starting a new painting today=DOOBIE DOOBIE / October 8, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

*doobie doobie*, 32x32”, oil on portrait linen

2:07 PM:i better b qwik, because in just 21 minutes we’ll be taking our creek walk. so the new painting, which is being painted over one that i started, is titled doobie doobie. whereas the one i’m painting over was inspired by an old photo of an interior, this one is inspired by a newer photo of the creek. we’ll see where i take it tomorrow, but right now i kinda like the stark simplicity uv-it.

the two: mosaic 1 and doobie doobie are sitting side by side on my painting wall, and they seem to be getting along quite well!

12:41 PM: i consider mosaic 1 resolved, so i’m starting something new today.

here’s a little reminder that my exhibition at CMC Aspen Gallery and lobby, 0255 Sage Way, Aspen Business Center, Aspen is hung and will be up through december 22.

right now i’m in the process of choosing a surface for my next painting. i’ll update you when i’ve chosen and tacked it top my east painting wall.

a trip to the dentist / October 7, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

2:02 PM: today was crown day. i drove the hour to salida. the landscape at 7am was brilliant, and the temperature in the valley was just below freezing.

i had a 2 hour session, where she worked on a root canal tooth with a gold crown, which she removed, cleaned the decay deep beneath the tooth & installed a temporary crown while the permanent one is being made in the lab. the only pain was gum pain, since the tooth had no nerves, and she numbed my gums, so virtually no pain.

i was not in a state to go spend time in my studio, so i took a break. 4 more sessions left, including a cracked root canal molar extraction, which i’m not looking forward to.

mosaic 1 next stage / October 6, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

1:43 pm: i got rid of the blue checkerboard patterning; it was in my head from a previous painting, not in my gut from this one.

the greys are much better suited to this composition, and i allowed just enough of the underlying pinks to show through. the bold black drawing of the rocks makes it clear that this has become a creek-scape. and the heads of the ancient mosaic figures remind us why it’s titled mosaic 1. the red calligraphic marks i painted in yesterday morning help make it clear that this is, above all, a painting, not a mosaic or a creekscape. my process in getting it to this point is transparent, so that the viewer becomes more of a participant in that process rather than the observer of a fait accompli.

11:224 AM: this morning a blue checkerboard patterning appeared in the upper quadrant, as well as some oranges & yellows in the center. work continues while i still have the juice.

mosaic 1 continuedmosaic 1 / October 5, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

3:20 PM: mikela had class & dropped my off in the studio on her way this morning. i’ve been working non-stop on mosaic 1 except for a one hour break when our new windows were delivered. we’re storrning them here in the studio till they can be installed, starting friday. we’re replacing most but not all of our 29 year old windows, which will give us far better insulation & reduce sun damage to our upholstery to near zero.

after going over the entire surface with pinkish red yesterday, i worked into it today, introducing a creek landscape element. at the end of the day, i flipped it 180° making the remaining mosaic faces upright.

but tomorrow i may continue working on it as you see it pre-flipping. actually, after gazing at it while posting this, i decided i prefer it in the pre-flip state!

BELOW: our new windows awaiting installation, starting friday

*mosaic 1* which i just now flipped 180°, so that the creek-scape appears upside down and the mosaic faces are right side up

mosaic 1, day 5, post biValent COVID vaccine / October 4, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

*mosaic 1* following this morning’s work

12:17 PM: yesterday we went to salida for dental appointments & covid moderna biValent booster shots. we had cleanings at the dentist, and they found 4-5 areas of deep decay which will require a number of visits, removal of craowns & a number of other procedures over an equal number of visits. i’ve been having moderate to extreme pain in an upper molar where i had a root canal 2 years ago, and what they discovered, which they’ll call to confirm today, is that the molar in question is cracked, causing the pain, and needs to be extracted. more information than you wanted or needed to know, but i’ve got to vent somewhere!

as for the covid shots, we’re both feeling the predicted side effects, so we’re just lying down & not doing much work. i did get about an hour of work done on mosaic 1 however. it’s getting more interesting and emitting faint sounds of song, but it has a long way to go. i may start a second one to move the energy elsewhere.

the underlying painting, which you can see on days 1 & 2, was inspired by an ancient roman/grek mosaic seen from above & being restored by the figure on the left. that was painted over with a pink-ish color. then the image of a byzantine church in central athens, surrounded by blue sky began to appear. that was painted over whit titanium/zinc white, then scraped into & blotted over this morning, then flipped 180° so that the church roof looks kind of like a flower pot.

