anschutz from above 9, continued / June 5, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

2:09 PM: I made some significant changes to anschutz from above 9 this morning. all of yesterdays scraping left the surface devoid of any clear definition, as you can see BELOW left. this morning, the seated figure was joined by the figure of a HS student, also seated on the hallway floor. in person and up close, this is a compelling image. the painterly brush work and vibrant red, greens and blues bring the whole composition to a new level of aliveness.

1:18 PM: this morning we took our first early morning walk, to avoid the heat we began encountering on our afternoon walks. it worked! a very comfortable 50F, no bugs and a heady fragrance in the air we were breathing. so that’s going to be it from now on, till the fall chill sets in again.

starting "anschutz from above 9" / June 4, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

2:31 PM:just when you think you’ve nailed it, you realize you’re nowhere near nailing it; it’s nailing you! and just when you think you’re working brilliantly wet into wet, and have surpassed all the other 8 in this series, the magnitude of your folly hits you. just stay connected and keep going until your gut lets you know it’s resolved.

what i love, when comparing it to it’s brothers & sisters, is the fiery warmth of the siena/pinks of the under-layer; the first coat of oil i applied this morning. i think i’ll call it a day, especially since we plan on walking up the trail soon. it’s a little on the warmish side to take a strenuous walk, and we’re almost but not quite at the point of switching from afternoon to early morning walks, when the temperature will be in the upper 40’s rather than the mid 70’s, as it is at the moment. and for those of you in s. texas and florida, our humidity is hovering around 13%. not exactly uncomfortable!

4:15 PM: well, our walk lasted only a few minutes; the gnats were swarming, making it impossible to walk at all. so we turned back, and our plan is to walk tomorrow morning around 7:30 am, when the temperature will be a bit over 50F. our hope is that it’s too early for the gnats. we can’t remember having such an extreme gnat problem last year. it may have to do with climate change issues, but there’s no way to know that. the mosquito season, if we have one this year, usually kicks in at the end of june.

looking now at the photos i shot of this new painting, my conclusion is that it has a long way to go. it’s still in it’s adolescence. if you look back at my blog posts of the development of previous paintings in the series, you’ll see that it’s always about the process. adding, scraping out, sometimes flipping the painting 360°…..getting out of my own way, out of my mind.

*anschutz from above 9* was it looked around 1:15 pm.

1:38 PM:i took a little break in my black chair, which goes back and up to that my feet are above my head. I put a black cloth over my eyes and did a rebirthing breath for 5 minutes. that seemed to help with the pressure I was feeling in my right eye following my ocular migraine a few hours ago. so here’s the next stage of anschutz from above 9. i’m ready to dive back in.

the new *anschutz from above 9* as it looked at noon today

12:18 PM: today I started anschutz from above 9,” which may be the last in this series. thus far, it’s quite different than it’s siblings. no scraping, plus that under painting of reddish swirls. is it connected with the ocular migraine I had about an hour ago? I get them periodically, and my eye surgeon says it’s nothing to worry about.

further tweaks to "anschutz from above 8" and tracking my passion for views from above and architectural detail / June 3, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

11:48 AM: in searching through the hundreds of paintings in gouache and watercolor on paper, I came across this one of our house interior, painted in 2006, gouache on paper, 15 1/2 x 6”

if you compare it with my current series: anschutz from above, in oil on linen, you will notice a clear connection. the patterned forms created by the light & shadow falling on the walls, the floor & the staircase of our house reveal a similar sensitivity to light falling on architecture. in this one there are no figures and the color scheme, typical of the work I was doing at the time, consists of muted beiges and whites, with a touch of red in the flower pot on the lower left. but in the 2020 photo from above I shot of mikela watering our plants (see the above photo), there’s a clear continuity of my ongoing passion for views from above, often involving architecture.

recently, i’ve been capturing images of tennis players from above from the currently broadcast french open matches. as I recognize the extent and depth of this passion of mine, I think more paintings will appear in this vein, departing from earlier manifestations in my use of bolder colors and abstracted, expressionist marks.

nadal serving yesterday during the french open

*anschutz from above 8* at 11:30am, following further tweaks

11:42 AM: I made further tweaks to anschutz from above 8, toning down the red behind and above the seated figure, defining her legs and the book she’s got on her lap and adding a triangular green architectural element above.

*anschutz from above 8* as it looked following this morning’s tweaks.

