a warmer, sunny day / 2021 creek oil 1 /  by Philip Tarlow

3/2/21 2021 creek oil 1 at 2pm

2:21 PM: i continued painting on 3/2/21 2021 creek oil 1, which has reached what i’d call a viable stage, where it could remain as is and it’s left to the viewer to fill in the lower 3/4 of the composition. but he/she should be grateful that i allowed him/her this freedom to invent.

this painting is extremely difficult to nail digitally. there are simply too many subtleties of color, too difficult to capture the underpainting peeking through, the presence it has.

in person, there is more of an awareness of the creek-scape it started out as. the digitized image comes close, but within that small gap lies the heart of the story i’m telling. if somehow you get to view it in person, i know you’ll get what i’m driving at here.

the image i posted at noon is, you will immediately notice, quite different than the one i just posted.

the reason for that is that it was shot in a different position in my studio, with a different light falling on it.

2021 creek oil 1 78x26” as it looked moments ago

12:47 PM: i made the composition a vertical, and went into 2021 creek oil 1, mostly with oil stick, except for the red, which are brushed in. the figure is inspired by the photo of students sitting on the school lobby floor working on their laptops i used for 2021 creek oil 4, which you can find if you scroll down to my 2/27/21 post. i’ll get back to it while my energy is still fresh and post an update in a little while.

at work this morning on 2021 creek oil 1 78x26”

11:54 AM: i was going to stretch a new 66x16” canvas this morning. but as i glanced at 2021 creek oil 1, which i painted over a few days ago, i felt like going back over it with a pink color. when i got to this point, it looked interesting to do just this much and leave the rest. so there are now 3 layers: the first marks i made, which i added to using more and thicker applications of color than i normally would. that got turned to the wall for a few weeks till it dried. then i went over it a few days ago using a thin wash of titanium buff, which allowed the underpainting to peek through. then what i did just now, which i think i’ll leave for a few days till it dries and see where i go next.

ABOVE are two earlier stages of 2021 creek oil 1

7:43 AM: at 7:35 the sun peaked over the sangres. today is predicted to be milder, with temperatures reaching 45F for the first time in quite a while.i should get to my studio a bit earlier than usual, and lets see what i’ll do.

new well pump today / looking at ‘70’s & ‘80’s paintings of athens & nyc architecture /  by Philip Tarlow

2 PM: i didn’t sleep too well last night. today at noon our friend david arrived with his assistant to remove the old pump from our well housing and install the new one we got in salida this past friday. it’s a complicated procedure, since the old one is a bit smaller, and the new one had different size fittings. the bladder broke on the old one, which as a result is filled with water instead of air. so he’s working on pumping out the water before lifting it out of the deep well housing and beginning to install the new one. as long as all this takes, we’ll be without running water, so we’ve filled some jars to have drinking water until he’s done. this rather deep well services both our house and my studio. when we had the water tested, they said it was some of the purest water they’d seen. it’s a deep vein, coming down from the peaks of the sangre de christo mountains above our house. there are no farms or grazing on the land between our well and those peaks. the taste is really amazing, and it feels wonderful when you take a shower or bath.

when i got to my studio i was aware of the time, waiting for him to arrive, and i was not in a state to paint or even stretch a new canvas, which i had planned on doing. looks like it will be another skinny one, this time 66x16”. but i’ll have to wait till tomorrow to cut the canvas & stretch it.

view from the roman agora, athens 1976 oil on linen 32x46”

view from the roman agora, athens 1976 oil on linen 32x46”

neoclassical building, kifissia. watercolor 14x6.5” private collection, athens

this is an opportunity to take a look back at work i did in the early ‘80’s, when i was a member of fischbach gallery, then located on 59th st. in manhattan.in 1980, i had just returned from my 15 years in greece, where neoclassical architecture was a major theme in my work. at the time. the watercolor on you see here are just two examples from this period.

the view from the roman agora is one of a series of paintings i made looking out my studio window in the plaka neighborhood of athens. in the lower right corner are columns from buildings in the ancient roman agora (market) whic was laid out just beneath my studio windows. directly behind me was the acropolis. in good weather, my windows were open and once i actually witnessed a greek fellow walking up towards the acropolis with an american tourist, to whom he was trying to sell this “admittedly run down but very well located property.”

DETAIL of a 1981 nyc architectural painting

in nyc, i was living in an apartment on the upper floor of a building overlooking central park west. my passion for architecture translated into a series of paintings. i rode around manhattan on my bike, hasselblad around my neck, and shot photos of arcitecture bathed in that characteristic new york light, which even matissse commented on. i don’t have any of this work in my collection; all these paintings are in private, corporate and museum collections, mostly in new york.

st. patricks cathedral 1981, 40 x 60” oil on linen private collection, new york city

a character from the ruler of kastropyrgos, a little collage, painting over 2020 creek oil 2 /  by Philip Tarlow

2020 creek oil 2 26x78” after this mornings work

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2:41 PM: i did a variety of things today. i started out by taking a new look at 2020 creek oil 2, which was a very heavy horizontal composition with way too much going on. i went over it with a thin wash of titanium buff, made it into a vertical, and will work back into it once it dries.

then i made one more watercolor inspied by the photos dimitri sent me of the characters in his recent live stream production of the ruler of kastropyrgos, with the national theatre of greece .

and in the breaks, i made this little one: 2021 watercolor/collage 17. the central image ia from a little drawing i made last week of an ink bottle, which i then cut into 2 pieces.