the first clip from my talk / taking mosaic 1 to the next stage / October 2, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

*mosaic 1* as it looked moments ago, after an intense few hours of work

1:16 PM: after posting the first & longest clip of my 10/29 talk, i continued work on mosaic 1. i scraped over it & then painted over the entire composition with a pinkish color, then scraped some more & added a few collaged bits. that may be all i do on this rainy chilly day, and i’ll pick it back up tomorrow.

going over the composition with pink oil paint

12:14 PM: this is the first & longest clip of my talk: 10 minutes. the camera doesn’t always follow me when i walk over to talk about a painting; i’ll remedy this later, when i learn how to insert stills into the video.

the opening was GREAT! / continued work on “mosaic 1” / October 1, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

*mosaic 1* as it looked this afternoon at the end of my first day back in the studio

3:28 PM: following a break for the opening of my aspen show, i was able to get back to work on mosaic 1 today. it felt so great to be holding a brush in my hand!

thus far there has been no collaging, no scraping or painting over. i’m not ruling it out though!

this is the first of a series of about 20-25 paintings intended for my athens exhibition, scheduled to open mid-march, 2023. that venue and that particular art-loving public, with whom i am so intimately familiar, are definitely influencing the direction this new series is taking.

8:08 AM: our very first impression were the 4 sound of a flute series paintings on the tall 2 story wall in the entryway; a stroke of genius on the part of the director, lauren, who hung the show, seen here from the 2nd floor looking down.

i haven’t yet taken my shower or meditated this morning following an intense 48 hours of travel to aspen/carbondale, so when i’m more settled, i’ll share more photos from the opening & start working on posting the video of my half hour talk.

to be included in my "jestur" talk at my opening tomorrow / September 28, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

the 32x40” board of images i put together for my exhibition opening in aspen tomorrow

3:54 PM: this morning and into early afternoon i completed work on printing and mounting the collection of images you see above, mounted on a 32x40” board. it will be placed behind me as i talk, and although attendees won’t be able to make out details or the labels i made and attached, they will get the general idea from afar and be able to view it close up following my 20 minute talk. the purpose is, of course, to shed more light on the title of the exhibition: jestur. what’s the nature of the gesstural marks in these works? how and why do they transcend time, so that a cave painting made over 18,000 years ago rests ocmfortably next to a matisse painted in 1938? why does a vermeer sleeve evoke abstractions? how does the painterly show up in all these works, regardless of it’s origins in time and space?

7:33 AM: these are a few of the art historical examples of jestur i’ll be referring to tomorrow at my gallery talk.

mosaic 1 continued/ exhibition prep / September 27, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

1:17 PM: i did a bit more on mosaic 1 this morning, but i need to wait till we’re back from the exhibition to do anything more; i have too much to do and to think about right now.

so i’m going to print out some 19x13” images i want to use to illustrate my talk on thursday. we arranged to have dinner with the friends we’re staying with that night, and then lunch with another couple who are friends & live in the area, so it should be a fun trip. i’m really looking forward to seeing what the paintings look like hanging in the gallery space!

mosaic 1 / September 25, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

*mosaic 1* 42x35” oil on portrait linen, as it looked at the end of my painting day

2:36 PM: i took mosaic 1 further this afternoon, adding the figure of the guy who is cleaning and restoring the ancient mosaic. it will be interesting to see whether i do my usual scrapeover and this becomes the underpainting. but right now, i’m finding it exciting the way it’s going. and because these paintings are for a greek audience, my mind has shifted in that direction, and so far it seems to be reflected in this new work.

but there’s no way i could have done what i did today without the artfix portrait linen. it’s really a magical surface, the very finest linen there is, and i’m running out! so i’ll have to order more, but it’s very expensive! i may have a way of getting it at a much lower cost….i’ll find out tomorrow.

1:06 PM: i begans adding oil colors in this central portion of the composition. it’s kinda cool as is, with the rest of the composition just drawn in. i have about another hour in me; let’s see where it goes from here….

11:20 AM: i tacked a piece of 42x35” artfix portrait linen to my wall and started the drawing for mosaic 1, destined to be the first painting i create for my march, 2023 exhibition at genesis gallery, athens. as you can see, right now it’s inspired by an aerial view of an ancient mosaic being restored.

as always, i have no idea where it will end up, but it’s likely all that will remain of this is a ghost image beneath other compositions layered on top.