to the success of the composition. for me, it’s that pinkish salmon color in the mid-left. she also thought it could have used one or two more areas of detail which, as with the rock on the lower left, allow the viewer to get that this image is inspired by an actual creek with actual rocks, water and branches.

watercolor 28 / rocks: yesterdays creek walk / April 23, 2020 by Philip Tarlow

1:39 PM: watercolor 28 just happened, in the midst of having viber calls with my ex, my grandson and my grand daughter in athens, greece. last night i discovered a group of photos shot on april 14, on one of our trail walks. the more i looked, the more i remembered the unusually sharp and crisp lighting conditions that day; even moreso than the normal light here in crestone/baca, which is superb due to our altitude and almost complete absence of air pollutants. as i looked more carefully, i isolated a few that stood out.

these 3 or 4 photos have a variety of patterns and colors i haven’t seen in any of the previous photos i’ve taken during our walks, and there are very many of them. i think perhaps i didn’t make this discovery until last night because i wasn’t far enough along in my process to know what to do with them! i placed this latest watercolor 28 on the east wall along with the rest, and it stands out. not only because of the intensity of the blues i used; but because of the boldness of the pink and oranges against the blues, and the certainty of my strokes. i knew as i was working that i was making a leap today, and even the viber calls didn’t get in the way. i actually placed my iphone on a tripod and let philip watch as i worked. and then…. then that moment arrived when my body knew to stop, and i listened. a memorable day in my experience of this covid isolation, and a memorable moment in my life as an artist.

8:28 AM: yesterdays walk was cut short by a hail storm with thunder, which was kind of exciting. along the way, i was struck by the patterns on these 3 rocks, which you see BELOW. i’ll post updates on new paintings once i get to my studio in a few hours.

although i’ve been observing the rocks here in crestone/baca for many years, what i discover on the trails always seems new and exciting to me, and gives me ideas for my work. as you are probably aware, the rocks known as crestone conglomerates are unique to this area. they can also be found in some parts of tibet. they were created millions of years ago as a result of intense volcanic activity, which resulted in different kinds of rocks literally melting into one another. rock sex.

these rocks are always perfect. never seen a bad one. and the endless variations in patterning and color fuel my innate need to translate all this into marks on a flat surface.