2021 watercolor/collage 17

resuming work on 2021 creek oil 4 / metropolitan museum 2 60x 60” /  by Philip Tarlow

at work on 2021 creek oil 4

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12:50 PM: it was a very long day yesterday, and we’re both tired today, but working nonetheless. heroes, we are! we went up & back to denver, 4 hours each way, & i think we won’t be doing that again any time soon. next trip, since we’re both vaccinated, we’ll stay at a hotel overnight & return the following day. that said, we did accomplish everything we set out to do, so we’re happy about that!

a day away from a work in progress is, actually, a gift. i returned to the very skinny 78x16” 2021 creek oil 4 with fresh eyes.

what i like about what i’ve done so far today on this painting is my addition of an ochre cabinet behind the two girls. the geometry of these cabinets, along with the touch of red in the water bottle sitting on the shelf and the red bracelet on the girl with her back to us, adds a new dimension, enriching that dream space quality i strive for in my latest work.

the suggestion of blue sky above pushes that portion of the composition back in space, even though there is little to suggest sky other than the positioning and color. the ice bound pool of water below serves as an anchor.

the sketchy, seemingly unfinished look of the two figures gives the viewer something to ponder and build on; a fleeting reality that can’t be nailed down.

2021 creek oil 4 16x78” at 1pm

we spent a few weeks in nyc in 2017 where i shot a series of photos in moma and the met. i was, and continue to be enamoured of these views from above, capturing magical moments of diverse people drawn together in this common space, wandering about, with a common purpose in a museum designed to allow works of art over centuries to exist together in a cultured, spacious environment.

metrolopolitan museum 2 60 x 60” 2017 available at gremillion & company fine art, houston, tx.

2021 creek oil 4, stage 3 /  by Philip Tarlow

12:09 PM: i got an inspiration when we were on our zoom this morning. i was looking at one of my watercolor/collages hanging in our living area, which has some figures inspired by high school students sitting on the floor in the school lobby, working on their laptops. i had considered inserting figures viewed from above into this early stage composition, and somehow it clicked.

once i brushed over what i did yesterday with a diluted oil wash, i used mostly oil pastels to draw the figures. most important was the warm grey i used to make the initial drawing of the two figures.

i’m wacked out because i got up at 2am & couldn’t go back to sleep, so i’m stopping for the day and will continue on saturday. tomorrow we have to pick up a new well pump in salida & go to a doctor appointment, so i won’t be painting.

BELOW are yesterdays stage 2 & todays stage 3

starting 2021 creek oil 3 /  by Philip Tarlow

1:13 PM: this morning i was finally in the right space to begin work on the 78x26” painting commissioned by mikela.here are stages 1 & 2

just now i worked on the lower half. i wasn’t expecting it to be inspired by our recent walks up the trail to the stupa. i’ll continue tomorrow morning. i’m stopping for the day, since we’re finally going to take our afternoon stupa walk, after quite a few days when we weren’t able to.

i do love these long narrow shapes!

looking back two years / back in my studio after denver trip / the figure in the history of art revising 2021 watercolor/collage 16 /  by Philip Tarlow

2021 watercolor 16 after end of day revision

2021 watercolor/collage 16 before this afternoon’s revision

4:22 PM: at the very end of the day i decided to revise 2021 watercolor/collage 16 as well, simplifying it quite a bit and thereby creating a lot more open space for the eye.

it bears little resemblance to the previous version, which you see here. all the scrawls and scribbles are gone, the image has been flipped upside down, and there are numerous creek references, absent in the previous version. that’s one of the blessings of using collage, which allows immediate gratification of the need to make radical changes to a piece.

the houston gallery representing my work for over 20 years asked me to elaborate a bit on something i had said to him when they were asked about my use of figures by a client interested in a couple of my ano kato series paintings. i put together a very brief 2 pager:

2021 watercolor/collage 15 at 3 pm

3 pm: i worked more on 2021 watercolor/collage 15. earlier, i collaged a fair amount of white paper because it seemed too crowded. now i went back in and added a passage on the upper right, which makes more sense compositionally.

2021 watercolor/collage 15 11 x 14 3/4” following this morning’s revisions

12:43 PM: i had thought earlier today that i was going to start work on the tall skinny painting in oil on linen that mikela commissioned me to make for our west facing living room wall. but when i took another look at 2021 watercolor/collage 15, which i had worked on a few days ago, i found there was too much going on. so i flipped it 180°, collaged over about 3/4 of it with white paper, and then worked into that, playing off what remained of the original piece. the cactus blossom has become the dominant theme, and as i glance over at it now, what i did seems to have given this painting greater coherence.

