morning light / studio storage room slab / changes to the right portion of 10/2/2021 painting/collage /  by Philip Tarlow

10/2/2021 painting/collage following my latest modifications to the juggler figure on the right

DETAIL of the juggler

3:09 PM: I did a bit more o the juggler figure on the right, bringing that reddish pink back down adjacent to his chest and giving his hands and arms more definition.

10/2/2021 painting/collage at noon today, following modifications to the figure of the juggler, on the right

12:52 PM: as I posted I might do today, I made improvements to the right portion of the composition in 10/2/2021 painting/collage. the juggler was not working, so I did some collaging of a cut up ink drawing on white paper, which I went over in some areas with oil pastel.

BELOW are the before (left) and after images. notice how, in the before image, the dark upside down vermeer cutout on the upper right dominates, and grabs your eye, taking away from the flow of the overall composition. the head and face of that figure on the right are now more defined, giving him more of a presence. the highest of the 3 balls he’s juggling is no longer visible; I found it too was taking away from the overall rhythm and flow of the composition. while I liked the green of his trousers, I found it a bit much, so it’s now interrupted by a piece of white collaged paper. and there’s more contrast between the blue behind his back and his red shirt. his blue stripped shirt pops less now, allowing it to merge more seamlessly with the rest of the forms and colors. all of these modifications have, I feel, made this a far more compelling painting.

DETAIL of the figure I modified today

10:30 AM: the studio storage room slab was poured yesterday, and the guys worked till 8:30 last night, using a flood light, to smooth it out. so today & tomorrow it will be drying out and next week constuction will begin. by next weekend, i’ll have a completed storage room, with 2 windowns looking south and a door connecting it to the main studio. as soon as it’s ready, i’ll begin transferring some of the more space hogging stacks of paintings (images BELOW), and my studio will breathe again!

9:18 AM: it’s a beautiful, clear morning. the tempreature has already risen to 50° F and i’m about to meditate in our living room, then head to the studio for more modificatiopns to 10/2/2021 painting/collage.

here, the morning light casts shadows on recent creek paintings in our entryway.

slab for storage room poured today /  by Philip Tarlow

5:32 PM: the concrete slab for the studio storage room was poured today, along with the slab in front of our house. next week, once the cement has thoroughly dried, construction will begin, and within2 weeks, it will be completed.

we had to go briefly to moffat, a 25 minute drive, mid-day, which broke up my day, and i didn’t get any painting done. but when i looked critically at 10/2/2021 painting/collage, i saw clearly that the right hand side needs work so it can integrate with the composition as a whole.. so that’s likely what i’ll do in the morning.

continuing 10/2/2021 painting/collage /  by Philip Tarlow

10/2/2021 painting/collage as it looked following todays modifications

2:09 PM: this morning was a pivotal moment for this painting, which may have found it’s sea legs about an hour ago. I surrounded the upper portion of the central figure in blue, vastly simplifying the composition and emphasizing the very interesting head of that figure. and on the right, a juggler has appeared. he was there, but only in outline form. as a result, everything snapped into place, and there’s not much more to do, although I may give the juggler a bit more definition tomorrow. a painting doesn’t sing until it does. and then, a beautiful melody can be heard, if you listen carefully. you have to go where it takes you, not where you think it should.

BELOW: before (left) and after today’s modifications

continuing 10/2/2021 painting/collage /  by Philip Tarlow

10/2/2021 painting/collage at 3pm, following extensive collaging

3:16 PM: I did a bit more….actually a lot more, mostly collaging. if you compare the 2pm image below with this one, you will likely find it somewhat easier to peruse, as well as discovering unplanned, unexpected relationships of the biomorphic forms that make up this composition. they are a result of how my hand holding the matte knife moves across the piece of paper I happen to be cutting; in swirling motions that engage my entire body. the body of the tokyo olympics dancer, now upside down and bare breasted, with her checkered shorts and red hat, trails off into a snake-like shape, meeting up with the head, which you may not yet have discovered, of yet another tokyo olympics dancer, with a blue striped shirt.

