at work on 4 paintings today / November 4, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

*pompeiian reverie I* after wiping out figures on top

4:41 PM: before leaving the studio, i made some changes to pompeiian reverie I & II. i realized, as i was preparing to walk out the door, that some of the figures weren’t working. so, while the paint was still wet, i wiped them out. it looks kinda messy, but that will change tomorrow. if you scroll down & have a look at these two paintings before i wiped out the figures, you’ll likely see what i mean.

*pompeiian reverie II* after wiping out figures on top

*pompeiian reverie I* following today’s modifications

stage 1 of pompeiian reverie II, which i started today

3:02 PM: today, in addition to modifications to 11-1-22 swirling creek; pompeiian reverie and 12-2020 watercolor/collage, i started a new one: pompeiian reverie II which, while containing elements of the earlier version, jumps epochs from the 3rd C. BC to the 2020 tokyo olympic celebration. beneath the naked figures of the pompeiian mosaic are clothed revelers at the celebrations following the 2020 tokyo olympics, which i painted last year in a series of watercolors and oils.

as well today, i made some minor modifications to the area of white on the lower left corner of 11-1-22 swirling creek

and finally, i modified the left portion of 12-2020 watercolor/collage, to which i made extensive changes yesterday. now, it bears little resemblence to the original 2020 plein air creekscape. but it’s a far better painting now, albeit an abstract one.

working on 3 paintings:11-1-22 swirling creek, pompeiian reverie and 12-20 creekscape / November 3, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

4:18 PM: i started out by making a new 21x17” oil inspired by ancient pompeiian floor mosaics, and moving back & forth between that & 11-1-22 swirling creek, which i’ve been working on for the past week and a 2020 creekscape watercolor, which has now become a watercolor/collage. i’m noticing an emerging aesthetic/energetic. it always starts with something more realist and then evolves towards abstraction.

11-1-22 swirling creek 21x17" next stage / November 2, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

*11-1-22 swirling creek 21x17"* as it looked moments ago

5:01 PM: another long day, interrupted a few hours ago my our window installer, who needed to get into the house , take measurments & order materials. i continued work on 11-1-22 swirling creek 21x17". i made lots of changes, including collaged bits of light weight white drawing paper to break up the dense composition. i think i can resolve it tomorrow, when mikela will be out at the schools all day, as she was today. tomorrow by the way is predicted to be snowy, with sharply falling temperatures starting tonight.

BELOW: earlier today, on the left, and moments ago, on the right

modifying/simplifying 10/31/22 plein air #1/ starting “11/1/22 swirling creek” / November 1, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

*11/1/22 swirling creek*, 21x17” oil & collage on linen, day 1

3:02 PM: i took one of the 21x17” canvasses i cut for the athens show and started 11/1/22 swirling creek. i had previously started working from an old photo i took of downtown athens. it was just a sketch, but i was doing it for all the wrong reasons, based on what i thought would be attractive to athenians. stupid motivation! so instead i dove into this new one based on some of the many plein air watercolors i’ve made and continue to make at one of our local creeks. this is day one, which as i’m in the habit of doing, has been scraped, painted into, scraped again until the magic of our creeks begins to appear, which is always secondary to the painterly gestures of the brush. let’s see where it takes me tomorrow. i’m cooked for the day.

11/1/22 i mentioned that i found yesterday’s 10/31/22 pleine air #1 too busy, especially in the upper quadrant.

so this morning in the studio i made some modifications, mostly using collaged elements, including from a map and a watch ad. gazing at it from afar, it seemsat the same time more coherent and more mysterious. the elements i thought were too much on top are faintly visible through the semi-transparent paper i used. and the obvious creek-scape elements dance well with the newly added collaged bits.

BELOW: the before & after

discovering kali / 2 new plein air creek gouaches / October 31, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

yesterday afternoon i went up to the creek and made 2 plein air gouaches. it was about 10° cooler than last time i went, which made it harder to focus; i had to stop & leave when i got too cold sitting on my little stool.

this second one is interesting in that the watercolor paper it was painted on was prepared with a light brown ink wash years earlier. both mikela and i love the taped area surrounding the image, with the ink splatters, so we’ll keep this one in our collection just as is.

the larger of the two: 10/31/22 plein air #1, is too busy; i was too cold & not totally in my groove.

so i think i’ll bring it over to the studio later this morning and do some collaging onto it, preserving the areas that work and covering the areas that don’t. stay tuned & let’s see what happens!

