morning drawing / two of the completed paintings in this series of 4 are now hanging on my studio wall /  by Philip Tarlow

4/23/21 creek oil (top) and 5/3/21 creek oil (bottom) hanging on my studio wall.

2:28 PM: 4/23/21 & 5/3/21 creek oils hanging on studio wall. two of the four paintings for my denver gallery are completed, and i just now hung them on my east studio wall. this may be how they are hung once they enter the client’s space. i’m now preparing to make some changes to 4/29/21 creek oil, mainly to reduce unnecessary marks and allow it be be more along the lines of these two. once that’s complete, i can start work on the final 26x78 painting likely sometime next week.

5/6/21 morning drawing 10x6” colored pencil

9:41 AM: i have to go back to the house in 10 minutes for a zoom with our german friends at 10. be back around 11:30. do i continue yesterday’s revisions of 4.23.21 creek oil, or is it resolved….for now? when i walked in the morning, i was struck by it’s freshness, boldness of composition and, yes decorative qualities.

so now i’m looking more critically at 4/29/21 creek oil critically and comparing it with the other two. it has a beauty all it’s own, and i’m loathe to mess with it. let’s see how i feel when i return from our zoom.

in the meantime, here’s the morning drawing i made a few hours ago, before meditating, looking down towards our entryway from our 2nd floor.

preparing to do more work on 4/23/21 creek oil /  by Philip Tarlow

4.23.21 creek oil in the midst of a re-work.

4PM: in the midst of all the un-stretching and re-stretching canvases, i realized i could actually do some work on 4/23/21 creek oil by just laying it flat on my plywood makeshift table. so i started working, in spite of the interruption of about an hour in order to meet with the roofer. the horizontal log quickly found it’s way in, and i had to stop just now so we can go into town & pick up our veggies. he couldn’t bring them to the house as usual because he got covid. so, in short, a kind of wacky afternoon, but productive nonetheless. here’s what it looked like before the re-work started.

when i completed work yesterday on 5/3/21 creek oil, i took a look at 4/23/21 creek oil, which i had considered complete and decided it needed more work. it has no collaged elements, which add a lot to the two most recent paintings. so i’ve got to unstretch it and place the 26x78” 1/8th inch masonite underneath, then re-stretch so that i have a hard surface to press the new, collaged pieces onto. it’s a lot of work, but well worth it. so here i go. probably won’t get to do much painting today, but i’ll try. we have the roofer coming at 3, so i don’t have too much time. BELOW are the 3 recent creek paintings, with the one i completed on the left, and the one i plan to do mor ework on on the right.

continuing work on 5/3/21 creek oil /  by Philip Tarlow

6:04 PM: back from our walk, where i took these photographs, amongst others.

5/3/21creek oil 26x78” oil, oil pastel and collage on artfix double primed linen

DETAIL

1:05 PM: 5/3/21 creek oil has progressed quite a bit since yesterday. a horizontal log has entered the composition. one could say it’s an homage to the numerous logs in and around the creeks which, in many cases are more beautiful than their still standing brothers and sisters. more collaged maps have been added, and this one is beginning to have more of the feel of the environs of our creeks than any previous paintings in this series.

you may notice that, in the tag under the image above, i mention that this is painted on artfix linen. in this case it’s their portrait linen, however for others in the series i’ve used their all purpose linen. in my experience, their double primed linen, which i get in 84” x 5 yard rolls, far surpasses anything else on the market. how the brush reacts when it comes in contact with the surface is all important, especially for artists like myself whose technique can be called “painterly.”

11:08 AM: good morning. i’m about to continue work on 5/3/21 creek oil. i’ll begin by introducing a few more collaged elements, and post updates as they become available.

i just added my recently completed portrait of m.b. to the portraits page of my site. you can find it under the WORKS dropdown menu, or copy this link:

https://www.philiptarlow.com/portraits

portrait of m.b. gouache on paper 10x8”

final tweaks to 4/29/21 creek oil and completing stretching canvas for next creek oil painting & starting 5/3/21 creek oil /  by Philip Tarlow

3:54 PM: i stopped working for the day and will continue in the morning. i like the big white collaged shapes and how the sound of a flute painting underneath this new one peeks through. those marks have become much more exciting in this new context. here’s the link to my sound of a flute series:

https://www.philiptarlow.com/sound-of-a-flute

as a whole. it hasn’t yet jelled, but it has a direction.

