crestone-denver round trip /  by Philip Tarlow

view of the sangre de christo mountains as we return home from denver, driving through the san luis valley

drawing made today at the anschutz medical center, denver

6:50 PM: it’s 4 hours each way. the purpose: a follow-up appointment with my glaucoma surgeon. the appointment was at 9:15am, so we had to leave at 5 am. i was up at 3 to prepare morning coffee, etc.

the drive from crestone to denver was hairy. icy, snowy roads the whole way, with temperatures down to -15° F in fairplay. but boy, was it gorgeous!

very tired; going to bed, morte tomorrow when i’m back in my studio.

completed watercolor: cast of "the ruler of kastropyrgos" /  by Philip Tarlow

12:09 PM: i put the finishing touches on the watercolor now named the ruler of kastropyrgos, which is the english translation of the title of the play directed by my son dimitri, which will be live streamed on saturday 2/20. these are 4 of the lead actors in the play, in costume. this the link to the live streamed performance, which starts at 10:30 am mountain time:

https://www.ticketservices.gr/event/ethniko-theatro-o-kotzampasis-tou-kastropyrgou/?lang=en

i can’t wait to see these figures come alive, now that i know them so well!

the ruler of kastropyrgos 9x16”

Kotzambasis, stage 2 /  by Philip Tarlow

1:19 PM: i did more work on the watercolor i started a few days ago. it’s inspired by photos my son dimitri sent me of characters in the play he’s directing for the national theatre of greece, , which will be live streamed this coming saturday. for a nominal fee, you can watch it here:

https://www.ticketservices.gr/event/ethniko-theatro-o-kotzampasis-tou-kastropyrgou/?lang=en

i’m considering leaving the right portion more sketchy, as it is now, which works better for the composition as a whole. i’m using a watercolor paper with no texture at all, as opposed to the arches cold press i’ve been using for the 2020/21 creek watercolor series. i think this is better suited to the delicate details of these 4 figures.

stage 2 of the watercolor of actors in dimitri’s production of The ruler of Kastropyrgos

starting the first watercolor based upon dimitri's upcoming production /  by Philip Tarlow

kotzambasis watercolor 1, stage 1

1:57 PM: my symptoms following the 2nd moderna shot last tuesday are better but not completely gone. so after an hour of work on this new watercolor, i had to pack it up & return to the house at 1pm. normally i would have been able to work till about 3, but i suddenly felt like i had to lie down immediately. right now, i am lying down and it’s still hard for me to focus.

i’m excited to continue tomorrow. these costumes, with their beautiful colors and patterns, really turn me on. in a way, it’s a good thing i had to stop early, because i really want to take it slow with this one. i’m begining to envision a larger oil version, which could include some elements of the actual stage set. lots of possibilities. i’m beginning to understand the seductive qualities the nabis: bonnard, vuillard, denis and the others discovered when they began experimenting with creating larger works for, or inspired by parisian theatrical performances of the period

when this one is complete, i may send it to greece, so that dimitri can hang it in the lobby of poreia theatre, where he is owner/director.

12:52 PM: today i started the first in a series of 2 watercolors of the lead actors in dimitri’s production at the greek national theatre, which will be streamed live on saturday. here’s the link in english to watch the play:

https://www.ticketservices.gr/event/ethniko-theatro-o-kotzampasis-tou-kastropyrgou/?lang=en

click on 2020-21 watercolors in the drop down menu to view a selection of the watercolors & watercolor/collages i’ve been making over the past year or so.

kotzambasis drawing / stretching 2021 creek oil 4 / tapioca pudding /  by Philip Tarlow

2:41 PM: we woke up to about 5+inches of new snow this morning, with temperatures not making it out of the teens. might get a bit more before tomorrow morning.

drawing for my watercolor of the actors

my son dimitri is directing a live performance at the national theatre of greece, broadcast online on february 20. the play, o kotzambasis of kastropirgou , is based upon the novel of the same name, by his grandfather, the late m. karagatsis. when he sent me a few beautiful photos of the lead actors, i felt moved to make a watercolor. so this morning i made the drawing for one of the two watercolors i plan on making. i may make the watercolor tomorrow, depending on my mood.

