"5/27/25 ano kato", day 5 / “O Kolokotronis” 8.5x11” /  by Philip Tarlow

3:06 PM: yesterday afternoon, in between woring on 5/27/25 ano kato, i began work on this small (8 1/2 x 11”) watercolor-collage on paper. i continued this afternoon, introducing a karagiozis image of kolokotronis, the pre-eminent leader of the Greek war of Independence (1821-29) and a very interesting figure in Greek history. for those of you not familiar, karagiozis, he is a shadow theatre puppet and fictional character of greek folklore. when he was a kid, we often took our son dimitris to karagiozis performances in the athens neighborhood of plaka, where the famous spatharis shadow theatre was to be found.

"5/27/25 ano kato" 32x36” oil & collage on extra fine portrait linen, as she looked following today’s tweaks

2:14 PM: i made a few slight but significant tweaks to "5/27/25 ano kato" today. i added a collaged piece on paper just behind the skateboarder’s behind, and added a deliniation of the handstander’s shoes.. other than that, the handstander and the colors surrounding him are perfect. and tat small piece of collaged paper is all that was needed to connect the right and left sides of the composition. for now, i’m not going to do any more, and see how i feel about it after having it up on my painting wall for a week or so. so tomorrow morning i’ll start something new.

"5/27/25 ano kato", day 4 /  by Philip Tarlow

5/27/25 ano kato, 32c36” oil on portrait linen as she looked at the end of my painting day today

2:39 PM: i got an early start today. the first thing that hit me when i entered the studio was that the right side of the composition wasn’t working. so i whited over it, then painted into it with a new figure; a skateboarder.

as i gaze at it now, i’m uncertain as to whether the right & left sides of the composition work as a whole. i’ll sit with it and see.

5/27/25 Ano Kato /  by Philip Tarlow

5/27/25 ano kato, 32x36” day #1…drawing in black crayon.

2:40 PM: this afternoon i started the drawing for 5/27/25 Ano Kato, 32x36”. the figures are star members of my favorite-figures-seen-from-above collection. we’ll see what happens on the left portion of this new composition tomorrow!

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.