July 24, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

5:23 PM: after struggling for decades with wooden stretcher bars that would regularly warp, i finally woke up and got some wood/aluminum bars, which i tried for the first time today. what a difference!!! i stretched the two paintings you see BELOW. the one on the right, dwell, 17x80” would have been very difficult if not impossible with the wooden bars. the aluminum bars have an ingenious system for joining the corners, making them seem like a piece of fine cabinetry: smooth, clean, with a perfect 90° angle.

10:31 AM: we took our trail walk a bit later than usual, so the light was different. i think these morning creek drawings are improving. i once had a show titled same time, same place. that would be an appropriate title for a future exhibition that could include the best of these creek drawings as well as larger studio paintings in oil. something to think about!

paddlers on bright yellow, day 5 / July 20, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

1:43 PM: today is a short day. i waited for mikela to leave for school in monte vista & got to the studio around 11. i made some additions to the painting, to the left of the paddler on the left, adding the broken outline of the same paddler’s body, with body color only on his leg &, very lightly, on his back. but i like how it reads now. this is one of those things that could be a discovery one repeats elsewhere, but i firmly believe each painting; each composiiton, has it’s own logic and identity. had i not made a series of at least4-5 paintings with the paddlers last year, i couldn’t have gotten to this point with those same 2 paddlers. not to say the earlier versions were incomplete of undeveloped. they were exactly what they needed to be in the sea i was swimming in at the time.

BELOW: yesterday’s stage, on the LEFT, and today’s, RIGHT

detail showing the addition i made this morning

BELOW: an earlier version of the two paddlers, painted a little less than a year ago, on august 2, 2021

paddlers on bright yellow, day 4 / July 19, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

*paddlers on bright yellow* after removing the green to the left of the paddler moments ago

3:52 PM: a few minutes ago, i took out that green to the left of the paddler on the left. when she came over to discuss storage space shelving, mikela commented that she didn’t like that green, and i agreed. so i took it out while it was still wet & easy to remove, and i’ll see tomorrow what, if anything, i want to replace it with.

BELOW: before and after removing the green to the left of the paddler.

*paddlers on bright yellow* 38x44” oil & collage on portrait linen as it looked moments ago

2:31 PM: yesterday’s stage seemed unfinished when i entered my studio this morning & gazed at it while having my matcha tea & toast. in contrast with earlier versions of the paddlers, which you can see if you scroll down on this page: https://www.philiptarlow.com/2021-recentpaintings, i want to a simpler yet more punchy image, where the 2 paddlers are the only act in town. i think it’s getting there. a friend who has been helping me with construction in my studio will be arriving in 15 minutes to determine what kind of shelving is needed in my new storage space. mikela, who is good at anything architectural, has made a drawing, which she’ll bring over. then he’ll go cut the wood & return tomorrow to install. so i have to stop painting early today; see y’all tomorrow!

BELOW: yesterday’s stage of the painting is on the left

fayum portraits / paddlers on bright yellow, day 3 / July 18, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

*paddlers on bright yellow* 38x44” oil & collage on portrait linen as it looked moments ago, following extensive work

11:14 AM: i felt detached enough to yesterday’s state of paddlers on bright yellow this morning to brake free. so what you see is the result of a few hours of pure play. informed play, of course. i won’t say much more right now. you can look and make your own evaluation of where it’s been & where it’s at right now, BELOW (on the LEFT is yesterday’s stage of development)

follow the energy is the roole uv thum. and ifu kant, due somethin els untill ukan! reeda buk, maik a dish; cleen upp; jus dont dyve bak-in till u kan follo the enirgi!

i posted this today on FB. you can view this and other portraits on this page:

https://www.philiptarlow.com/portraits

paddlers on bright yellow, day 2 / July 17, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

2:54 PM: i very gingerly continued work on paddlers on bright yellow today. the blue surrounding the paddler on the right is new, and i did more work on his upper body. plus, the paddler on the left now holds a paddle. i like what i did today, especially since i was pretty late getting to the studio. we didn’t get back from our walk till 9:30 & i didn’t arrive at the studio till almost 11. it was a great walk, with temperatures hovering around 65-8F and a real sparkle in the air. i made a drawing by the creek and photographed a beautiful “dead” tree, which you can see BELOW. i put dead in quotes because, if you take a look at it, it seems more alive or as alive as many living trees. i know, i know, it’s no longer growing or receiving nourishment from the earth, but…

i’m glad i took it slow. as i said yesterday, i don’t want to ruin the delicate balance of form & color this one has, and i relish that feeling of totally not knowing where it will take me next.

