TAIKO 1 /  by Philip Tarlow

taiko 1, 8 1/2 x 11” watercolor on arches paper, as she looked at the end of my painting day today

3:22 PM: today i started the first in a new series: TAIKO. this series will all be watercolor on Arches paper. i was inspired initially buy a wonderful performance a few years back at our local Shumei Institute. Seeing the taiko drummers up close gave me a hit of the energy underlying this ancient tradition. i shot quite a few photos during the performance, some of which i’ll refer to in making this series.

This particular image is not, however, from that event. the drummer we see here in day one of this watercolor is a young girl drummer. i’ll take it further tomorrow. making a series of watercolors allows me to shift gears from the previous series, which were all oil on linen. shaking things up is always productive, and not only in the arts.

genialis, day 4 /  by Philip Tarlow

3:33 PM: before leaving the studio, i cast the all important glance at genialis and found it too congested. so i cut out a piece of while paper, taped on and did some drawing in black crayon. i’ll see tomorrow whether or not i want to collage it and make it an official part of genialis.

genialis, 32x36” as she looked after taping a piece of paper over the lower central part of the composition

genialis, 32x36” oil & collage on portrait linen as she looked at the end of my painting day

2:41 PM: i added a few collaged pieces, went over everything in off while, rubbed & scraped it off and then went back in. i think the skylight i added with the puffy clouds helped the composition as a whole. abstraction, as the director of the albuquerque museum said in an interview, rather than telling us a story, allows us to find our story. personally, although i agree, i’m finding that figuartive abstraction accomplishes that even better.

what is the relationship these figures have with one another, with the compostion, and….with us?

genialis, day 3 /  by Philip Tarlow

genialis, 32x36” oil on portrait linen as she looked at the end of my painting day today

2:57 PM: i took genialis to the next level today, focusing on the left portion of the compositin and not working at all to the right of the yellow diagonal. it has a ways to go, but i do feel it works better compositionally. i’m wary however of it becoming too crowded, and tomorrow i may do something about that yellow diagonal, which now seems to divide the composiiton….i might collage over the two new figures on the upper left…we’ll see.

genialis, day 2 /  by Philip Tarlow

genialis, 32x36” oil on portrait linen, as she looked at 3:30pm

3:37 PM: today i did quite a bit more work on the new genialis. the figures, which, if you follow my BLOG, you will recognize the figures starting to populate genialis. in comparison with the previous paintings in the series, thus far this one has a crisper feel. but if i decide to white over and scrape it, it will be closer visually to the others. but roght now i kinda like this look.

genialis, 32x36” oil on portrait linen, as she looked at the end of my painting day today

genialis, day 1 /  by Philip Tarlow

cutting two pieces of 32x36” portrait linen tod`ay

genialis, 32x36” oil on portrait linen on day 1

4:15 PM: this morning i cut 2 new pieces of 32x36” portrait linen to continue the series. i started a new painting on one of them, titled genialis. obviously, this is the very beginning.

“lindo,” on day 3 / International Dylan Thomas Day /  by Philip Tarlow

lindo, 32x36” oil & collage on portrait linen as she looked today at 2pm

i whited over lindo this morning, and then introduced two of my favorite figures. it’s in process, so what i’m posting is a stage in the process. i also collaged two pieces of paper earlier this morning. it’s all about breaking up the predictable and expected .

this is allergy season in crestone, so my sinuses are congested & i didn’t sleep very well. however that doesn’t dampen my spirits or affect my passion for painting.

1:44 PM: this past wednesday was International Dylan Thomas Day. He’s one of my favorite poets. at the age of 17-18 i was reading his poems and i knew this one, which is one of his finest, by heart.

Do not go gentle into that good night

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

"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.