goldfish swimming 1, ˆ15x19.5” 4/27/26 oil on portrait linen, as she looked at my painting day
2:07 PM: i strated a new one today: goldfish swimming 1. due to the nature of the subject, i was able to be much freer in my strokes.
"figures in motion", day 2 /
Figures in Motion, `18×18” oil on portrait linen, day 2
DETAIL of figures in motion
this new painting contains figures that have appeared in many of my recent paintings. but they’ve never been in the same space together. what their individual roles are is up to you, the viewer. but they have in common the fact that they are all captured at a moment in time when they’re engaged in something involving the movement of their bodies, mostly dancing.
as you may have noticed, i get off on putting together people who have never met and never will, other than in my paintings. each of them are caught mid-motion, each playing their part in a dance they never signed up for. by looking at and contemplating them in this setting you are creating a story. your story of what’s going on.
due to the special nature of the portrait linen i used for this work, they….these diverse figures, are part of a painterly event. as i’ve said before, this portrait linen allows for painterly marks that would be impossible on other surfaces, accepting every slight movement of my arm and hand like a lover reveling in her partners touch.
at work this morning on Figures in Motion, 20×20”
10:42 AM: i took fgures in motion to the next stage this morning.
figures in motion /
4:25 PM: i did a studio cleanup, so i got a late start. this is stage one of figures in motion, 18x18”
figures in motion, 18x18” oil on portrait linen, on day one
continued work on "crazi goldfish" rework of a 2019 painting /
5:59 PM: i kinda liked the rework of the 2019 painting, but not totally. so i rubbed it out and i’ll see tomorrow what i’m going to do with that canvas.
1:26 PM: i’ve been looking at this 2019 painting for weeks now. i found it in my storage space and set it down next to my steps, casting glances at it whenever i was close by. today i decided to rework it. i’ve become used recently to working on the xtra fine portrait linen, and this one was painted on a linen canvas with a lot more tooth. once i adjusted to the new surface, i painted over most of the 2019 painting, using grey and deep blue. the original was a creek-scape, so there are two tree trunks, which i left intact, along with some stones.
i’ll sit with it for a few days and seehow i feel about it, but my initial response to what i did is positive. for sure, it’s far easier to look at; far simpler, with a robust composition sparking the imagination.
2019 creekscape, 20×20” oil on linen
ABOVE: crazi goldfish before aNd after todays modifications
12:08 PM: this morning, following the excellent presentation by district attorney candidate michael doughtery, i got a ride back to the studio, as mikela needed the car today.
i felt crazi goldfish was far too busy, and worked back into it mostly with dark grey. this left the figure at the top and the goldfish in the bowl to emerge without distraction. i’m going to leave it as is and work on something else.
“crazi goldfish” / collage#8 /
4/22/26 crazi goldfish, 7x11.75” oil on linen
2:59 PM: this afternoon i was moved to make a new painting over the scraped and whited over branches with rock painting. it now belongs to the recent series featuring goldfish and has, i believe, a compelling composition, allowing the eye to roam from the female figure at the top, to the grren leaves, to the swimming goldfish and the round table below. i think it has gained from what i learned making all the previous versions.
4:03 PM: the blacks and the blue on the right were too dark, so i went back in and lightened them.
11:09 AM: i was going through some collages and came across this one. it carries really well from a distance and, as i’m looking at it now, is one of the best in this series of collages. i couldn’t find a title, so i named it collage #8. dimensions: 7x11.75”
collage#8, 2026, collage on paper, 7x11.75”
4/21/26 drawing / bottles and leaves /
bottles and leaves, 15x17.5” colored pencil on arches paper
1:44 PM: this morning i made one more 15x17.5” drawing of the studio interior, in colored pencil, which is like a companion piece to the one i made yesterday.
4/21/26 studio interior II, 15x17.5” colored pencil on arches paper
3:32 PM: this afternoon i made one more 15x17.5” drawing, titled bottles & leaves.
"view from the north door" / “SATURDAY POEM” /
bottles & leaves, 15x17.5” colored pencil on arches paper
3:27 PM: this afternoon i created one more 15x17” still life, titled bottles & leaves.
2:12 PM: today i made a 15x17.5” work on paper in colored pencil.
view from the north door, 15x17.5” colored pencil on paper
2 days ago i wrote this poem before falling asleep, which is mostly when i compose new poems. there are a growing number of them, and may eventually become a book of philip’s poems.
scraping yesterdays "branches with rock" /
8:18 AM: my first hit when i viewed yesterday’s branches with rock was that it was way too dark and, frankly, boring. so the first thing i did this morning was to scrape whatever ws fresh enough to get off and rub some turp on it, revealing some blue from the previos painting. then, just now, i applied some white oil paint…
so now it looks like this, and we’ll see what, if anything happens later today.
BELOW: before & after
branches with rock /
1:50 PM: i whited over yesterdays image using rose tinted white oils and made a still life of some branches and a crestone conglomerate rock i picked up outside the studio.
branches with rock is predominantly greys and ochres. just enough of the underlying composition peeks through. these, plus a few more dead branches and pine cones were all gathered just outside my studio door. the preliminary pencil drawing was made on april 16 and can be viewed in that post. van gogh, were he here, would approve and recognize the connection to his drawings and paintings, which i’ve studied deeply.
the rocks and branches we see on our daily trail walks are everywhere here in the baca grande region of crestone. they can only exist at this 8,000 ft. altitude, in our san luis valley. covered in snow for half the year, they emerge into the light of day in mid april
branches with rock, 15x17.5” oil on xtra fine portrait linen
colored pencil version of yesterday's "morning drawing" /
rock & pine cones, 14x17” colored pencil on bristol paper
1:31 PM: today i made a colored pencil version of yesterday’s morning drawing.the pieces of bark, broken branches & dried up pine cones were found beneath the bristlecone pine tree just outside my studio, as were the rocks. textures on the bark of the broken branches form beautiful patterns only nature could create.