DETAIL

5/3/21 creek oil at the end of my painting day today.

1:54 PM: i began work on the next creek oil, titled 5/3/21 creek oil. it’s being painted on top of one of my sound of a flute series paintings, which were all verticals, so this one, being a horizontal, takes advantage of some of the patterning designed for a vertical.

5/3/21 creek oil as it looked moments ago

12:28 PM: it’s raining, which is relatively rare here in crestone/baca. it’s falling as s now above 11,000 ft., adding valuable snow pack at the very end of the snow season.

as i worked on completing the stretching of my next 26x78” creek oil, i cast glances at 4/29/21 creek oil and noticed an area in the lower mid portion of the composition which i felt needed a little work. so i interrupted the stretching and made some tweaks.

4/29/21 creek oil following my tweaks this morning

details of 4/29/21 creek oil, completed yesterday /  by Philip Tarlow

2:21 PM: stretching a the 4/29/21 painting after removing the masonite support. I’m stretching a new one as well, to start working on tomorrow morning.

10:46 AM: here are 3 detailed views of the second in this series of 4 26x78” paintings for my denver gallery.

continued work on 4/29/21 creek oil /  by Philip Tarlow

4/29/21 creek oil as it looked moments ago

6:50 PM: mikela & i went over and looked at it. it’s much stronger in person. much stronger. we both felt it was complete, so when it dries, i’ll bring it to the house & hang it in the living room for the final evaluation. i wish you could see the actual painting!

2:28 PM: i did quite a bit more since my 11:58 am post, including collaging a drawing my grandson philip made in february, 2018, of a window, with his signature on the back faintly bleeding through. either it’s completely out of place, or, as i suspect, it makes the whole composition click. on the left of the window is a section of a map of paris. the log that tranverses the entire composition is what you might call a device. i’m not fond of devices, except when, as i believe is the case here, they are essential to the whole, and not what i would call a gimmick. the truth is, if you could accompany me to our local creek, you’d observe many such logs, which have fallen in a strong wind or been swept down the creek by strong spring melt-off currents. the map of paris not only hides some green leaves, of which there were too many, but introduces another, different patterning in addition to the wavy ripples and the white dots referring to the bubbling water.

there’s plenty of opportunity here for your fantasy to spin out; from landscape elements to animal forms and yes, sexual innuendo.

DETAIL of the paris map & philip’s window. if you look carefully you’ll see his signature in red bleeding through.

11:58 AM: this morning i resumed work on 4/29/21 creek oil, which is painted over one of my less interesting sound of a flute series oils, 26x78”

i added a few collaged pieces, including a map of our area. the painting is still pondering who the hell it is; sound familiar? it know it’s not a realist painting of a creek. it knows it’s not a pure abstraction. i’ll keep working and see what happens between now and 3pm, when i usually run out of juice. but then, as you all know, i’m likely to do something significant just before walking out the door. more later…

by the awy, in the foreground of the above photograph is beyond the easel,” a book about the adventures of the nabis in making large, decorative paintings, thumbing their noses at the more traditionalist painters of that era.

minor change to portrait of m.b this morning / continued work on 4/29/21 creek oil views from the acropolis museum /  by Philip Tarlow

3:07 PM: this is where i’m stopping for the day. it’s coming along, but it’s not there yet.needs to breathe. and a dash of red might help. tomorrow. the medium my dear friend john in houston recommended for collaging paper onto the painting is working great!

it’s good that the horizontal branch shape was broken up by the collaged white paper. i especially love that deep red collaged bit of oil palette over on the left.

4/29/21 creek oil at 3pm pm 26x78”

11:51 AM: continued work on 4/29/21 creek oil: i decided a few days ago to paint over one of my sound of a creek series oils, which are all 78x26” so i turned it horizontally and am working into it. i’m awaiting delivery this afternoon of a substance i will use to collage some paper to this one, which is why i placed a piece of masonite the same size as the stretcher bar beneath the canvas, in order to be able to press down on the collaged pieces and secure them to the surface. here’s how this very early stage looks right now.