10:42 AM: upon looking closely and critically at anschutz from above 8 yesterday afternoon, both mikela and I agreed that the seated figure needed to pop more; she was getting lost in the overall architectural marks.

so I went back in and further defined her. now that i’m looking at it online, I think that red needs to be toned down. it’s a fine line between having the figure pop, and having it so strongly defined that it draws the eye away from the totality.

starting "anschutz from above 8" / June 2, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

3:43 PM: and one final palette knife swipe or two before leaving, softening the harder edges and helping create overall unity.

*anschutz from above 8* as it looked at 3pm, following some modifications to the future & the green area adjacent

3:25 PM: I reduced the intensity of that blue line intersecting the green adjacent to the seated figure, and made that figure pop more. still needs work, but i’ve had it for today, so i’m going to call it a day & clean up.

*anschutz from above 8* as it looked moments ago

2:21 PM: I made a slight but significant modification. after gazing at anschutz from above 8 while talking with mikela about how much raw, unfiltered honey to get on her way home, a kept casting glances at the painting. that vibrant green to the right of the seated figure, which is a new color for me to be using, kept drawing my eye. that almost always means it needs some modification. so I allowed the lines of the floor tiles run through it, which, as I write this, I see was a bit too much and the figure doesn’t pop enough. so here it is, and in a few minutes i’ll post the image of the softening of that line I just did.

1:22 PM: I did quite a bit more on anschutz from above 8.lots more primary-is colors that come, to some degree, from looking at early dekoonings. i’m a bit surprised at how i’m able to continue with this anschutz theme. it’s really the combination of my ongoing passion for views from above integrated with my equally intense passion for architectural details.

the new *anschutz from above 8* at 11 am today.

11:33 AM: as I said yesterday after stretching 2 new 16x20”canvases, I launched into the next in my anschutz from above series: #8.

like the others, it’s based on a number of photos I shot at the anschutz medical center in denver, from a 4th floor landing looking down at the 3rd floor landing, where patients are seated in armchairs and there’s a very wonderful view of the architecture and the view out the large windows.

so what is philip up to today? / June 1, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

1:52 PM: let me start by offering my gratitude for those of you who are regular visitors to my blog. it means A LOT to me!

well, I started out by stretching 2 more 16x20” linen, quadruple primed canvases fo the final 2 paintings in my anschutz from above series. ok. i’ll start painting on them tomorrow.

then I had the inspiration to go into my newly built storage room, which is already full & overflowing, and look for some landscapes of the sangre de christo mountains I painted some years ago in oil on canvas. I found four, which you see here hanging on top of the gouache on paper paintings I found in my drawer & pinned to the wall a few days ago. my idea is to turn some of them into limited edition prints. they’ll be very reasonably priced, and, if I can find the right person to assist me, will be sold around the valley in places such as the great sand dunes national park. I think people will recognize that these are special, made by a real, internationally acclaimed artist, and will look great framed & hung oil their walls, in addition to reminding them of their visit to our magical valley.

then I found this 2014 16x16” collage on paper amongst the stacks of as yet undocumented work from the past few decades. it leapt out at me as being a prime example of one of those one in a hundred or so works that stand out, and bring together the discoveries made over decades in one stunning piece. this one ain’t goin’ nowhere; it’s OURS! but, once again, as with the oils of the sangres, it could be turned into a limited edition print and become available at a reasonable price.

starting anschutz from above 7 / May 31, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

6pm: and one more last minute, unifying update.

*anschutz from above 7* as it looked at the end of my painting day today

3:33 PM: I did some more work on this painting, and here’s how it currently looks.

1:18 PM: this morning I started starting anschutz from above 7 . a few more figures are included, including two from photos I shot some years ago in the then new acropolis museum in athens, and the seated student I included in the previous painting.

