my 2016 study of Vermeer’s “WOMAN IN YELLOW WRITING” / MODIFICATIONS TO ALAMOSA PADDLER’ /  by Philip Tarlow

vermeer study, 2016, oil on linen inspired by vermeer’s painting: Woman in Yellow Writing, in the National Gallery

12:24 PM: in 2016 i was especially moved by vermeer, whose painting, Woman in Yellow Writing, i had seen up close on a trip to the National Gallery of Art. i was inspired to make this 32x32” study, in oil on linen, which now hangs in my studio.

my old friend gary schwartz, in his 2017 book titled vermeer in detail, says this about the painting:

If the subject carries a heavy emotional weight, the viewer will see that in the representation. If, however, as in a Vermeer like Woman in Yelllow Writing, no obvious emotion is attached to the motif and the facial expression is neutral, the viewer is left to fill in the content on his own.

DETAIL

ALAMOSA PADDLER

last year i made this gouache/collage, inspired by photos i had taken a few years back from a bridge over the river, just outside of alamosa, colorado, about an hour from crestone. there was a guy in shorts, paddling a small skiff; something i’d never seen before. looking down on him, he seemed in that moment, to be an iconic figure and i knew, as i shot the photos, that he would feature in a painting.

once the small painting was complete, i put it next to other works on paper and gazed at it every so often, feeling it was a bit too heavy and needed lightening up. a few days ago, the spirit moved me to do exactly that, which i accomplished by collaging some pieces of paper with ink drawings which i cut into curvilinear shapes.

alamosa paddler, 14 1/2×11” gouache & collage on paper

three drawings today at "Cloud Station" /  by Philip Tarlow

3:26 PM: this afternoon mikela had a meeting with a good friend at the cloud station. elephant cloud is our spacious, well stocked grocery store here in crestone. cloud station is just behind the store and connected to it. they take orders for delicious food and drink and provide comfortable tables, chairs and couches where locals can sit and chat over food and drinks.

as you know if you follow this daily blog or have read my story, (https://www.philiptarlow.com/chatty-bio), i have been making drawings since i was five years old. so being in the cloud station is always an opportunity for me to draw some of the patrons sitting near me. i sat at a separate table from mikela and our friend, made a couple of drawings of people sitting at nearby tables, then got up and moved to mikela’s table, where i made a drawing of the friend she was meeting with.

after a few hours, my post gum surgery pain kicked in and we returned home. not too bad for day four for my post operative adventure!

"Liberation," 6x8" /  by Philip Tarlow

3:47 PM: today i made liberation, a 6x8” gouache/collage, which is mostly abstract and does contain 2 figures, which i phjotographed from above in MOMA and appear in a number of recent paintings.

liberation, 6x8” gouache & collage on arches paper

recent paintings hung on my east & south studio walls today /  by Philip Tarlow

my east studio wall, with 11 recent paintings in oil on linen

my south studio wall with 5 recent paintings in oil on linen. the one on the door is a study of vermeer, from 2020

4:49 PM: today i hung my recent work on the east and south studio walls, giving the studio visitor a sense of what i’ve been up to over the last 4-5 months.

"moonlight pizza" day 3 / “dinner on Hockney’s deck” 1987 /  by Philip Tarlow

moonlight pizza, 25x25” oil on portrait linen, following this morning’s additions

12:08 PM: i made some improvements to yesterday’s version.

dinner on hockney’s deck, 38x48” was painted in 1987, in gouache on 4 pieces of paper. at the time i was living and painting in L.A., and made frequent visits to david’s studio. we had been introduced some years earlier by our mutual friend, the late henry geldzahler.

dinner on hockney’s deck, 1987, 38x48” gouache on 4 sheets of paper

2/27/26 moonlight pizza / 2022 drawings /  by Philip Tarlow

6:37 PM: as i was going through one of our bookcases, i came across this small book of drawings from 2022. i photographed them and put them in a pages document:

drawing for moonlight pizza, 25x25” colored pencil on extra fine portrait linen

2:51 PM: today i stretched another 25x25” extra fine portrait linen and began the drawing for moonlight pizza, where we ate yesterday following my periodontist appointment.

magique revised /  by Philip Tarlow

magique, 25x25” oil on portrait linen, as she looked after painting over then wiping that out…softer

3:57 PM: magique was a bit too intense, so i painted over it, then rubbed that out. so it’s now simpler, softer and easier to view.

"magique" /  by Philip Tarlow

magique, 25x25” oil on portrait linen, as she looked at the end of my painting day today

3 PM: i stretched one more 25x25” canvas this morning, and immediately got to work on magique. i was in a good space, and as i cast glances at it on my east studio wall, i kinda looks resolved. the figure of the guitar player derives from a seies of photos i shot, god know when. neither of us can recall who that guy was, but he was definitly a peripheral figure in our lives. the deep red i added at the very end makes it sing, which is the whole point, isn’t it?