swimming 38×10” as she looked moments ago
1:50 PM: today i returned to working on swimming. i began introducing colors in selective area, enlivening the entire composition.
10:30 AM: a photo of my Mom in our Brooklyn Heights Appartment, in 1942. At the time, she was Betty Tarlow. After she remarried, she became Liz Gitten.
2:46 PM: yesterday mikela told me about a woman she’s working in one of the schools here in the valley. she’s passionate about birds, and has an impressive collection of photos and prints and an equally impressive knowledge of bird species. from what i understood, she does not as yet have an original work of art.
we did some research and found the western tanager, a bird found here in colorado, which has beautiful markings. so i made an 11x7 1/4” watercolor on arches watercolor paper, for her to hang on one of the the walls in her new office.
western tanager, 11x7 1/4” watercolor
2:56 PM: today i started a new 38x10” painting on portrait linen, titled swimming. it’s a study of a portion of a pompeian fresco which can be found in the archeological museum of naples. as yet, the sea creatures, all of which were favorite food of the ancient romans, remain without color.
swimming, 38x10” oil on portrait linen, on day 1
feeling worldly, 32x28” oil & collage on extra fine portrait linen, as she looked at the end of my painting day today
1:40 PM: i was up at 4:30 this morning so i’d have time to make mikela her coffee, miso soup & smoothie to take with her to the school she’s working with today.
as a result, i got to the studio earlier than usual and worked on the new feeling worldly painting until about half an hour ago, when my energy ran out. as i had expected, she transformed into something very different than how she looked yesterday. and, as always, i’ll have to see how i feel about her tomorrow morning, which looks like it will be another early start.
checkerboard pattters, in siena and black set the tone right now, with the minotaur i introduced yesterday on the right mirrored now on the left. feeling worldly is the title i’m using for this painting. i got it from glancing randomly at an article i had next to me. as it turns out, it’s a perfect fit.
feeling worldly, 32x38”, oil on portrait linen, as she looked at the end of my painting day today
3:06 PM: feeling worldly is now in an early stage. i had been working on it laid flat on my painting table, but over the past half hour i tacked her to my East painting wall and introduced oil pastels which when rubbed over the uneven walll surfacem gain a beautiful texture. i’m out of juice for the day, which has been unexpectedly overcast, with temperatures matching the record high for this date of 55F.
the detail you see here shows a portion of a painting of a minotaur, which i made a few decades ago, and which hangs in our house.
2:12 PM: about an hour ago i began work on a new painting titled feeling worldly, 32x38”
it’s way too early to tell where she’s going, but i have a good feeling about this one. for now, i’m painting with the canvas, which is extra fine portrait linen, lying flat on my painting table.
creek dance II, 24x20, as she looked following this morning’s tweaks.
1:32 PM: thus far today, i continued modifications top anschutz from above 6 and made some modifications and tweaks to creek dance II.
in creek dance II, the dancing figure is now easier to discern.
BELOW: before (left) and after today’s modifications to the figure, which now has more shadows & some flesh tones on his forehead.
BELOW: anschutz from above 6 before (left) and after today’s tweaks. she lightened up, the figure gained a second leg, the unnecessary grey form below is history& a couple of architectural elements apppear in the upper 1/3 of the composition. spending a lotta time on this one!
anschutz from above, 16x20” oil on linen, 2022-25, following todays re-work
3:15 PM: the last time i worked on this painting was in june, 2022. it showed up during our recent studio cleanup, and i’ve had it on the wall since. as with a number of other paintings from that period, the composition seemed too busy and my eye didn’t know where to rest. so thoday i painted over about 3/4 of it, and made some additions, which are all in keeping with my current aesthetic.
BELOW: anschutz from above as it looked BEFORE and after today’s re-work
MOMA 1, 60×60” oil on linen, 2020
12:31 PM: this painting was created in 2020, and is one of a series i did following a visit to NYC. i shot photos in MOMA as well as the MET, with the intention of referring to them for a new series when we returned home to crestone.
mikela and i decided yesterday that, rather than sitting in my storange room, it would look great on the South wall of our bedroom, which just yesterday became clear of a pile of used clothing. (we donated the clothing to La Puente in alamosa.) it’s too big to fit in our car, and the driveway is still full of ice & snow, so we’ll hand carry it over in a few days when it warms up.
DETAILS BELOW
ano kato 40 38x30” 36x32” oil on portrait linen as it looked after painting over the purple stripe on top
wobble, 38x30” oil on linen, stretched and newly hung in our house today
2:52 PM: at the end of my painting day yesterday i added a purplish band of color at the very top of ano kato 40. it’s been bugging me eversince, so first thing i did this morning, after getting 8 1/2 inches of fresh snow off the car, was to get rid of that purple band.so now i’m declaring it resolved and will stretch it as soon as it’s completly dry.
today i didn’t paint. instead, i stretched wobble, which i’ve been wanting to do, so i could bring it over to the house, where it will hang.
ano kato 40, 36x32” as she looked moments ago
12 noon: ano kato was painted over earlier this morning and two dancing figures were introduced. the underlying painting from yesterday shows through in spots, adding movement and marks.
earlier today, i came across an interview with the director of the albuquerque museum, andrew connors, which you can find on new mexico PBS.
he’s talking about the museum’s newly acquired painting by the great american artist, richard diebenkorn. during this 9 minute interview, connors touches on many of the aspects of abstraction in painting in a manner that i found deeply moving. at it’s best, he says, rather than telling us it’s story, it allows us to discover our own story.
this simple, yet profound statement is one that sheds light on my own journey from realism to abstraction. during my 15 years in greece, i learned from and was mentored by two or three of the finest realist greek painters at the time. paradoxically, something i absorbed from them, especially tsarouchis, was exactly what connors says about abstraction!
tsarouchis, in his finest work, was allowing the viewer to discover his or her own story. somethimes, as is the case with these two paintings, he would leave sections of the composition “unfinished.” by signing them he’s letting us know that he considers them “finished,” indicating that he wants us, the viewers, to finish the story, making it more our story, emphasizing that it’s the composition that matters.
