starting 5/16/21 watercolor-collage while brewing ginger-tumeric tea / parade 17 /  by Philip Tarlow

6:31 PM: parade 17, oil and collage on linen, 16x16” was painted in 2010. it hangs in our entryway.

ano kato is a series of paintings made in 2010, which can be viewed on this page:

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

2:36 PM: i started working on 5/16/21 watercolor/collage earlier, and switched off with making modifications to yesterday’s 5/15/21 watercolor/collage.

yesterday’s is on the right, BELOW, and today’s on the left. neither are resolved, so i might do a bit more work now before calling it a day. the ever present horizontal log has appeared in both, giving each a compositional boost.

thus far, i’d say today’s is more coherent, & reads quite well from a distance. framed, it might even be a knockout. it’s a good lesson in the use of white space, because if you look at one then the other, what may strike you is how, in today’s watercolor/collage, the so called negative spaces have a life of their own, while simultaneously playing a critical role in the entire composition. i like how the number 8 becomes a focal point to which your eye can return after traveling through the blues, greens, grays and orange-pinks.

12:06 PM: i’m strating 5/16/21 watercolor/collage while making ginger-tumeric tea. read up on the benefits of both & you’ll become a fan. ask me if you need help with the ingredients, other than fresh grated ginger & tumeric.

i was considering going out to paint plein air at the creek, which i haven’t done in months, but it’s going to cloud over again this afternoon, with possible thunderstorms, so i’ll stay here & work.

2020 self portraits discovered / dinner on the deck yesterday evening / starting a new watercolor /  by Philip Tarlow

3:22 PM: and here’s stage 3. seem a bit scattered? in person, it hangs together more than on the screen. a delicate fellow. i think i may stop here; i’m kind of running out of juice & i’d like to sit with this overnight & see what happens sunday morning.

2:57 PM: this is stage 2.

2:07 PM: this is the first stage of today’s watercolor/collage. spare, wouldn’t you say?keep it this way & start a new one?

stay tuned!

5/15/21 watercolor/collage at 2 pm

12:55 PM: about to start 5/15/21 watercolor/collage which i suppose could be considered a birthday watercolor. on the other hand, mikela and i both declared birthdays ridiculous and vowed to stop acknowledging or celebrating them. most indigenous tribal members have no idea when they were born, and have a very different concept of what we know as time.

i’ll post pics, as usual, once i get to stage 1 of the new painting.

11:38 AM: at the request of a greek friend who is compiling artists portraits i discovered a couple of small self portraits from 2020.

our deck dinner yesterday was delightful!

starting a new watercolor / 5/3/21 creek oil in the living room sunlight /  by Philip Tarlow

3:43 PM: so if you look at my post from 20 minutes ago, i was going to wait till tomorrow to decide whether to collage. i didn’t wait, and just now added 3 collaged pieces which i think relieve the congestion and add a note of mystery, as well as the love i have for crestone/baca, which is what the map is. the pen and ink drawing is what’s left of what i did yesterday and added to one of my creek oil series of paintings.

once again, the unplanned, unexpected seemingly random interruption/enrichment of the composition wins the day, and harmony raises it’s flag of victory.

5/14/21 watercolor stage 3

3:20 PM: i’m just about cooked for the day, so i’m stopping here. not certain whether it’s complete. i might introduce a little collage tomorrow.

2:35 PM: stage 2 of 5/14/21 watercolor. a variety of greens, oranges and blues have enriched the composition. there’s more movement than there was in stage 1. i’ll keep working for about another hour, while i still have the juice.

BELOW: 2 details

1:40 PM: here’s stage 1 of 5/14/21 watercolor. it’s inspired by a trail walk we took about a week ago.

more a bit later, as it evolves…

11:52 AM: i brought 5/3/21 creek oil over to the house yesterday and plan on hanging it this afternoon. for now, it sits on the floor beneath our east living room north window. i like the light & shadow falling on the painting. i’m starting a new watercolor in a few minutes & will update as it progresses.

so what did you do today, philip? /  by Philip Tarlow

5:49 PM: an odd day, it was. i had absolutely no juice to paint. nada. so i did some stretching & unstretching, preparing for my next paintings. i did look at my books on 18th century painter taiga.

as you can see from the paint stained book cover, i’ve spent lots of time studying this remarkable artist. i made a series of studies in 2011, ABOVE, which dramatically influenced my path from then on.

i contemplated how my current series of creek oils reflect the lessons i learned from my old buddy.