BELOW: a comparative before & after

7:55 AM: we returned from denver/boulder yesterday evening following our dental cleanings, my knee shots, an acura service & food shopping. it’s a long day, with a 4 hour drive each way, which we’ll be repeating on friday.

in looking back over some 2017 photos of my gaze series, i came across this grouping, showing the evolution of one of the pieces in the series.

more when i get back to work in the studio…

continued work on 2021 watercolor 15 / starting 2021 watercolor/collage 16 /  by Philip Tarlow

2/21/21 2021 watercolor/collage 16 after my final intervention of the day

5:43 PM: and, true to form, i made yet another change to 2021 watercolor/collage 16 moments before leaving the studio for the house. i added some grey oil pastel in the upper portion. but it was too much, so i collaged over it with light white paper, cut roughly to the outline of the area covered by the grey. since the surface i’m using for this one is an off white grey-ish, the collaged white paper makes a subtle new shape, adding a new richness to the composition. i think it made a huge difference. these things regularly come to me the minute i’m ready to walk out the door at the end of my painting day.

what’s going on in this rather unusual piece is new…ish. creek inspired marks are married to calligraphic play, and sexual innuendoes abound. that yellow clipping form a london map at the bottom lifts the entire composition to new levels, compositionally as well as on an emotional note. in the future, we hope, art historials writing about my current work will point out the clear evoution of my marks, my colors, my compositions.

2:46 PM: i added one more collaged bit on the left

2021 watercolor/collage 16 at 2:45 pm

2021 watercolor/collage 16 at 2:15 pm

2021 watercolor/collage 16 flipped 180°

2:22 PM: it started by me just fooling around with a few of my fountain pens, testing out the flexibility of the nibs by making swirling, calligraphic strokes. i cut one of those sheets of notebook paper up, rearranged them on a piece of board, then began collaging until i reached this point in the process.. it’s smaller than the others: just

7 1/4x 15 1/2”, and i haven’t yet decided which side is up. right now i’m thinking i prefer the one you see on the right.

11:15 AM: today i did quite a bit of work on the new 2021 watercolor 15, employing collage more extensively than yesterday. BELOW on the left: yesterdays version, and on the right, todays. the boys head was bugging me so i collaged over it with a piece of paper oil palette from 2018, which i’ve saved, knowing i’d use it in the future. the cactus thorns on the left now repeart on the right and the hand i drew in on the bottom is not from the boy but from a photo i shot at a space gallery opening in denver a few years back. imay continue work on this one or perhaps start a new one & go back & forth between the two, as i love doing, so as not to get stuck on one or the other, if you know what i mean.

tweaks to 2021 watercolor 14 /  by Philip Tarlow

2021 watercolor/collage 15 11 3/4x15”

2:12 PM: i made a new one: 2021 watercolor/collage 15. i used a figure i’ve used before of a high school kid at a friend’s house, shot from above pouring juice into a glass. the flowering cactus plant you see in the previous watercolor is also present, as well as a few creek references: rocks & branches.

there’s a piece of map collaged on, which adds some touches of yellow echoed in the boy’s arm.

i had some interruptions while working and thought i might not pull it off, but i think it works. we’ll see tonight when i bring it back to the house.

2021 watercolor 14 after some tweaks

8:41 PM: i made a few tweaks to 2021 watercolor 14 and, after watching the live stream of the national theatre of greece live stream of the play dimitri directed, which starts at 10:30 MST, i’ll likely get to work on a new watercolor.

back in my studio / drawing of nona's mom /  by Philip Tarlow

6:40 PM: once i got watercolor 14 back to the house, i felt like it needed something more. collage maybe? stay tuned tomorrow…

3:09 PM: made some additions just before leaving for the house.

stage 1 of 2021 watercolor 14

2:52 PM:after many days of not walking up the stupa trail, we’re going to give it a try today. our 2nd covid shot after effects and weather have been the main reasons we haven’t been able to talk our afternoon trail walks.

so i started 2021 watercolor 14, which as yet has no collaged elements. but that could happen tomorrow. my inspirations here derive from the photo i posted below of flowering cactus plants plus a photo i shot from above of our friend lea and one of my many creek photos.

cacti in bloom in front of our house, june, 2020

1:09 PM: so yes, i’m starting watercolor/collage 14 today. this is one of the photos i’ll be using as inspiration. it was shot back in june, of a cactus in bloom near the house. these blossoms last only about a week, and then you’ve got to wait a year to see them again. i’ll post pics of the new watercolor in a bit.

7:36 am: we returned from denver yesterday afternoon and i’ll be back in my studio in a few hours to post what i’ll be working on today; possibly a new watercolor.

this morning i came across this 1972 drawing made in chora, andros of nona’s mother. he was the owner of a small restaurant in the plakouras neighborhood of chora, andros. the food was amazing, and this woman, his mother, was responsible to a large degree. during summer months, you would sit at the outdoor tables, which were located overlooking the bay, with the waves lapping just a few meters beneath you.

nonas had the reputation of being rather gruff, and we witnessed him more than once ordering clients to leave, even if they happened to be wealthy & powerful shipowners.

during the war, he would personally carry fresh fish packed in ice on his back up to mountain villages that were without electricity, so they could keep them fresh.