6/10/2021 creek oil modifications / 7/25/2021 ano kato 16x20 continues / 7/10/2021 modifications / 1980 egg tempera painting-"Santa Monica Beach" /  by Philip Tarlow

6/10/2021 creek oil as a horizontal at 5pm, 7/26/2021 26x78in.

5:11 PM: at the end of the day, i hung 6/10/2021 creek oil horizontally on my east studio wall and asked mikela to walk over & give her opinion. as soon as she saw it,she became ecstatic and had certaintly that was the ideal way to view it, although it works as a vertical as well. so now, it may finally resolved; i’ll see how it strikes me tomorrow morning after our trail walk.

7/25/2021 ano kato 16x20” at 3pm

3:39 PM:i went back & forth between 3 paintings today: 7/25/2021 ano kato 16x20” now looks like this. previous stages can be founding my earlier, 12 noon post below. this is the current state.

the second painting I worked on is 7/10/2021 creek oil. I had thought it was resolved, and we had it hanging in the house for the past 10 days or so. the more I looked at it, it became clear that it needed more work.it was too simplistic, too predictable. I hate when paintings, my own or others’, are predictable. for example, in the comparative before & after images below, the upward looking face of the guy in the blue plaid shirt really bothered me, as did the little girl’s hat. too perfect.i’m into blue stripes going down the side of a painting these days. but it’s not a gimmick; they all have a compositional raison d’être.

it’s getting there, but needs more work/play.

BELOW: the before & after

and finally, I made more modifications to the ever changing 6/10/2021 creek oil. I tried flipping it to a horizontal, which may just work; here are the two versions, vertical & horizontal, after the work/play I did today.

12 noon:I took 7/25/2021 ano kato 16x20” a step further, even though I said yesterday that I was considering leaving it spare. as it was. some creek tree trunks have entered the picture; some more color on the figures and yellow on the left & right borders. the green coat is kinda cool, don’t you think?

i’m going back & forth between a few paintings, as I love doing, so i’m not yet sure when this one’s turn will come again, if at all!

more as the day progresses.

BELOW: yesterday’ version (left) and how it looked moments ago

6/10/2021 creek oil revisions / 7/25/2021 Ano Kato / a 2015 painting revisited /  by Philip Tarlow

5:54 PM: AND, at the very last minute, he runs over to 6/10/2021 creek oil and…wait a minute…he’s grabbing a piece of paper, taping it to the canvas and…yes, an oil pastel and….yes!, he’s making changes just before heading out the door!

BELOW: 6/10/2021 creek oil this morning at at end of day

6/10/2021 creek oil at 5:30 pm

4:16 PM: and a revision to 7/9/2021 watering the flowers. it’s reduced in it’s dimensions to 18 3/4 x 20 in. and the composition has been simplified, particularly the area on the left. BELOW: before (left) and after images.

7/25/2021 ano kato 16x20” oil & oil pastel on portrait linen

1:56 PM: yesterday, while waiting for mikela to walk over to the studio & give me some feedback on 6/10/2021 creek oil, I began a new painting in my ano kato series. it’s small relative to what i’ve been working/playing on lately: 16x20 in. the image is inspired by a series of photos I shot from an upper floor of moma, looking down on the visitors to the museum. I may leave it as is. click on the WORKS drop down menu above right, and then on ano kato or

copy & paste the link to see the ano kato series:

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

1:25 PM: revisions to 6/10/2021 creek oil continued today, with my main focus being the grey form above the figure. previously there was a large image of a girl stooping to pick something up from a grassy area. that was taken out a couple of days ago and replaced by a small female figure viewed from above. that didn’t work either. the grey area that was left seemed too large, too dominant, and needed breaking up. so here’s the latest iteration.

a section of a colorado map has been introduced, breaking up the mass of grey, to which the eye was previously drawn, and allowing the rest of the composition to sing. the blues, distributed around the composition, are much more available to the eye, and the large male figure seen from above and striding we know not where, appears to have a more purposeful gait. the blue, yellow and black vertical bands of color tie it all together and allow the playfulness of the bits of collaged pen drawings, such as the one on the upper left, to play a greater role.

the legs of the striding figure trail off into a drawn outline, giving us the message “i’m not finished yet with my journey.” which reflects how I feel too.

yesterday, in a phone conversation, my friend p.g. told me about a visit he had paid a few days earlier, to the renowned painter wayne thiebaud, who, my friend related, interrupted their conversation because he said he was late for his tennis lesson. thiebaud, best known for his paintings of cakes & other deserts, turned 100 in november. and after his tennis lesson he would return to the studio and spend the rest of his day painting. “i’m not yet finished with my journey!”

