celebration VII, day 2 / self portrait /  by Philip Tarlow

celebration VII, oil on linen, 16x20” as it looked moments ago

12:38 PM: i worked very gingerly this morning on celebration VII, which i started yesterday. i may do a bit more today, or wait till i’m fresh in the morning. what i added today, on the left, is drawn from a photo i shot at least a decade ago, of baskets of fruit outside a house we were living in at the time, i believe in california.

10 small canvases i’ve been working on over the past month

12:33 PM: i was rummaging through some old photos in my upstairs studio storage space and came across this photo of a self portrait. i don’t have a date or know it’s whereabouts, although it’s probably somewhere in the studio. my best guess is 2014, but it may well be earlier.

photo of a self portrait, oil on linen, date unknown

celebration VI continued / celebration V modified further /  by Philip Tarlow

2:47 PM: celebration V, 14x16” following dramatic modifications this afternoon.

2:44 PM: i’m moving back & forth between celebration V and VI. significant changes have just occured to celebration V, and i may have to sit with it till tomorrow morning to see where it wants to go next….or not.

the cactus flowers i made part of the celebration VI composition have appeared here as well, creating less of an architectural and more of an oriental feel.

celebration VI, 16x20”

12:42 PM: i continued the new celebration VI today, working into and enriching what i did yesterday. right now, she’s achieved an excellent balance of color, form and white space. so i think i’ll return to celebration V, which seems kinda tame after what i just did!

more work on celebration V / starting celebration VI, 16x20" /  by Philip Tarlow

celebration V 14x16” as it looked at the end o fmy painting day today

celebration VI, 16x20” at the end of day 1

2:44 PM: i added a few strokes on the upper right deliniating architectural details of the museum, then started celebration VI, which continues the series, but with 9 slightly larger canvases: 16x20” instead of 14x16”

having introduced them in many recent paintings, i know my cast of characters well. this allows me to paint them with a highe rlevel of certainty and playfulness. they are increasingly incorporated into the composition more as forms and colors and less as a guy doing a handstand. i’d say that, so far, that’s more true of this one than the previous ones. and, as matisse famously said, "you don’t wait for the inspiration; it comes as you’re working.”

celebration V on day 1 / 5 recent paintings hanging together /  by Philip Tarlow

celebration V, 14x18”, oil on linen, as it looked at the end of day 1

2:09 PM: this afternoon i started the fifth in my celebration series, which is 14x18”, like the others. it contains 4 of my cast of characters thus far, as well as a cactus blossom i photographed near my studio 3-4 years ago. these blossoms, by the way, only last for a few days. as usual, i had to wait a few hours before getting my groove. but i didn’t waste my time, and made some ginger-tumeric tea which, if you aren’t familiar with it, has many health benefits as well as being delicious. i used fresh ginger & tumeric root, purchased yesterday at elephant cloud in crestone.

5 paintings done since january 16th

11:17 AM: the purpose of this post is twofold: to remind/show you what i’ve been working on since january 16, 2024 and for me to evaluate it and get a sense of next moves.

museumscape horizontal /  by Philip Tarlow

1:28 PM: celebration IV has been whited and simplified along the lines of what just happened with museumscape. something similar may happen with celebration I, 2 & 3 tomorrow, when we’re hoping to have seen 7 or more inches of fresh snow.

celebration IV 14x16” as it looked moments ago

museumscape 16x40” as it looked after this morning’s whiteover and re-do

12:31 PM: there was far too much going on, mostly from my head, not my gut. so i whited over it anddrew into the still wet white with my brushes.

continued work on "museumscape" and "celebration IV" /  by Philip Tarlow

3:17 pm: ABOVE: museumscape, 40x16” as it looked following today’s work

i worked on musuemscape, which is now a vertical, then moved to celebration IV. i always find that going back and forth between 2 paintings in process is beneficial to both. when i arrive at a place on one where what i’m about to do feels predictable, i switch to the other one.

i introduced two figures to celebration IV. they were inspired by a b&w photo from above of two people crossing a street, their long shadows falling on the cross-walk. much of the drawing surrounding them derives from photos i’ve shot over time of cottonwood creek.

this painting, like museumscape, will continue to evolve over the next few days, when the natural light may not be as bright as it’s been, due to a rapidly approaching storm system from the west coast, which will dominate our weekend weather.

celebration IV as it looked at the end of my painting day

museumscape rework, 16x40" /  by Philip Tarlow

museumscape, 16x40” 2 joined canvases, as it looked following this morning’s modifications

12:54 PM: this painting on two joined 16x20” canvases has been drifting about for months, perhaps years. it started as an abstracted creekscape and thus has familiar creek elements: branches, leaves, indications of flowing water.

mikela was looking at it the other day and suggested i go back into it, which i did this morning. originally a vertical, i worked on it horizontally, adding architectural elements and two seated figures, which i had photographed from above in i can’t recall which museum, probably in denver.

i stopped here because it seemed to me i may have achieved what i set out to do. so now i’ll move on to a new 14x16” canvas; one of the 5 with those dimensions that i stretched last month.

momoyama rework /  by Philip Tarlow

momoyama at 5pm today after wiping out my rework

5PM: i wiped out everything i did on this painting today, and now i think it’s even better without that white area on the right

3:45 PM: momoyama, 24x28” was ready for a rework, following some tentative moves 2 days ago, when i pretty much kept the original composition and color distribution.

today, before and just after a conference call regarding my april exhibition at gremillion on sunset in houston, i dove back in on all cylinders, eliminating both of the original loosely painted figures viewed from above and introducing the white architetural marks dividing the canvas up and forming little windows. while a shade of yellow continues to dominate, greens, deep reds and pinks have appeared , along with the now familiar striding, plaid shirted figure seen form above.

it’s now hanging adjacent to the 3 14x18” paintings i’ve been working on over the past few weeks, and they work well together. now that the exhibition is fast approaching, how the recent pieces work together is more of a preoccupation. i’m feeling like it will proove to ve a pretty cool show!

"celebration I" returns to it's old self / adjustment to celebration LL” /  by Philip Tarlow

celebration II 14x16”, after rework of the figure in red on the right

1:40 PM: it was bugging us that the head of the figure on the right was cut off, so i repainted it and i think the painting is vastly improved! on the right you see the painting as it was on 1/24, before i repainted the figure on the right

celebration I restored to her former self this morning

10:54 AM: before even having breakfast, i wiped out yesterday’s changes to celebration I and returned it to where it was.