BELOW: left-”dead” tree we saw on our walk and on the right-the creek drawing i made this morning

paddlers on bright yellow / July 16, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

*paddlers on bright yellow*, 38x44” oil & collage on portrait linen

1:59 PM: i took paddlers on bright yellow to the next stage, being careful not to overdo it. so why the wriinkles in the canvas? it’s tacked to the wall & won’t be stretched till we return from denver next week with the new aluminum & wood stretcher bars. why aluminum? i’ve had a terrible time with stretcher bars warping, so i decided on these, which won’t warp but are quite a bit more expensive. they’re holding all the sizes i need at the art supply store in denver.

so, getting back to this new painting, i like the face that i’ve painted these 2 paddlers so many times that i know every curve and twist in their bodies. this allows me the freedom to play, which is at the very heart of painting. the faint images of the mythological figures in the underpainting are also very helpful, as are the collaged bits of a magazine article, although it’s hard to explain why. all i can say at the moment is that they introduce an element of accident or chance that i’m more and more attracted to in my new work. as i’ve said many times, i hate predictability! since our very survival as a species is in serious doubt, all bets are off anyway!

so how, for example, will that piece of an 18th century portrait in one of the collaged bits interact with these two paddlers in a sea of bright yellow? who knows? but it will certainly give the new owners of this painting, when that time comes, something to contemplate.

the tricky part is always where to stop. is the “unfinished” area of the body of the paddler on the left more eloquent left as is?

tomorrow is our morning to take our trail walk, so i’ll get to the studio a bit later than today, and we’ll see how it all strikes me when i open the door and have a look.

*paddlers on bright yellow,* 38x44”, stage 1

11:51 AM: as a result of the annual monsoonal flow, we should get some thunderstorms this afternoon from abot 4 to 6pm. it’s clearat the moment and 78°F.

this morning i took the 38x44” canvas that i covered with bright yellow oils thursday & again yesterday, and began work on a new piece, titled paddlers in bright yellow. i’ve made a number of paintings inspired by the photos i shot a few years ago of two guys paddling near alamosa, colorado, 50 miles to our south. i took the shots from a bridge over the rio grande river.

BELOW is one of those paintings, made a year ago and currently hanging in our living room.

more "dinner party" tweaks / July 15, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

2:41 PM: have i ever made this many tweaks to a painting? i just can’t stop! but i do feel it gets better with every tweak i make. today i made changes to the tablecloth, the fireplace, the hair of the woman in the center-left, the plates & glasses and more.

BELOW: before (left) and after.

DETAIL of changes to the tablecloth today

tweaks to the dinner party” / yesterday's "mosaic" is now a yellow surface awaiting next moves / July 14, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

*Ithe dinner party*, 38x40” oil on portrait linen

3:23 PM: i made some tweaks to the dinner party, which i had thought was resolved. yesterday before leaving the studio, i took out the sculptures on the right side of the composition and replaced them with a mirror, which is reflecting the backs of the 3 women guests. today i broke up the solid blues of the sweaters of the two men at either end of the table, gave the woman on the upper right her right arm & filled her plate with food….lots of small but significant stuff that has resulted in a more coherent composiiton. as well, the woman in the red dress no longer looks as if her nipple is popping out. and i love that the light blue shape on the very lower left is so crucial to the entire composition.

i’ve never had this experiencce before, but every so often the question entered my consciousness: “what would bonnard do here?”

time to wrap up & go back to the house & lie down. see y’all tomorrow.

BELOW: before (left) & after

12:02 PM: mother & child at space became mosaic yesterday, and this morning i painted over it with brilliant yellow oils and will wait a day or two till the paint dries to make my next move.

in the mean time, i think i’ll make some tweaks to the dinner party, following some observations by mikela yesterday when she came over to have a look.

i already implemented one of her suggestions. the sculptures on the wall on the right side of the composition, which were bothering me too before she even said anything, have become a mirror, reflecting the backs of the 3 women sitting and having dinner. of course i had to make that up, since of course the photos i shot back in 2016 didn’t include any rear views.

"mother & child at space" is now "mosaic" / July 13, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

*mosaic,* 38x44” as it looked at the end of my painting day today

3:20 PM: i spent most of today taking the newly titled, for obvious reasons, mosaic, to the next stage in it’s development. the mythological figures have been further developed, new ones added and a piece of an article on minoan pottery collaged on the right. the black swirls in this reproduction of a minoan ceramic piece offset the flesh tones of the figures. and the two dolphins below lighten the mood, introducing a playfulness. what remains of yesterday’s image of the mother and child provides a richness of color: the reds of the baby’s shirt and a certain, what for me is an exciting visual fluidity/ambiguity.

*mosaic* 38x44” oil & collage on portrait linen, as it looked earlier today

1:17 PM: i scraped & collaged over the first stage of mother & chils at space, which i started yesterday, and today took a different path. so the painting is now titled mosaic, inspired by one of the pompeiian mosaics from about 79 AD. too early to tell where it’s headed, which is unpredictable for the moment. stay tuned!

yesterday's trail walk & drawing / "mother and child at space," continued / July 12, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

*mother and child at space* as it looked at the end of my painting day today

3:35 PM: i began painting mother and child at space today, working mostly on the figures of the mother holding her baby. tomorrow i’ll expand to the rest of the painting.

7:52 AM: yesterday morning we took our trail walk. i was especially peppy, and made it up to our landmark rock in a record 24.25 minutes. since i arrived 8 minutes ahead of mikela, i had time to make this small drawing in colored pencil. mikela walked up a bit further, giving me enough time to complete the drawing. making these little drawings on a regular basis is invaluable to my process, and, for now, a good substitute for the drawings i used to make during the period when we were traveling for our work, when i would sit in coffee shops and restaurants and make drawings of the people sitting at tables eating or talking.