BELOW are the stages of 6/10/2021 creek oil, since june when it was born.

11:55 AM: I pulled out one of my older hard drives and was going through it a little while ago. this is one of the many paintings-in-progress I found on the drive. it’s titled 10/27/15 grey 4, stage 1. since it was painted over, this is the only record I have of it. it includes collaged elements, such as the map on the upper left, and is interesting to me as a record of the evolution of my work and the opening of my vision over the 6 years since this was created.

and now, back to my revisions of 6/10/2021 creek oil, which I was working on yesterday.

BELOW: as it looked at the end of. the day yesterday

yesterday's moonrise, this morning's sunrise / 6/7/21 creek drawing, continued modifications to 6/10/2021 creek oil /  by Philip Tarlow

3:28 PM: I asked mikela to stroll over and give me some feedback. as you know, she has a great eye. after looking at it for a while, she expressed her opinion that the new figure I painted in didn’t work. I agreed. it’s like from another story. so out it went, and here’s the current state. we’ll see what happens tomorrow morning. right now a thunderstorm is approaching, with very loud claps of thunder, so i’m going to wrap this up & see if I can get back to the house before it starts pouring.

6/10/2021 creek oil at 3pm

6/10/2021 creek oil, 26x78 in. at noon

12:20 PM: continued modifications to 6/10/2021 creek oil this morning: I took out the upper figure of the girl stooping in the grass. it seemed too much, too confusing.

in her place is a small rendering of a woman viewed from above in the museum of modern art, nyc. the scale is deliberately far smaller than that of the striding male figure below her, and on either side are tree branches. she is enveloped in a neutral, warm grey and there are indications that she’s walking on a floor divided into squares.

aside from the modest information i’ve provided it’s up the you, the viewer to tell the story of what’s going on here.

8:59 AM: as I entered my studio just now, I rummaged through a small backpack I use for plain air drawings and paintings. I found a drawing book and singled out this drawing made last month on June 7, before mosquito season kicked in. i’ll be heading back to make plain air drawings & paintings in a few weeks, once mosquito season had ended. I used to go out during the season wearing my mosquito netting jacket, but it’s too much of a hassle, so i’ll wait.

as soon as I meditate and have some breakfast, i’ll get to work. i’m looking at the work/play I did yesterday on 6/10/2021 creek oil. and it seems to me it needs more.

we’ll see where I go with it in an hour or so; stay tuned!

6/7/2021 creek drawing

6:28 AM sunrise sky this morning

7:10 AM: last night, while watching the stunning tokyo olympics opening ceremony, we could see the full moon risng through the thunder clouds from yesterday night’s storms. we got .39 inches. this is GREAT news, beacuse it puts us within reach of hitting normal amounts of precip by the end of this month.

plus, we’re fortunate to be escaping the effects of the massive heat dome coming to most of the country this week. our temperatures will remain just about normal, in the low ‘80’s, with thunderstorms highly likely each afternoon. this drives temperatures down to the mid ‘60’s, sometimes upper ‘50’s within an hour or two. last night for example, when this moonrise shot was taken, we were already down to 56F.

re-working 6/10/2021 creek oil, day 2 /  by Philip Tarlow

yesterday’s and today’s creek oils side by side. yesterday’s, on the left, measures 60 x 26 in. and today’s is 78 x 26 in.

both of these paintings have a number of layers, both of oil paint and collaged papers. they’ve been extensively scraped with a large palette knife and, in the case of the one on the right, sanded with a fine sandpaper to remove some wrinkles in a large piece of paper i collaged imperfectly. never did that before. it naturally created lots of dust, and also allowed me to tear off strips of the collaged white paper in a way that actually contributed to the texture of the surface.

you may discern that i’ve been looking at and learning a lot from matisse lately. i’m finding him less bound in time than the others of that peiod, which i love. timelessness is the way to go! all indigenous cultures knew that. the mayoruna, for example carried time with them and had no concept at all of past and present.

