"Lindo," 32x36" on day 1 /  by Philip Tarlow

Lindo, 32x36” oil on portrait linen, as she looked 2:30pm

2:25 PM: i had started a painting which was to go on a particular wall in the house. i wasn’t crazy about it, so this morning, after our trail walk, i trimmed it down for another in my recent series of 32x36” paintings. as usually happens, the previous painting is adding unplanned livliness to the composition, now in it’s early stage.

the title derives from the Mexican restaurant where we had lunch 2 days ago, when i had my dentist appointment in alamosa. that’s it for the day; i’ll pick it back up tomorrow.

5/12/25 ano kato stretched and signed /  by Philip Tarlow

5/12/25 ano kato, 32x36”, oil & collage on portrait linen, after i signed and stretched it today.

3:17 PM: today i stretched 5/12/25 ano kato, signed it and brought it ot hte house. stretching it made a big difference; the 2-3 inches of white canvas surrounding the composition is gone, which allows us to appreciate the whites in the painting and allows all the figures to breathe. the green leaves i added yesterday afternoon are critical.

5/12/25 ano kato day 2 / 3/28/21 colored pencil drawing /  by Philip Tarlow

5/12/25 ano kato, 32x36” oil & collage on portrait linen, as ahe looked at the end of my painting day today.

2:23 PM: i did a lot of work on 5/12/25 ano kato this afternoon, and at this stage it’s way too busy, albeit interesting.i flipped what i did yesterday 360, and now the interplay between yesterdays figures and the ones i added today is very energetic. just cleaned my brushes and am about to head back to the house. i also added a few collaged pieces of paper to break things up.

3/28/21 colored pencil still life, 10x7”, coll. the artist

10:28 AM: this morning before leaving for the studio, i was browing through one of my sketchbooks and came across this colored pencil drawing created in march of 2021. i was impressed!

5/12/25 dancers /  by Philip Tarlow

5/12/25 dancers, 32x36” oil on portrait linen, as she looked at the end of my painting day today

1:30 PM: i satrted a new one today, titled 5/12/25 dancers, which is also 32x36”, like the previous three. i’ll continue work on this one tomorrow, and see where she takes me. i found these dancers on a tv show yesterday and felt immediately that they worked perfectly with this series.

5/2/25 ano kato, day 3 /  by Philip Tarlow

5/2/25 ano kato, 32x36” oil on portrait linen, following today’s work

2:43 PM: this is the first day i felt well enough to venture back to my studio. i’m still very congested and kinda weak, but i did get some work done of 5/2/25 ano kato, which i whited over and added 3 new figures. there’s a tad of red mixed in with the titanium white, so it’s pinkish.

"Momoyama" 24x26" 2023-24 /  by Philip Tarlow

Momoyama, 24x26” oil on linen, 2023-24

9:04 AM: i’m in the 7th day of this cold/upper respiratory whatever & thus have not been working in my studio for a solid week. very odd feeling.

this is a painting made in 2023 and updated in 2024, which now hangs in our house. it incorporates the walking figures seen from above which can be found in many of the compositions from this period. it’s hard to reproduce the colors acccurately; the orriginal has more subtlties.

sketch i made at yesterday's crestone Democratic Precinct meeting /  by Philip Tarlow

8:09 AM: yesterday evening we attended the Crestone Democratice Precinct meeting. a lot was accomplished at the meeting, and i always feel complete if i’ve made at least one sketch; this one of an attendee sitting beside me, paying careful attention. when we broke into small groups, he made some insightful comments and suggestions.

as i’m still recovering from a heavy cold, with upper respiratory congestion, i kept my distance from the attendees and we left a bit early. it was a productive meeting.

trail flowers /  by Philip Tarlow

2:36 PM: we took our trail walk this morning and on the way back i picked some delicate yellow flowers that had bloomed since our last walk. i picked a few, put them in a glass jar and made a little watercolor/gouache, which is 9 1/2 x 4”

trail flowers, 9 1/2 x 4” watercolor & gouache on arches paper

"5/2/22 ano kato" day 2 /  by Philip Tarlow

5/2/25 ano kato, 32x36”, oil on portrait linen, as she looked at the end of my painting day

3:07 PM: i painted over yesterdays version of 5//225 ano kato. there’s a bit left showing through, and blue and yellow are now the dominant colors. i’m having fun, which is the point, right?

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