4/29/21 creek oil, BELOW, may give you an idea. this creek-scape contains many of the same elements as taiga’s landscape based compositions. i’m beginning to think maybe i’ve finally found a way to integrate his discoveries.

this is how art happens; over decades, we slowly wind our way back to our core identity, the one we were all born with then forgot. the freedom of a particular mark in a particular moment bursts forth, defining new territory as it sniffs the aroma of now.

5/3/21 creek oil 26 x 78”

DETAIL of 5/3/21 creek oil 26 x 78”

continued work on 5/9/21 creek oil and a few adjustments to 4/29/21 creek oil /  by Philip Tarlow

5/9/21 creek oil as it looked moments ago, after removing the lichen spots from the grey rock on the right

3:51 PM: i looked at 5/9/21 creek oil before leaving the studio for the day & i didn’t like the texture i put on the big grey rock . so it’s gone. here’s how it looked moments ago, and if you scroll down you can compare with the earlier version.

2:52 PM: i worked on both of these paintings yesterday. i didn’t get a great sleep last night, so i took it very slow.

first i made some major changes to 4/29/21 creek oil. i had worked on it yesterday and wasn’t satisfied with the result. there was a big violet blue shadow under the horizontal log which is now way lighter and has been broken up by collaged white pieces and a map cutout. i think it works, but as usual, i won’t know till tomorrow morning. that violet-blue shadow beneath the tree trunk was coming from my mind. as a result, it doesn’t work with the total composition, and just weighs the whole thing down. i’m finding that those pieces of collaged white paper with india ink drawings introduce just enough playfulness to take the eye for a magical ride.

BELOW: left: after today’s session and right: how it looked end of day yesterday

i did very little to 5/9/21 creek oil, focusing mainly on the big grey rock and the diagonal tree trunk on the right, which now has some characteristic aspen markings as well as a bit more light and shadow. most of what i did can be seen in the grey rock. it now has markings that are the result of lichen growing over many years and through many seasons. not yet sure if it works, as it is in stark contrast with the more abstracted areas of the composition. on the other hand, i like that contrast, serving as a reminder that this painting was inspired by the hundreds of plein air paintings i’ve made at our creeks over the past few decades.

BELOW: left: the painting after today’s session and right: how it looked end of day yesterday

modifications to 4/29/21 creek oil and continued work on 5/9/21 creek oil /  by Philip Tarlow

1:33 PM: i resumed work this morning on the newest addition to this series, which are all 26 x 78” on artfix quadruple primed linen. this particular painting is one the medium texture linen, as opposed to the other 3, which are on the extra fine surface. i’m finding that, in the future , i’ll stick with the finer surface, which is easier to collage onto since it has a finer “tooth.”

BELOW: top: current state, bottom: yesterday afternoon

5/9/21 creek oil after today’s work

5/9/21 creek oil as it looked yesterday afternoon

1:17 PM: i keep feeling that 4/29/21 creek oil is just too busy. yes, it had some beautiful passages, but sometimes you just have to sacrifice them for the sake of the whole. and this is one of those times.

so i did some work, mainly collaged elements, and will continue on and off until it’s resolved. as you know if you’re a regular, i love going back and forth between two or more paintings, which tends to keep it fresh.

BELOW: the image on top show the painting after the modifications i made this morning. on the bottom: the painting as it looked 2 days ago.

