11/26/2021 creek oil/collage continued /  by Philip Tarlow

11/26/2021 creek oil/collage as it looked moments ago, at the end of my painting day today

2:08 PM: I started feeling too attached to the landscape elements, especially those tree trunks. so I worked into it some more. it’s getting towards the time for our stupa walk, so i’m going to stop for the day. it’s become a stupa walk rather than a creek walk due to the snow & ice on the shady parts of the creek trail. we have cleats, but we’d rather not use them till later in the winter, so we’re going up to the stupa instead, enjoying the panoramic valley views.

i’m also gearing up for the tokyo olympics celebration series, for which I made the 9 studies you see BELOW

DETAIL showing mikela walking up the creek

11:50 AM: mikela has entered the composition, inspired by a photo I shot of her walking up the trail a few days ago. unexpected. let’s see where it goes from here…

11/26/2021 creek oil/collage, 40 1/2 x 45 1/2" continued / banana bread and ginger-tumeric tea /  by Philip Tarlow

11/26/2021 creek oil/collage, 40 1/2 x 45 1/2" as it looked at the end of my painting day today

1:44 PM: i’m stopping for the day. a bit early, but I started early, which I liked, and ran out of juice just now. we’re going for our walk in about an hour, and I wanted to post before heading back over to the house.

I like where it’s at, and am not sure whether I want to do any more to it. this is always a good time to start a new one, so that I have something to work on while casting glances at this one to see what, if anything, it wants.

at work this morning on 11/26/2021 creek oil/collage, 40 1/2 x 45 1/2"

12:47 PM: I continued work on the new 11/26/2021 creek oil/collage, 40 1/2 x 45 1/2" this morning. I only add something when I get the green light from….where the hell does that green light come from. a cultured gut? cultured by decades of looking, mark making and many other seemingly unrelated activities.

11:18 AM: this morning as i resumed work on 11/26/2021 creek oil/collage, 40 1/2 x 45 1/2", i made some banana bread and a pot of ginger/tumeric tea. this is by far the best banana bread i’ve ever made. i sued the miss jonesorganic banana bread mix & used 3 over ripe bananas we had & added walnuts & raisins. i baked for a little more than the recommended 55 minutes, so it’s got a great crisp crust on top. then i used this recipe https://foolproofliving.com/turmeric-ginger-tea/ to make my ginger/tumeric tea, which has numerous proven health benefits. here’s some pics:

11/26/2021 creek oil/collage, 40 1/2 x 45 1/2" / clearing the space /  by Philip Tarlow

2:51 PM: this morning I transferred quite a few of the paintings that had been stacked against my studio walls to the new storage room. the studio is already feeling more spacious, and this is just the beginning!

once I got the paintings moved, I started a new 40 1/2 x 45 1/2” creek painting which is destined to sit in a big beautiful wood frame which now contains an older work, “karen asleep.”

here’s the first stage of this new painting

study #9 for tokyo olympics series, continued /  by Philip Tarlow

2:30 PM: I continued work on study#9 for olympic celebration series, and I may have done too much. as I said yesterday, I love those early stages, with lots of white space & room to dream.

i’ll know in the morning what’s what.

BELOW: yesterdays version on the left

study #9 for tokyo olympics series / morning skies as snow approaches / studio storage room completed /  by Philip Tarlow

2:06 PM: I started working on tokyo olympics series #9. it’s inspired by photos of another skate boarder, arms flung back as he jumps with his board. this is phase 1, which will continue tomorrow.

I always love these early phases, where there’s lots of white space and it’s left to the viewer to fill in the blanks.

7:18 AM: our morning skies show some signs of approaching snowfall this afternoon and evening.

4:30 PM: BELOW: snow squalls began moving in mid-afternoon. we probably won’t get more than an inch, but every little bit counts when you’re in draught.

yesterday afternoon work was completed on my new studio storage space, after almost a month of on and off work. i’m going to leave the walls as is since it’s a storage space and i kind of like the patterning.

study #8 for olympic celebration /  by Philip Tarlow

3:03 PM: I made further modifications to study #8 for olympic celebration, adding some collaged bits to break up that curve on the upper left, which was dominating the composition.

the upper portion of the composition now integrates with the whole and allows it to breathe.

that may be it for today, and i’ll see how it strikes me in the morning. but i’ll probably bring it back to the house so that we can both gaze and give our reactions.

2:19 PM: i’ve been working on study #8 for olympic celebration since I last. posted, about 2 hours ago. work is being completed on my new storage room today, so there were a few interruptions. I introduced collaged elements when I felt I could take the watercolor painting phase no further.

the curved piece on the top left is critical to this composition, as are the red strip beneath his skate board and the map fragment covering his hand, on the left.

12:29 PM: this morning I completed study #7 for olympic celebration and immediately launched in to phase 1 of study #8 for my olympic celebration series. once again, we have a skateboarder, this time with red pants & a cool patterned hat. it’s easy to forget that these are NOT paintings of skateboarders! they are, simply, paintings. they are marks made with, in this case a pencil and watercolor brush. as always, the “subject” is space, color, painterly marks, creating the illusion of skateboarders.

completing study #7 for olympic celebration /  by Philip Tarlow

10:47 AM: a few more small but important strokes and yesterdays new watercolor, now a watercolor/collage, is complete. the small bits of red & blue beneath his skateboard are what I just did, along with the curved line defining the brim of his cap.

and now, on to my next one. stay tuned…

BELOW: yesterdays version is on the left

starting study #7 for olympic celebration /  by Philip Tarlow

2:56 PM: I started painting a new skateboarder, which i’ll continue in the morning. although, looking at it right now, it doesn’t really need a whole helluva lot.

a bit, a very small bit of collage may show up just beneath his skate board. we’ll see in the morning.

yesterdays creek walk /  by Philip Tarlow

7:20 PM: the colors were spectacular when we took our walk up the trail yesterday. ice had formed on the rocks, creating a beautiful pattern.

i made a 10 minute reed pen sketch before strating back down the trail with mikela.

study #6 for olympic celebration continued /  by Philip Tarlow

studies 2,3,4 & 6 for the olympic celebration series

1:30 PM: I continued work on study #6 for olympic celebration. collage was used to enrich the composition and introduce a note of playfulness, mirroring the energy of the entire celebration.

there’s a recurrence of checkered patterning throughout the celebration, both on the clothing designs and the background sets. this particular acrobatic figure had none of that, but I introduced it anyway when I determined that the blackness of her garment was taking away from the composition as a whole.

the acid test in this series is to place the latest one in process next to the others and see if it works, which it does. so i’m thinking this one may be resolved and I can move on to the next one.

later this afternoon we’ll be walking up the trail. i’ll have my reed pen, ink & sketchbook with me & will post if I make a sketch.

BELOW: left: how it looked yesterday afternoon and right: moments ago

at work today on study #6 for olympic celebration