December 24, 2021 by Philip Tarlow

2:22 PM: the area above the two dancer’s heads was bugging me, so I went into it, broke up that grey & added a few swirling siena pencil marks. little things like this can make a huge difference in the overall impression the painting makes on the viewer.

*12/20/2021 oil/collage* as it looked moments ago

1:47 PM: an overcast day, but no rain to ease or extreme draught.

the naked figure was a fun experiment, but its not really me, plus, in that dancer pose she’s in it looked like she was about to pee. so that’s history. instead, I remembered my own words about the nature of painting and just went about treating it as if it were a collection of painterly marks on a 2 dimensional surface which work together to create a coherent, moving whole.

a few musicians from a pompeian mosaic are faintly visible over on the right & some patterns from an iranian source are livening up the central areas. it’d starting to sing, but it ain’t there yet. a bit of a falsetto.

that’s it for today; i’m going to clean my brushes & go back to the house.

continuing 12/20/2021 oil/collage / December 23, 2021 by Philip Tarlow

12:33 PM: it’s a partly sunny day. clouds will increase this afternoon and there’s a possibility of snow starting in the early morning hours tomorrow, into friday.

the two dancers was an interesting idea, but I was finding it somewhat boring. so I undressed the one on the right, which definitely livens things up. funny how risqué it feels to paint breasts and vaginal hair! hey tarlow, it’s 2021! get with it!

i’m taking a little tea break. i’m making throat coat tea to sooth my GERD, which is a condition resulting from acid reflux, where your larynx becomes sore and inflamed & it’s hard to swallow.

i’ll resume painting in 10-15 minutes.

12/20/2021 oil/collage continued / December 22, 2021 by Philip Tarlow

2:14 PM: I continued work on 12/20/2021 oil/collage today, adding a second dancing figure and simplifying the right side of the composition.

what you may not notice in the larger photo of the full painting are the sienna marks to the right of the dancers, which are inspired by landscape drawings.

the green leafy plants i’ve begun to add are from some of my creek watercolors.

there’s a significant compositional difference from yesterday’s version, which you can see BELOW.

12/20/2021 oil/collage continued / 1976 exhibition catalogue with text by Tsarouchis / December 21, 2021 by Philip Tarlow

*12/20/2021 oil/collage* as it looked at 2pm

1:53 PM: I continued work on 12/20/2021 oil/collage today, adding creek elements, so that the the dancing female figure is surrounded by foliage, with some logs & branches to her left.

a little while ago, I ran across this exhibition catalogue from 1976. my friend & mentor, Yannis Tsarouchis wrote the text, something he rarely did for an artist. so it was a great honor.

the painting on the cover is one of a series of paintings I did during that period of construction workers from a building project near my studio in athens.

i’ll work on a translation & post it when it’s ready.

4:25 PM: i went back over to the studio & scraped into that orange/yellow, which you see BELOW on the right. possibly not the best move.but i’ll work it out tomorrow.

starting 12/20/2021 oil/collage / December 20, 2021 by Philip Tarlow

1:38 PM: I started work on the new 12/20/2021 oil/collage this morning and having been painting & drawing until just a few moments ago.

one of my creek drawings is superimposed on a ballerina viewed from above. this one is just in it’s early stages yet it already exudes mystery and spatial enigmas. increasingly, I view my own daily experiences as a series of events inspire/time superimposed. upon one another, whirling and swirling.

10:11 AM: since mikela had to get an early start get to the high school she’s working with today, that allowed me to do all my prep & get to the studio earlier than usual. following breakfast, cut a new piece of primed portrait linen, the same size as 11/30/2021 creek oil/collage.thinking ahead to my june denver exhibition, i’m going to try and maintain similar sizes.

BELOW: 11/30/2021 creek oil/collage next to the blank primed linen I just tacked to the wall.

9/22/2021 painting revisited / re-stretching 11/26/2021 creek oil/collage / December 19, 2021 by Philip Tarlow

2:43 PM: today I unstretched karen sleeping and used those stretcher bars to stretch 11/26/2021 creek oil/collage. Below are the two paintings side by side.

11/26/2021 creek oil/collage will enter the big, beautiful frame intended for karen sleeping, which will be shipped to her.