4/29/21 creek oil as it looked two days ago

BELOW: left: today’s oil palette right: some of my collage materials

continued work today on 5/9/21 creek oil / a 2016 facebook post of a gaze series painting /  by Philip Tarlow

4:27 PM: facebook sent me this 2016 post this morning. it was during the period i was fully engaged in my gaze series, which you can see on this page, or you can find it by clicking on the works dropdown menu & scrolling down to gaze. https://www.philiptarlow.com/gaze

this no longer exists in this state, but now that i see it, i realize i could have left it as is. makes me kind of sad, but that’s the nature of my work and how i go about it. if i were to keep every stage of every painting, i’d have to have a gigantic storage space.

on the other hand, i do keep excellent photo records, so there’s plenty of material for a book.

2:06 PM:

the collaged bit you see here is cut from a piece of white paper with a drawing in india ink of objects in the studio was made earlier this morning specifically for use in this composition, where i think it works well. as to placement, i leave that to my intuition in the moment.

i’m now busy stretching a new canvas and will continue work on this one tomorrow.

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

DETAIL showing on of the collaged elements

11:58 AM: picking up where i left off yesterday afternoon, i began adding collage to the composition. i am, for now, maintaining lots of white space. i’ve probably got another hour or so of juice. at the same time, i’m placing an order for more 78x16” stretcher bars as well as other materials.

here’s an example of one of the collaged pieces. if you click on this image, it’s easier to see the woman with the white scarf at the top.

5/9/21 creek oil,26x78” at noon today

7:14 AM: here i am at work yesterday on 5/9/21 creek oil, which i’ll continue working on when i get to my studio in a few hours.

a further modification of 4/29/21 creek oil / starting a new one /  by Philip Tarlow

2:58 PM: we’re going to attempt to take our trail walk in about 1/2 hour. hopefully we won’t have to turn back due to heavy hail, as we did yesterday!

i did a bit more work on the new 5/9/21 creek oil. i was hesitant to do anything because it was such a great start, but i knew it needed more work. so i’m progressing slowly, making sure i’m in the groove before doing anything, and i’ll continue tomorrow morning.

5/9/21 creek oil, 26x78” as it looked at the end of my painting day today

12:35 PM: i got the new canvas stretched over a layer of masonite to allow for collaging later on. this is the first stage. it’s so much more simple than the other three, it almost makes me want to make 3 more that are this simple. that could make it easier for them to be hung together as a suite.

let’s see if this one remains as simple as it is at the moment. right now i’m dreaming of having a dozen or so stretched canvases this same size: 26x78”. that would make it easier to continue in this simple, playful mode.

10:38 am: as i prepared to stretch a new canvas for the 4th in this series, i looked critically at 4/29/21creek oil and saw where i needed to make some changes, which i did. most of my changes were in the center and right portions of the composition. the large, unbroken area of white collaged paper covering the horizontal tree trunk was broken up; the slender vertical tree trunk just to the right of that now crosses over the horizontal trunk, and two strategic rock forms have appeared in what was a blank white space immediately above the center of that horizontal tree trunk. all together, these modifications make the composition easier and more pleasurable for the eye to navigate BELOW on top: after the changes; and below, before.

adjustment to 4/29/21 creek oil /  by Philip Tarlow

6:50 PM: we set off to take our trail walk at 3:30 pm. 20 minutes into it, we encountered a hail storm with lots of loud thunder, so we turned back and as we turned to face the valley, we saw this.

5:8:21 hail storm 1.jpg

12:16 PM: now that i made hte adjustment you see below, i’m moving on the a new, 4th painting in this series. i will update as the day goes on

12:09 PM: i just made a small but very critical modification to 4/29/21 creek oil. i removed the red shape in the center of the composition, which was drawing the eye to it, to the detriment of the whole composition.

BELOW: the before and after (top)

starting the adjustments to 4/29/21 creek oil /  by Philip Tarlow

4/29/21 creek oil after a day of revisions, at 4 pm

3:57 pm: and this is how 4/29/21 creek oil looked at the end of my painting day and just before my 4pm call

2:11 PM: here’s 4/29/21 creek oil as it looked moments ago. still working.

4/29/21 creek oil as it looked moments ago; still working…

10:53 AM: just finishing up re-stretching 4/29/21 creek oil so that i can begin making changes, mostly in the direction of simplification. i’ll update as the process moves ahead. here’s how it looks now, before modifications.