DETAIL of the upside down dancer

10/2/2021 painting/collage at 2pm flipped upside down again

2:08 PM: i’ve been painting & collaging 10/2/2021 painting/collage on and off since 11:30am. I flipped the painting 360 ° so it’s in it’s original state, and added the paddler figure, who seems to want to show up everywhere. especially in a long narrow shape like this, he can serve as an anchor, from which the eye can roam at will. not sure I have much more in me, so i’m going to take a fruit & yoghurt break; we have a ton of fruit from our denver trip & have to consume before it goes bad. the raspberries are already on the edge.

11:36 AM: i’m about to jump back in to 10/2/2021 painting/collage. it’s got something, but it also needs something. let’s see what that might be.

updates as they become available.

when predictability threatens, flipit, scrape-it / storage construction /  by Philip Tarlow

10/2/2021 painting/collage today at noon after flipping, scraping & a bit of painting & collaging

1:08 PM: 10/2/2021 painting/collage was starting to become predictable. that’s boring. so I flipped her, painted & collaged a few areas & scraped like a madman.

now I like looking at it from 20 feet more than ever. my first burst seems to be lasting for about 2 hours max. that’s probably how long indigenous cultures did whatever required focus.

2:49 PM: the crew continues preparations for the 10x20 ft. storage space addition to the south side of my studio. today they’re preparing the forms for the concrete, which wil be poured thursday afternoon.

so what you see here is the form for the cement & the layer of dirt which will underly it.

moving ahead with the new painting / cutting up drawings, articles for 10/2/2021 painting/collage / 2 creek drawings /  by Philip Tarlow

10/2/2021 painting/collage at 1 pm today

1:20 PM: I spent a couple of charged hours on 10/2/2021 painting/collage & stopped when I no longer had the juice. as usual, i’ll have to re-evaluate in the morning when i’m fresh. I like what happened with the pinks & reds, the lettering scraped into the pink ( top right, ) & the fallen figure of the tennis finals winner, down on the ground in profound disbelief. the greens of the map fragment play against the green of the tokyo olympics celebration dancer on the far right, and all together, it’s jumpin’. vermeer has yet again made an appearance, as has the red headed paddler, who as yet has remained a sketchy figure.

you can discern, I think, the influences i’m absorbing by browsing elderfield’s splendid MOMA 2012 deKooning retrospective catalogue while having my morning toasted bagel & matcha tea.

11:43 AM: the rain is over for now, and the sun is shining, with a warming temperature of 56F. in preparation for the continuation of my new 10/2/2021 painting/collage, i’ve been cutting up and sorting through b&w drawings, magazine articles & maps this morning & am now ready to dive in, always trying to keep in mind that this first surge of energy is all important.

10/2/2021 painting/collage / a 2020 collage watercolor / candidates for my imminent storage space /  by Philip Tarlow

1:46 PM: this is phase 2 of 10/2/2021 painting/collage. all my focus has been on the right section, where an upside down vermeer has re-entered the picture as well as a colorful juggler from the Tokyo olympics. i’ll keep going for another few hours and post updates as they occur.

well, it’s 3 pm and I don’t think i’ll be doing any more on this new painting today. saving it for tomorrow morning when i’m fresh. that firs burst of morning energy is what’s needed, especially for this one. this new painting wants to convey to me where it wants to go, and I need to be in a place where I can listen.

DETAIL

10/2/2021 painting/collage phase 2

12:49 PM: just started 10/2/2021 painting/collage, which is 26 x 62 in. this is phase 1.