11:47 AM: this is 9/22/2021 painting/collage 42 x 54 in. oil, oil stick and collage on portrait linen. it’s one of a series I did back in september, which at the moment seems like a few years ago.

continuing 12/16/2021 watercolor/collage / December 18, 2021 by Philip Tarlow

*12/16/2021 watercolor/collage* at the end of my painting day today

2:47 PM: this is my final series of changes before leaving my studio for the day. actually, I have some paperwork i’ve been putting off, so i’ll do that then go back to the house.

with the addition of more yellows and some flesh tones on the bodies of the mythological figures, this piece has warmed up. gazing at it from about 15 feet, which i’m now doing, that warmth creates a much more sensitive impression, while simultaneously maintaining the playful notes i’ve been playing with this series. all that’s left of the acrobatic figure from the tokyo olympics celebration is his checkered sleeve; a critical element in the composition. what I love about how i’ve been working recently was expressed perfectly in his paper and glue piece on msnbc. he said what matters to him is the process. and one of the inmates he videoed and photographed in the maximum security california prison said the exact same thing. “I never know, going into a new project, where it will go. I don’t plan it; it just happens.” my sentiments exactly!

*12/16/2021 watercolor/collage* at 2pm today

2:02 PM: taking 12/16/2021 watercolor/collage to the next level, one can now discern some figures inspired by the mosaics of pompeii. work continues for another hour or so…

*12/16/2021 watercolor/collage* at noon today

12:11 PM: after making myself some delicious oatmeal with fresh fruit & nuts, I made more modifications to 12/16/2021 watercolor/collage. so many, in fact, that it’s almost unrecognizable. spatharis’ face is gone, collaged over with a piece of reed pen drawing. and much of the scrambled bunches of marks to his left, also collaged over with a piece of that same drawing. it’s definitely more coherent, but still needs something. I may move on to a new one, same size, & go back to this one when the mood strikes.

what would gorky do, one wonders. in this 1943 piece, he gives crayon a primary role, using his magical lines to give them form.

BELOW: 12/16/2021 watercolor/collage yesterday (left) & today

modifying 12/14/2021 watercolor/collage / continuing 12/16/2021 watercolor/collage / December 17, 2021 by Philip Tarlow

5:46 PM: today i took 12/16/2021 watercolor/collage to the next stage. BELOW are the 3 stages thus far. greek shadow theatre master sotiris spatharis is once again the centerpiece of the composition. i’ll take it further tomorrow. we’re just back from our walk up to the stupa. it was a chilly walk this afternoon, with temperatures below freezing and a moderate wind, making it feel colder.

the creek at the head of the stupa trail

1:05 PM: this morning I made some changes to 12/14/2021 watercolor/collage. BELOW are the before & after pics.

*12/14/2021 watercolor/collage* following this morning’s modifications

a watercolor/collage from 2014 / continuing 12/14/2021 watercolor/collage & starting 12/16/2021 watercolor/collage / December 16, 2021 by Philip Tarlow

*12/14/2021 watercolor/collage* as it looked moments ago, at the end of my painting day

3:03 PM: today I went back & forth between the new 12/16/2021 watercolor/collage and 12/14/2021 watercolor/collage. possibly the most significant change to 12/14/2021 watercolor/collage was the removal of the cactus blossom in the center of the composition, which felt more and more like a distraction and a remnant from the previous piece. I collaged a piece of one of my recent reed pen drawings of a hammer, which is a kind of play on the fact that spatharis is using a hammer in the photo I shot of him. a bit more yellow has also entered the composition, and the strong blue collaged element on the lower left has been reduced in size by the collage piece of map you see now.

the new one, still in it’s early stages, continues to feature spatharis as a central figure in the composition. he is currently surrounded by flying bits of color, some of which are inspired by ancient mosaics. one of the tokyo olympics acrobats, who has also appeared previously, shows off his checkered sleeve beside spatharis, at work on making shadow theatre figures. i’ll pick up where I left off tomorrow morning.

*12/16/2021 watercolor/collage* in it’s early stages

7:34 AM: i was looking at some watercolor/collages i made back in 2014 & comparing them to what i’m currently doing. a big difference is in my current use of recognizable images, as well of more vibrant, primary colors. BELOW: 2014 collage on the left, yesterdays (still in process) watercollage on the right

12/14/2021 watercolor/collage continued / drawings from yesterdays school board meeting / December 15, 2021 by Philip Tarlow

*12/14/2021 watercolor/collage* an hour ago

12:44 PM: I took 12/14/2021 watercolor/collage further today, adding some collaged pieces, crayon & pencil drawing & watercolor. I always like to provide before & after pics, which you see BELOW. now it’s more of a symphony than a suite.

the central figure, sotiris spatharis, has become a double image. the musicians on the right were inspired by ancient mosaics from pompeii. the cactus blossoms I used in the previous watercolor/collage are back.

I turned 12/10/2021 watercolor/collage upside down & found that it works a lot better compositionally; see what you think, BELOW left is how I had hung it, and on the right how i’ve got it hanging now.

1:21 PM: yesterday afternoon we drove to the school board meeting in Saguache, where mikela gave a short presentation with ideas for obtaining grants. as always, I took my sketchbook and was able to make 3 drawings of attendees. one is so-so, so i’m just posting these two.