my polyptych series of 12 oil/collages is almost ready to be posted /  by Philip Tarlow

https://www.philiptarlow.com/dailyblog 4:05 PM: today I re-shot and adjusted 12 of the 19 paintings in my polyptych series, which are all approximately 14x17” on portrait linen mounted on board. I should be able to post them to the new first page of this site, titled I fly catalogue, which is the title of my upcoming exhibition at space gallery in denver, opening april 22. the exhibition is a benefit, with a large portion of the sales proceeds going to anschutz eye center, who will use it to fund their glaucoma research. vivit my BLOG for the full post.

slight modification to watercolor/collage #!0 /  by Philip Tarlow

1:22 PM: a dear friend caught something that bothered her in watercolor/collage 10. I worked on it just now & I think it has definitely improved! thanks W.L. !

the area that caught her eye is the brown swish of color on the lower left. as always, she was spot on. by the way, what that collaged area comes from is a piece of paper palette I used for oil painting.

new watercolor/collage doc for my “i fly” catalogue /  by Philip Tarlow

4:46 PM: today i worked on creating a document in keynote containing all 12 of the watercolor/collages destined to hang in my show at space gallery, opening april 22. next week, once the 10x20” grey mounting boards i ordered arrive, i’ll cut them to size and mount the 12 watercolor/collages. in a few days, these 12 pieces, the 9 oil/collages and the 12 polyptych 7.5x15” oil/collages mounted on board will be posted to the new first page of this site so that prospective buyers can choose ahead of time.

2017 works on paper / 2011 athens voice article /  by Philip Tarlow

6:02 PM: in 2017 i made a series of abstractions inspired by our creeks and by my studies of archile gorky’s works. above LEFT: rain, 38x36”, and RIGHT: sweet, 36x36” both are in acrylic, crayon, gouache & collage on paper. my journey into abstarction in 2017 followed on the heels of my 16 years of realist work in greece. well, maybe not on the heels…my years in greece were 1963-78. so there’s a 40 year gap there! you might say i picked up where i left off during the years preceding my european adventures, when i was living in nyc and making large abstractions in my 9th st. studio.

truth is, i’m as comfortable making realist paintings, like the one you see reproduced in the athens voice, BELOW as i am in my abstract works. it’s all painting! and how on earth do i talk about this when ukraine is happening? i think about the artists who lived through both world wars. braque actually fought & was seriously wounded in the war, never the same afterwards.

so, for example, in watercolor/collage 12, (RIGHT) which was completed last week, there is a melding of the two which was not intentional. it’s simply how my enthusiasm over the costumes, colors and movement present in the celebrations following the 2020 tokyo olympics, expressed itself.

my 2010 painting of monastiraki in athens, which was shown at my 2010 solo show at skoufa gallery in the Kolonaki neighborhood

12:34 PM: during a visit to athens in 2011, I was asked to write a short article accompanying the reproduction of my painting of monastiraki, at the foot of the acropolis, for the summer edition of the athens voice magazine.

this and other paintings with an athenian theme were shown in my 2010 solo exhibition at skoufa gallery adjacent to kolonaki square. in the photo of me, i’m standing in front of another painting from the exhibition, this one of athens university.

preparing for the exhibition /  by Philip Tarlow

2:47 PM: i’m making progress each day, preparing for my april 22 opening at space gallery. today I re-shot the 9 newly framed oil/collages and am almost ready to start posting them on the new first page of my site: “I fly catalogue.” potential buyers will be able to view the work before attending the opening, in order to place their bids either before or at the opening itself. proceeds will go to the Anschutz eye institute, where they will be used to support glaucoma research.

here’s a shot of two of the paintings that will be in the show. on top is 2/28/2022 oil/collage  29x38” and in the white frame beneath it is one of the 12 watercolor/collages. I like the grey mat board it’s posted on, so I just ordered more, which should arrive in a week.

an ano kato painting in our entryway /  by Philip Tarlow

6:12 PM: this long, narrow ano kato painting hangs on an equally narrow wall in our entryway. two images are combined here: the two girls sititng on the floor a a school and, above, students walking down the hallway in the same school, while in the foreground is a detail of a pool.

as the late ny times reviewer john russell wrote in 1982: “there is about him something of the storyteller, even if we never quite figure out what the story is. he makes us wonder what his people get up to when they aren't in the picture-and that is after all one of the perennial aims of painting.”

so what did i do today in my studio? i felt 80% recovered from my oral surgery on thursday. i used my energy to take high quality photographs of the oil/collages that will be hanging in the show. they are destined to be included in the new i fly catalogue on the first page of this site.

post-op /  by Philip Tarlow

1:05 PM: I had my gum surgery yesterday afternoon in boulder. the procedure took 2 hours, and I have stitches which will be removed in 2 weeks. he numbed the whole area up, so I didn’t start to feel pain till we got home last night. i’m applying ice to keep the swelling down. I came to the studio today thinking maybe I could get some work done, but i’m still too out of it. maybe tomorrow or sunday.

i’m probably going to include 2 paintings from my 2019 sound of a flute series in my upcoming I fly exhibition opening April 22 at space gallery in denver. here’s one of them, titled 10th month, dimensions 78x25” oil on portrait linen.

9 of my polyptych oil/collages mounted on board /  by Philip Tarlow

3:57 PM: today i mounted 3 more out of a total of 19 paintings inmy polyptych series. it’s a messy, difficult process making sure the surface is perfectly flat & air bubble free before the acrylic bonding liquid dries. as you press out the air bubbles, excess sticky acrylic oozes out the edges and needs to be cleaned off. i’m employing lots of old washcloths to accomplich that, which i plop into a basin of water once i’m done.not my favorite activity!

BELOW are the 9 i’ve thus far mounted on board. 10 to go, unless i decide to leave some of them out. tomorrow afternoon i’m having my osseus gum surgery (google it) so i’m hoping to get back to work on friday, depending on my level of pain & swelling.

looking back at gaze 16, 32x32", 2017 / continuing work on watercolor/collage 12 /  by Philip Tarlow

3:25 PM: before leaving, I noticed those two letters on the bottom, which are remnants of the image when it was upside down and are part of the word TOKYO. so I collaged partially over them and now my eye no longer goes there first. it still looks a bit busy on the bottom, so I may work on that in the morning.

2:52 PM: I took WATERCOLOR/COLLAGE 12 a lot further just now, and I think i’ll stop for the day, as I listen to an aboriginal dreamtime song called devil spirit.

so this piece is definitely influenced by the music. for a few minutes I was moved to dance to it. a dance unlike anything i’ve ever done. right now i’m listening to ginung (farewell). so farewell for the day my friends!

1:19 PM: i’m continuing work on the final in my series of 12 watercolor/collages today. moments ago, I flipped it 360°, and we’ll see where it goes from here. no collaged elements as of yet, but that will likely change soon.

7:43 AM: 2017 was the year i created my GAZE series of paintings in mixed media on primed linen canvas. this is one of that series, which is 32x32” visit the gaze page to view the rest: https://www.philiptarlow.com/gaze