acropolis Museum Visitors on Glass Floor, 44x30" day 1 /  by Philip Tarlow

acropolis museum visitors on a glass floor, 44x30”, oil on linen, day 1, at the end of my painting day

acropolis museum visitors on a glass floor, 44x30”, oil on linen, day 1

12:23 PM: this morning i started a new painting: acropolis museum visitors on glasss floor. i’ve referred to the photos i shot from above in this museum, which i’ve used for previous, smaller scale paintings. i chose to put my brush on a long stick so that i’d have less control, and my marks would be freer.

i’ll post updates as the painting progresses.

day 2 of “swimming” / my mom /  by Philip Tarlow

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.

"western tanager" 11x7 1/4" /  by Philip Tarlow

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

"swimming" 38x10" /  by Philip Tarlow

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," day 2 /  by Philip Tarlow

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.

day 1: "feeling worldly," 32x38" /  by Philip Tarlow

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.

further work on anschutz from above 6" and "creek dance II" /  by Philip Tarlow

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!

re-work of "anschutz from above 6" /  by Philip Tarlow

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