BELOW: stages 1 & 2

11 gouaches of there slV, 1999-2001 / our afternoon in salida / May 30, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

11:34 AM: I found these 11 gouache paintings of our san Luis valley, made in 1999-2001, in my files this morning. i’ve been considering turning one or more into limited edition prints, which will be for sale. this is early on in my exploration of how to make that happen. they were all made on site, from our car, which I drove out to a remote valley location with a great view of the sangre de christo mountains. it’s SO exciting to see them together for the first time! I was just on the phone with a good friend, who knows about turning paintings into prints and will come over to have a look sometime in the next week. more soon! BELOW is one of the 11 you see in the photo above

*the sangre de christo mts. seen from san luis valley*, 10 1/2 x 36” gouache on paper, 1999

9:42 AM: salida is a one hour drive north from crestone. there was an annual bluegrass festival yesterday, which we had attended last year, so we decided to go again.

last year was very different, as it was for many attendees the first time post covid that they felt relatively safe going to a big event like this. there was a lot of dancing and, in general, there was an air of freedom and celebration.

this year was very different. lousy music, fewer attendees, all of whom seemed to have dogs. some very elegant and beautiful dogs. so we didn’t dance, as there were only a few people doing that. instead we walked about, I made a few drawings of families sitting at the river’s edge and shot about 60 photos, looking at them from above, which I thought I might use for a new series of paintings.

at the river yesterday in salida, during the bluegrass festival

more work on anschutz from above 6 / history of my ano kato series / May 29, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

11:45: I put all six anschutz from above paintings on my east wall and noticed that the most recent one: anschutz from above 6, seemed incomplete. so I did some more work on it. BELOW: the before & after. current version on the right.

*o kyrios yannis* (mr. yannis) watercolor on paper, ca. 1972

6:15 AM: this early ‘70’s watercolor may be the earliest example of my lifelong passion for views from above. it was painted in the early’70’s in my studio, which was at the time beneath the acropolis on the edge of the plaka neighborhood of athens, overlooking the roman era tower of the winds. o kyrios yannis as we knew him, was an elderly man with a pet cat, which you see curled up in the chair next to him. his self appointed job was to park cars. he would park my vauxhall viva every morning when i arrived at my studio. if i leaned out my window, i could see him from above, sitting in his favorite chair.

so this was part of my interest in everyday life in athens that formed the basis of the series of drawings and paintings i made at the time. another very important part was played by the construction workers, who were building something diagonally across from my studio. they would come and pose for drawings and paintings regularly, as would kyriakos, the street sweeper who would become my main model during that period.

i’ll post more pics related to this period later in the day, but i’m starting with this seminal watercolor, which is in mikela’s office space in our house.

anschutz from above 6, day 2 / May 27, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

*anschutz from above 6* as it looked at 1pm, following this mornings session

1:16 PM: after another round of back & forth with apple, trying to resolve the sound issues with my iPhone max pro, I continued work on anschutz from above 6 , employing a few colors I haven’t used recently, especially in combination with each other; mostly blues and light pinks.

two figures I haven’t used in a while have also shown up: the high school girls with the blue & green tops in the center of the composition. so this is obviously a departure from the previous 5 in the series, in that 2 new figures have appeared who are not associated with anschutz medical center. the architectural references are, on the other hand, all coming from the fascinating anschutz structure.

some of you who are familiar may have guessed that i’ve been looking carefully at early dekooning and diebenkorn recently.

BELOW : yesterdays version is on the left

looking back: εβχαρις (evharis taverna) 2010 / starting anschutz from above 6 / May 26, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

noon: I made my first marks on anschutz from above 6 and will continue in the morning; we have an appointment this afternoon so I won’t be in the studio.

11:35 AM: this morning I started the sixth in my series of 16x20” paintings in oil on portrait linen: anschutz from above 6. i’m starting out with a drawing in colored pencil & crayon.

*evharis taverna* 42 x 36” 2010 private collection, athens

BELOW: the invitation to my 2010 skoufa gallery exhibition

7:36 am: this painting was shown at my 2020 solo exhibition at skoufa gallery in athens, where it was sold to an athenian collector. it’s one of a series of paintings of athens cityscapes and andros landscapes i made at the time, which can be viewed on this page of my site: https://philip-tarlow.squarespace.com/config/

in 2009 we visited my son dimitri in athens and andros. during that visit i shot numerous photos of subjects that interested and moved me at the time, many of which were the inspiration for this series of paintings.

having lived and painted in athens and andros for an unbroken period of 15 years in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s, life in andros and athens was very familiar and dear to me. i remember coming across this taverna and feeling as though every aspect of it: the patrons and how they held their bodies; the lighting; the intimacy were all so familiar. since i had mastered the language, the conversations i overheard were also movingly familiar. the series of paintings you will see on this page of my site all reflect this warm familiarity with the lifestyle i knew and loved so deeply, as well as my love for painting figures in the landscape and in urban settings: https://philip-tarlow.squarespace.com/config/