DETAIL

2:37 PM: I took it a few steps further, adding that black stripe on the right, which I kind of like. and I also like that the stooping red haired girl, because of the spirts of grass around her back, it looks like she has wings like an angel. so the relationship of the two is open to interpretation. but now that i’m looking at it, the stooping female figure could also be seen as a galloping horse! the head is on the upper left, the body & legs below.

I think i’ll call it a day.

as always, I can’t really evaluate what I did till tomorrow morning when I enter the studio after our trail walk. i’m aware i’ve said this before, but I think something fresh is emerging, incorporating elements of paths i’ve travelled down before and continuing to integrate the creeks-scape with the human figure viewed from above.

but, as many other artists have said, the essence of what I do can’t be evoked by words. it’s in the painting.

12:17 PM: I picked up where I left off yesterday, re-working 6/10/2021 creek oil. 2 figures viewed from above have appeared. one, the string fellow with the black sweater over his shoulders, is larger in this painting. the second has never appeared before, she is a loosely defined girl with red hair, bending to pick something out of the green grass at her feet.

BELOW: yesterday’s version of the left, and on the right the painting as it looked moments ago, after this morning’s work/play

I think I may continue on this one for a while, so i’ll post any updates when available.

re-working 6/10/2021 creek oil /  by Philip Tarlow

4:38 PM: we lived with it for a month and it just wasn’t doing it. too much going on. beautiful bits, but it didn’t read as one whole image. so here you see me sanding some paper I collaged on, which developed wrinkles. i’ll get into it tomorrow morning.

BELOW: at work on the painting/collage on june 13 and on the right, sanding the panting this afternoon

7/18/2021 creek oil completed / a stormy afternoon sky /  by Philip Tarlow

12:23 PM: my all important first impression this morning was that 7/18/2021 creek oil was completed. so I hung it on my east wall and re-shot it in a better light than yesterday, as well as getting a few important details.

as often happens, the most important changes I made yesterday happened at the very end of the day: the blue and yellow vertical bands of color, broken by the figure viewed from above and a few of the collaged, cut up ink drawings. one of these is the drawing of a container of brass tacks used to temporarily stretch the linen canvas over the also temporary masonite backing, which facilitates collaging. they can be seen just to the left on the head of the figure & above his left shoulder.

the origin of this walking figure was a group of passers by during a military parade on skoufa street, near Kolonaki square in athens, in 2009. I witnessed the parade from the 2nd floor balcony above skoufa gallery, which represented my greek work during that period. my Ano Kato series of paintings emerged from many of the photos I shot that fateful afternoon. copy & paste the link below to visit that page of the site.

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

a few minutes ago, I ordered stretcher bars committing me to a series of at least 3 new paintings in this series, all of which will be, like this one, 60x26.”

7/18/2021 creek oil 60x26” re-shot this morning

5:04 PM: as predicted, today’s clear morning skies gave way to dark clouds and wind gusts, with thunderstorms likely towards sunset. as you know if you follow my posts, i love the skies here in crestone/baca, at all times of year.

looking west from our driveway at 3pm

why 7/18/2021 creek oil is messed up/ a fresh start /  by Philip Tarlow

3:44 PM: ABOVE: and here’s the next stage, with the addition of a vertical stripe of yellow next to the blue. some scraping has also taken place, breaking up the blue somewhat, as well as the black sweater over his shoulders. it’s almost 4pm & i’m burnt out. plus, we’re expecting the septic truck any minute, to come empty our 2 tanks, one here & one at the house. so i’ll pick up where I left off tomorrow morning.