i think i mentioned in a recent blog post that mikela commissioned me to make a 78 x 16” vertical creek oil painting for a skinny wall in our living room. well, after finishing the drawing and making a batch of tapioca, i stretched the linen canvas for the painting. she’s still not fully recovered from the side effects after our second covid vaccination last tuesday (!!??) and hasn’t yet been able to eat, other than small pieces of toasted bread. we’re hoping she’ll be able to have some tapioca, and that maybe tomorrow some solid food. who knew these after effects could be so severe?

so i’m going back to the house to hang with mikela now. you know what’s for desert tonight!

resuming work on 2021 watercolor/collage 13 /  by Philip Tarlow

2021 watercolor/collage 13 at the end of my painting day

2:33 PM: i did more work on 2021 watercolor 13, and am calling it a day. we’re still not fully recovered from the side effects after our 2nd covid vaccination 4 days ago. mikela had a much rougher time than me, and neither of us are able to do a full days work. in addition, it’s getting progressively darker as the snow storm approaches, and i always prefer natural to artificial light.

the collaged area of pen-scribbles i refer to in my comments

as you may be able to discern, i played around with her hand quite a bit, collaging over it twice. the submersion of the figure into the creek-scape continues to interest me. despite what i’ve said on many occasions about the irrelevance of realism,” i can’t deny that the human presence offers something that simply can’t be equaled in a pure abstraction. as well, i have such a rich history of painting the figure in a variety of settings and mediums, that it would be foolish not to employ the skills i’ve accumulated over decades. so, once again, i consider this moment to be a coming together of all that i’ve done in my life as an artist. that bit of collage just under her head is an example of what i’m talking about. it’s a piece of paper i used last week to test out a new fountain pen. i wouldn’t have done that a year ago, let alone a decade. i feel it adds an important element to the composition, providing more of a dream-space for the viewer. just as the transitions from creek-scape to human figure and back expand and enrich our sense of the reality of reality, or unreality.

2021 watercolor/collage 13 at 1pm today

1:12 PM: started out as a sunny morning; as predicted, it’s now clouding over and, as the afternoon progresses, snow will begin falling in a few hours. it will continue on and off all night, with sunday morning temperatures dropping to 10°F.

i resumed work on 2021 watercolor/collage 13, adding a few collaged bits over the hand and neck of the female figure in the foreground and doing more work on her intricately patterned blouse.

BELOW: a comparative view of the watercolor on the first day of work, 2 days ago, and just now.

4:40 PM: upon returning to the house, i placed the new watercolor in the entryway and looked at it critically next to a couple of other new ones. it holds up, and may even shine more brightly than the other two. but my point here is that my comments in my 2:33pm post re: the importance of the human figure in an abstracted composition seem to hold true.

one of my motion series paintings hanging on our stairway

a tour through my marks /  by Philip Tarlow

1:57 PM: no studio today. mikela had a very rough night, with the worst post 2nd shot after effects yet. without going into details, it was bad. and if this is just a taste of what the poor souls who actually get the virus go through……

i’m still not back to normal either, so i decided to stay home, rest & keep mikela company.

what i decided to post today is a tour through the marks i’ve made on many of the paintings we have hanging here in our house.

i walked around the upper and lower floors, shooting details of all the paintings, which span about 25 years. i have referred many times to what matisse said about mark making, and how, over time, you find your personal language.

if you will take the time to scroll through the images below, and i realize there are a lot, you will begin to recognize my language. i’ve never done anything lke this, and it’s giving me ideas for the book i’ve been threatening to write. realism has little bearing. jazz is one of my favorite metaphors for what we’re looking at here. in jazz, you riff.

age 3, prospect park, brooklyn / 2021 watercolor 13 /  by Philip Tarlow

a motion series painting hangs in our stairway

5:29 PM: we’re both not completely through the 2nd shot side effects, so we put off our stupa walk till tomorrow, weather permitting. snow is in the forecast this weekend, so we’ll have to see. when i returned to the house, there was a beautiful afternoon light falling on our entryway stairs, where this motion series painting hangs.

some of the ceramics you see were made by ceramicist friends and painted by me, others are pieces we’ve collected over the years. and i love those shadows from our plants, which shift daily with the position of the sun. it’s a wonderful house mikela designed; a many talented woman she is.