10:33 AM: while having my matcha tea & bagel this morning, i looked critically at portrait of m.b. and noticed that his teetch needed to be toned down a notch, which i just did. i’ll mail it off monday, and it will be a surprise since he knows i shot photos on that day we stood talking in front of the gallery, and i did mention i might use them to make a small portrait, but he doesn’t know i actually made this painting, so it will come as a surprise. BELOW: you can see the slight difference if you compare the teeth on the let (before) and the right.

4:32 PM: i’ve been going through photos i shot in 2009 at the acropolis museum, which at the time had just opened. there’s a lot of material i’m going to start using once i’ve completed these four creek oils, which my denver gallery requested i make for possible sale to a client.

reflection in the windows of the acropolis museum restaurant & deck

what you are looking at in this photo is a reflection in the windows of the restaurant area of the museum. the hill you see in the background is lykavitos in central athens and the people sitting and eating are on the deck overlooking the acropolis, which is not visible in this shot. it’s a spectacular setting!

and in the photo on the right you see the walkway leading to the museum entrance. in the background is, of course, the acrololis, and beneath the curvedf glass barrier in the foreground you can barely make out the ancient ruins that lie beneath the entire museum and are visible through the glass floor; a brilliant architectural solution.

reverting to tacks instead of staples / /  by Philip Tarlow

1:05 PM: i un-stretched a 26x78” canvas. underneath, i placed a piece of masonite i got yesterday in salida and am now re-stretching it so that when i apply collaged elements there’s a solid backing. removing the staples was a huge pain in the ass, as well as a strain on my hand & shoulder. so i decided to revert to the tried and true older method of hammer & carpet tacks. the can very easily be removed, which i’ll have to do once the painting is complete in order to re-stretch without the masonite.

i’m waiting for some mediums i ordered to be delivered, which i’ll need to facilitate laying down the collaged pieces, and in the mean time i take little breaks to fine tune my portrait of m.b., in gouache on paper, which currently looks like this.

i made improvements to his mouth, eyes & beard, as well as enriching the shadows.

BELOW: before & after today’s work on the portrait

to salida this morning / my 2015 ano kato exhibition in houston /  by Philip Tarlow

4:47 PM: this is a photo shot on november 11, 2015 at gremillion & co. fine art in houston, where i had my ano kato exhibition.

my ano kato series is on this page:

https://www.philiptarlow.com/best-left-unsaid

now that images from above have re-entered my repetoire and are being integrated into creek images, this long time passion of mine is coming alive. in going thorough old photos, BELOW are some i came across that may find their way into new paintings.

3:55 PM: this morning i made the one hour drive to salida for a dermatology appointment. as long as i was there, i did some food shopping, picked up a pressure indicator for our well pump and got a 26x78 piece of 1/8” masonite to place under whichever of the 4 canvas i’m working on for space gallery. that will allow me to collage onto the canvas, preventing it from giving way under the pressure.

around noon, it began raining in salida, and by the time i left to return to crestone, it was coming down heavily. as i drove over poncha pass, which is at about 10,000 feet, the rain turned to heavy wet snow. but it only lasted as long as i was approaching the peak, and when i got back into our vally, the sun was shining & it warmed up to the high 50’s.

on the drive back, approaching crestone and looking north towards salida, the stormy weather i drove through is visible

studio cleanup /  by Philip Tarlow

4:46 PM: i didn’t do any more work on yesterday’s gouache: portrait of m.b. instead, i was moved to do a bit of studio organization and cleanup. there’s a lot more to do, but, as you can see from the comparative photos below, the space does feel more open. i focused a lot on that west wall which, as you can see in the photo on the left, was piled with painintgs in a disorganized mess. post cleanup, on the right, all those paintings have been consolidated in the corner, leaving my painting wall as open as possible, until we can move those paintingsup ot the loft and, eventually, into a storage container outside the studio.