3pm: here’s the next stage of the painting/collage, with a rather bold addition of blue on the left. comparative view BELOW:

11:44 AM: so, after returning from the P.O., I utilized my morning energy to start fresh. what I mean by that is that I dove into this painting/collage without attempting to “save” any of what I did over the past 2 days. I lay the canvas down on my 2 saw horses and began to play.now, you can’t play forever….or maybe…anyway, before even meditating, which is normally what I do first, before breakfast, before anything, I began working/playing. in this case playing is a more appropriate term.

more pieces of an ink drawing I made 2 days ago were collaged in and ,perhaps more importantly, a walking figure seen from above has appeared. he’s also in 7/4/2021 creek oil.

https://www.philiptarlow.com/2021-creek-oils

so, you might ask, where’s the creek? well, those bits of blue are, or could be, creek water, and the two just visible horizontal forms above the figure are, or started out as, tree trunks.

i’d best leave it be now. once I start analyzing, my mind cuts in and whatever else I do is messed up, like what I did yesterday.

but, and this is key, it’s all valuable, all part of a process that’s as unpredictable as it is inevitable. when you short circuit the unpredictability, you get a mess. and if you press into that mess, well….you get what you see here.

maybe this is a good time to meditate. see ya later.

7:33 AM: so why is 7/18/2021 creek oil so messed up?

1) trying too hard to make it good

2) trying too hard to make it work

3) trying to repeat a past success

4) trying

i’ve got to make a quick run to the P.O. before going to the studio, but i should be able to get to work/play by 10-ish. so let’s see what i do today!

BELOW: 4 stages of the painting over 2 days

continuing 7/18/2021 creek oil today /  by Philip Tarlow

7/18/2021 creek oil as it looked after my last modification of the day

4:09 PM: as I was about to walk out the door, you’ll never guess what I saw & what I did! that blue bit on the bottom was annoying me, so a took it out, and now I feel much better about the painting, although I do think it needs one more round tomorrow.

7/18/2021 creek oil as it looked moments ago

3:34 PM: this is the latest state of the painting/collage. i’ll resume in the morning; right now, i’m cooked. but I do think we’ll walk up the trail tomorrow around 7am, and I should be in the studio by 10.

7/18/2021 creek oil as it looked at 1:30pm today

1:30 PM: here’s the painting as it looked moments ago. i’m continuing work/play & will post when I have updates. i’ve been working on the easel but now feel like laying it flat, using the saw horses gifted to me by our dear friend lea.

11:50 AM: working/playing on 7/18/2021 creek oil moments ago

10:38 AM: we had a great time with our dinner guests last night, and got to bed much later than usual. so i’m a ltttle out of it this morning, but i’ll start painting as soon as i finish my breakfast…..

10:44 AM: which is right now. i’ll post once i get something done…

at work yesterday on 7/18/2021 creek oil

starting 7/18/2021 creek oil /  by Philip Tarlow

7/18/2021 creek oil. 26x60 in. at 3:30pm today

3:56 PM: I started work/play on the new 7/18/2021 creek oil, which measures 26x60” thus far, i’m using oil paint, oil pastels, pencil, crayons & collage. I launched in rather late in the day, and have to stop a bit early because we’re having dinner guests.

i’m learning from the previous paintings in this series, and my mark making is increasingly informed by what’s coming next and what is of value to the total space of the composition, and not just a good or clever idea.

tentatively arranging the cut up pieces of yesterday’s ink drawing on the blank canvas

2:34 PM: today I cut the masonite (with my new electric saw) for the temporary backing and stretched the primed linen canvas over it. you can see the drawings I made yesterday and cut into pieces arranges on the blank canvas. they won’t stay that way, but at some point will work their way into the as yet unknown composition. an adventure, you might say.

revisiting "Bathers at Yialia Beach", 2010 /  by Philip Tarlow

11:06 AM: before getting to work/play, i revisited a painting made over the course of 3 years: 2007-2010. it measures 8.5x5.25",47x13cm and is painted in oil on stretched linen.

niki karagatsi, tailor shop, chania, crete 1971 tempera 41x30cm.

over breakfast, I was looking at a book of paintings by my former mother-in-law, the greek painter niki karagatsi. it made me somewhat nostalgic for those days when niki and I would go out together to paint. she didn’t drive, so it was convenient to have me along as her driver. we frequently painted the same subjects; perhaps a tailor in his shop, or a view of the landscape in chania, crete, where we spent a few summers. when in andros, we would often swim at piso yialia beach, a short walk over a little hill, from the main beach of yialia. during my final years living and painting in greece, I shot a photo of two male bathers at that beach. back in colorado, that photo haunted me and was iconic of andros and of that period of my life. so I made this little painting in 2007, and periodically went back and worked on it until 2010, when I felt it was complete.

so let’s see what I do today, and if it’s influenced by this flashback.