11:49 AM: just discovered this one in my files.

the view looking towards my studio bathroom today

10:08 AM: as I entered my studio this morning, I observed piles and stacks of paintings and rolls of canvas sitting just outside my studio bathroom. soon, within a few weeks, all this will be transferred to my new storage space, and the studio will have a far more open look and feel.

the two 2018 motion series paintings on the right, the gaze series painting on the bathroom wall (inspired by vermeer’s the love letter) and the skinny creek watercolor/collage beside the door frame are all available for purchase. you can view the motion series here: https://www.philiptarlow.com/motion and the gaze series here: https://www.philiptarlow.com/gaze

i’ll be getting to work as soon as I meditate & have some breakfast, which will include smoked salmon and locally baked n.y. style bagels.

another minor adjustment to 9/22/2021 painting/collage / drawing of dan /  by Philip Tarlow

9/22/2021 painting/collage today after new modifications to the central figure

2:10 PM: following our trip to denver and carbondale, i’m back in my studio. if you told me I was going to paint today, I wouldn’t have believed you. I had my 2 knee injections, which I get every 6-8 months, and my knees hurt a lot. that usually lasts 3-4 days then clears up. mikela has 20 stitches form a surgery to remove a lesion above her eye and has 20 stitches, so she’ resting. I had planned to join her, but couldn’t stay away from this painting once I saw what I wanted to do.

his bathing suit had been colorless, and I felt moved to add the blue you see here, as well as some more definition to his legs and a shadow beneath his feet.

i’ve been careful to avoid going too far down the realist rabbit hole, but it just felt like this was what needed to happen. the before and after are BELOW, so you be the judge. comments are always welcome.

4:39 PM: while sitting in the kitchen yesterday afternoon, i made a quick sketch of my friend dan, BELOW left, who has a collection of my work. BELOW right is gaze 13, one of my gaze series paintings hanging in the living room. in the foreground and beneath the painting are some of his ceramic pieces.

here’s a link to my gaze series: https://www.philiptarlow.com/gaze

a minor adjustment to 9/22/2021 painting/collage /  by Philip Tarlow

9/22/2021 painting/collage 42x54 in. after today’s changes

1:42 PM: the more I looked at this painting, the more I felt that there needed to be a tad more definition of the central paddler figure. it’s a fine line; I don’t want to get too absorbed in creating a life like figure, since this series maintains delicate balance between the abstraction and realist depiction of figures in motion, mostly viewed from above. i’ll wait till i’m back in the studio on friday to evaluate the changes I just made to the central figure, giving more definition to the back of his head & hair. I think the hint of an ear helps a lot.

BELOW: before (left) and after (right) today’s modifications

how one line can make a big difference / PERIMETERS OF THE STUDIO STORAGE SPACE ABOUT TO BE BUILT /  by Philip Tarlow

5:58 PM: mikela is at a dinner event at the university in alamosa & i’m here posting following a small dinner. there was a thunderstorm happening & it was pouring, so i couldn’t eat on the deck, as i had planned.

work will begin in a few days on the new 10x20 ft. storage space addition on the south side of my studio, and i’m SO excited!!

i shot a couple of photos of the exterior south wall of the studio, where the storage space will be. it will run the 20 ft. length of what was meant to be a trombe wall (collects heat & transfers to the interior) but wasn’t properly constructed so it never really worked. anyway, the space will run the length of that metal wall and extend out from it 10 ft. there will be a door connecting to the studio about in the middle. with the right shelving, i should easily be able to fit all the painting currently clogging up my studio interior. on friday, the concrete company’s truck will arrive and pour the cement foundation, which the construction crew will frame wednesday & thursday. they’ll also pour cement into a framed 4x14ft. area in front of the front door of our house, which is 500 ft. north of the studio, so that we no longer track mud into the house when it’s raining or snowing.

the second cement slab will be located here, in front of the door.

9/22/2021 painting/collage after accenting the line running down the left side of the paddler’s body.

2:07 PM: I kind of thought 9/22/2021 painting/collage was resolved, until mikela took a look and gave me the following feedback: the central figure needs to be a little more defined.” so today, I looked carefully and saw exactly what she meant.

so as I was stretching a new 26x62 in. portrait linen canvas, I grabbed a big fat, dark blue oil stick and darkened the line defining the left side of his body and the lower left edge of his bathing suit. you can see the difference in the two images BELOW. in yesterday’s version on the left, that figure gets lost in the overall conflagration of forms, colors and lines.