2021 watercolor 13 stage 1 11 3/4 x 15” on arches paper

2:57 PM: getting ready to leave for the house and then up to the stupa trail with mikela. i started 2021 watercolor 13 today. i don’t know if you can make this out, since it’s in a very early stage, but there’s a view from a woman from above and she’s in a creek environment. it turns me on to combine figures seen from above, as seen in my ano kato series, with views of the creek. if you click on painting series in the drop down menu above, then click on ano kato, you’ll see the series of paintings, which were done a few years back.

12:46 PM: getting a late start today and will have to stop at 3 so we can walk up the trail, which we haven’t done in 3 days. we like to go every other day to stay in shape, since this is our main form of exercise.

this is a photo i discovered in my loft, shot by my dad in prospect park, brooklyn, when i was about 3.

more when i start painting & have something to post.

a quick note about bonnard:

amongst the nabis, bonnard was the most willing to experiment in a variety of media. as he wrote to lugné-pöe in 1890, , “it’s a matter of varying one’s pleasures.”

bonnard, women in a garden, 1891, oil on paper mounted on canvas, four panels, each panel 160 x 48 cm. museé d’orsay, paris

rough night following 2nd shot / tweaks to 2021 watercolor 12 /  by Philip Tarlow

12:04 PM: we are both experiencing side/after effects from our 2nd covid shot yesterday. we got the shots around noon, and by the time we went to bed the side effects had set in. it’s well known that side effects are more likely after the second shot and not the first. arm pain at the site of the shot, achiness, low energy, etc. are symptoms that can appear and last for a few days.

after taking tynelol, i felt good enough to go to my studio, but after only an hour of work, i was unable to continue. so i’m stopping early & will return to the house and lie down.

after bringing 2021 watercolor 12 to the house a couple of days ago, it seemed to both of us that the face on the figure in blue (mikela) needed to be filled in. it looked ghost-like. that’s about all i did, aside from soem black marks on her hair, a few more strokes on that branch in the upper middle of the composition and some darker blue shadows on her blouse.

i’m so out of it right now, it’s impossible to tell whether that resolves this one, so i’ll bring it back over to the house and see what we think.

this is a good example of how essential it is that you feel good in your body when painting. there’s no way, for example, that i could make those grey marks indicating rocks right now. you have to be in tip top form for your brush to dance over the surface like that.

BELOW: on the left-the before, and on the right, the watercolor at the end of my painting day, just now.

2nd covid shot today; feeling a bit weird /  by Philip Tarlow

3:25 PM: we got back a few hour ago from center, colrado, about a 40 minute drive from crestone, where we got our second covid shots. we’re both feeling a little fuzzy, which didn’t happen after the first shot. i went straight to my studio once we got back, thinking i’d do a bit more on 2021 watercolor 11. but no way i could paint.

so my post today, instead of focuing on my latest painting, is about a series of painitngs i made in 2018, inspired by a trip we made to napa valley, california. it’s a very paintable landscape: rows of grape vines under a california sky. if i were to make these paintings today, they would look very different. but i do relate strongly to them. my 15 year total immersion in the greek landscape gave me the tools i needed to paint napa.

they’re all painted in oil on linen and are in private collections in houston, save for one, which hangs in the wine room of a wonderful houston restaurant. they can be found on this page of my site: https://www.philiptarlow.com/fluid-landscape

you can get to this page by clicking on the drop down menu “painting series” and then scrolling down to “fluid landscape.”