ABOVE: 10/31/22 plein air #1

11:44 AM: over the past week or so, i’ve been perusing old works on paper, which badly in need of organizing. this morning i discovered a painting of KALI on 3 separate and connected sheets of paper. the entire image measures 182x48 cm. i tacked it up on the east wall of my studio & it’s quite imposing! here’s what is generally said about kali:

Kali, (Sanskrit: “She Who Is Black” or “She Who Is Death”) in Hinduism, goddess of time, doomsday, and death, or the black goddess (the feminine form of Sanskrit kala, “time-doomsday-death” or “black”)

Alongside being the Goddess of darkness, destruction, and death, Kali is also a symbol of Mother Nature because she is believed to be timeless and formless, representing the creation of life and the universe as well.

She is often associated with sexuality and violence but is also considered a strong mother figure and symbol of motherly love. Kali embodies shakti – feminine energy, creativity and fertility – and is an incarnation of Parvati, wife of the great Hindu god Shiva.

so what possesed me to make this painting, which clearly took a lot of time and attention? everything elso in the studio pales in comparison, so vivid are the colors. perhaps during the period i was deeply engaged with babaji, i was exploring the visuals of the hindu tradition and was so taken with the imagery that i just had to make a painting. i honestly can’t recall.

i will definitely need to protect her from the light, or the gouache colors will surely fade!

*KALI*, 182x48 cm. gouache on paper, likely date: 2000-2008

panachrandos monastery / October 30, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

*panachrandos monastery,* oil & collage on linen

*view of panachrandos monastery*, 2007, 5 1/4 x 17 3/4” gouache on paper

ABOVE: in 2007, i made this painting in gouache on paper. it’s a view of panachrandos monastery from the road below.

1:02 PM: the new title, panachrandos monastery, derives from the fact that i shot the photo i’m working from at that magnificent monastery, which is situated 2,500 ft. high, on the side of mt. katafigio, providing an exceptional view of the capitol, chora & the surrounding area. the central figure is mikela, standing at the entrance to the courtyard.

the monastery / trail walk drawing / October 29, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

5:03 PM: just back from our walk up the trail, where i made a small colored pencil drawing.

this morning, i started work on the monastery, one more 21x17” oil on linen destined to be part of my march solo show in athens. it felt right to start with a collaged piece of an old paper oil palette into a composition inspired by a photo i shot quite a while ago of the interior of a monastery on my beloved island of andros.

and then this afternoon, we took our walk up the trail & stopped at my favorite spot to make quick plein air drawings, overlooking the creek.

man on rocks, sunset / October 28, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

4:05 PM: this is the end of a long painting day. over the past hour or so, i worked on the lower 1/4 of the painting, which i wasn’t satisfied with at all. i think it’s improved , but as usual, i’ll have to wait till the morning to evaluate more accurately. so now, the mountains that the man on the rocks are gazing at are ours: the sangre de christo range. our house & my studio sit in the foothills of this majestic range.

the figure and the rocks he’s seated on are based on the seascape at piso yialia beach, on the island of andros, greece. these are two key elements in my life over the past 4-5 decades. so is that me seated on the big rock outcropping?

*man on rocks, sunset* as it looked moments ago

2:11 PM: here’s where it’s at now.

12:31 PM: i started a second oil on linen, 21x17”, this one titled man on rocks, sunset. this is a very early stage. more later; stay tuned!

"man on rocks," day 2 / October 27, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

*man on rocks*, 21x17” oil on portrait linen

2:13 PM: i had a rocky start to the day, when i thought i had lost my wallet. after frantically searching the house & studio, i found it on the cement floor beside the studio bathroom toilet, where it had dropped yesterday afternoon. i was so shaken up that i didn’t think i could paint. but man on rocks drew me back in & before you know it, i was at work, making some significant simplifications and modifications, for the better i believe.

included in my modifications are the sea, the sky and the rocks. the only thing left is the figure, which i didn’t touch. although the paint is still wet, i plan on taking it back to the house, which is always the acid test of whether a new painting is resolved.

this is the first of 12 new paintings, all 21x17,” which will be included in my march exhibition at genesis gallery, athens.

BELOW: yesterday’s stage on the left, and today’s.

man on rocks / October 26, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

*man on the rocks,* 21x17” oil on portrait linen

3:51 PM: now that we got clear with the director of the gallery on the dimensions of the paintings, i was able to cut the first 4 of the 12 oils that will be 21x17”

i started work on the first in this series of 12, titled man on rocks. i painted all day and got it pretty far along. and i could only do this kind of in the moment painterly work on this paticular portrait linen, which is unlike any canvas i’ve ever painted on.

i started with the figure of the guy in the white undershirt. i love that he’s in the middle of reaching for something or perhaps just grabbing a rock to steady himself.