mandolin has become celebration IX /  by Philip Tarlow

celebration IX as she looked moments ago

2:40 PM: i used a light grey to start removing unnecessary marks & colors. scrape-it, tape-it, flip it, trippit, add yellah, brown pastel it, gyrate, imitate, playcate.

she’s beginning to have a presence. as the eye glides by, she begins stuttering a name; her name: celebration IX. so, …..

DETAIL

BELOW: 2 stages of celebration IX

1:33 PM: after a few scrapes

celebration IX as it looked after a few scrapes

celeebration IX 32x36” as it looked following my first round of painting this morning

1:14 PM: continuing work on what started as mandolin and is now celebration IX, you might say i had a field day. thjis morning i cancelled my april 5th show in houston, and as a result, am feeling liberated. so it’s a play day, which is what every day in my studoi should be.

"MANDOLIN" 32x36" day 1 /  by Philip Tarlow

2:10 PM: the guy sitting on my studio stairs holding his mandolin is an old musician friend. for the moment, he’s become part of the composition in a new painting i started today: mandolin, 32x36”, oil on portrait linen.

let’s see where she goes tomorrow! right now i’m leaving the studio earlier than usual to help prepare for our dinner guests, who are arriving at 5.

"the bar" 16x20"-modifications /  by Philip Tarlow

the bar 16x20 as it looked following todays modifications.

3:01 PM: i’ve been going back into some of the smaller oils destined for my houston show. today i made some revisions to the bar, which i last worked on january 9th.

BELOW: the bar as it looked on january 11 (left) and at the end of my painting day today

MY UPCOMING EXHIBITION IN HOUSTON / “celebration VI” re-work /  by Philip Tarlow

celebration VI 14x18” as it looked after a second round of work today

2:22 PM: i’ve been re-working celebration VI all day. i’m coming more from my gut than ever. during the first round, as i mention if you scroll down to my earlier post, i was on the phone with mikela as she was driving to la jara, which allowed me to stay out of my head. just now, we had another chance to talk as she drove to alamosa. and again, that helped me to stay with my gut and out of my plotting, planning brain. elements of creek-scape came in, were painted over, and finally something unexpectedly gorky-esque transpired. this is a study of one of his paintings i made in 2017, which may give you an idea of what i mean.

that said, of course my painting is a figurative abstraction, whereas gorky’s is pure abstraction, but with obvious references to organic forms and veiled sexuality.

study i made in 2017 of a gorky painting

10:39 AM: as the april 5th opening draws closer, i wanted to give you the link to the GREMILLION ON SUNSET site: https://www.horizononsunset.com

one of the gallery spaces at gremillion on sunset

celebration VI 14x18” as it looked following my re-work this morning

12:19 PM: i took one of my 38x36” creek-scapes from my storage room and marvelled at the freedom & fluidity and my use of color. that propted me to do a re-work of celebration VI. as you probably know if you read my posts regularly, for an hour or so every morning, i talk with mikela as she drives to school somewhere in the valley. today it was la jara. it’s a perfect opportunity to get my plotting mind out of the way as i paint, and this morning i painted over most of celebration VI, which was a so-so painting.

the creek-scape, titled purple rock II, has areas where i used oil pastels, which i haven’t used lately. so i took a box of them over to my painting table and used them in my re-work.

BELOW: before & after images of celebration VI

"guests enter," day 2 /  by Philip Tarlow

guests enter 14x18” oil on portrait linen, following the work i just did.

3:12 PM: i made further modifications just now, breaking up the purple shadow behind the head of the figure walking through the open door & introducing some subtle patterning on the concrete floor .

1:51 PM: i gingerly renewed work on the delicately balanced guests enter (16x20”) . mikela hadn’t seen it in person, and stopped off on her way to school, as usual making some interesting and useful observations, and generally enthusiastic about the painting. so here it ia following the additions i just made.

BELOW: guests enter as it looked yesterday and today

“guests enter” day 1 / 14 of the new small works on canvas for my houston show /  by Philip Tarlow

guests enter 16x20” oil on portrait linen, day 1

1:53 PM: i started a new painting today, on one of the 16x20” canvasses i stretched a few days ago. it’s inspired by a photo from above that i shot a few years back, of mikela opening the front door for friends coming for dinner. i’m considering leaving it in it’s current state.

11:14 AM: these are 14 of the new small works on canvas (14x18” & 16x20”) i’ve been preparing for my april show in houston.

"THE LAST SUPPER I" and “THE LAST SUPPER II” stretched /  by Philip Tarlow

the last supper I 14x18” oil on portrait linen

the last supper II, 20x16” oil on portrait linen

12:12 PM: this morning i found the right size stretcher bars and stretched THE LAST SUPPER I & II.

although these canvases were originally part of a larger composition, they work better cropped as two indiviual paintings, in every respect.

THE LAST SUPPER I & II are a rather striking images, painted as it is on a black ground so that the figures POP dramatically. they both have a theatrical air, and would probably be best hung together in their eventual home.

the title derives from the original subject of a painting that has undergone many transformations. originally it was inspired by a series of photos i shot from above of a dinner at a friend’s house. this turned out to be the last time some of those invited would be together, as they were about to move out of town permanantly. although none of us realized it at the time, looking back it’s a moving moment in time.

tweaks to "celebration II" / starting re-work of “celebration VI” /  by Philip Tarlow

celebration VI in the first phase of a re-work, which will continue tomorrow. BELOW, see how it looked before & after

2:33 PM: once i finished working on celebration II, i began a re-work of celebration VI, which i had never considered resolved but put aside on february 5th to work on something else. since i’m in that re-work space now, i grabbed it from off my wall and launched in.

celebration II, 14x18” as it looked moments ago

11:04 AM: i didn’t like the female figure, so i’m about to change it.

1:06 PM: so i ended up doing more than just tweaking the female figure, which has become a variation on the woman with the red shoulder bag hwo has appeared in many recent paintings.

i basically worked on the entire composition, making it a much tighter, more interesting painting. the greens play a greater role; the white band at the top is brighter and extends further to the right, as well as down the right side, and the jacket of the guy on the right with the checkered trousers has a more pronounced pink.

BELOW: celebration II as it looked yesterday (left) and following todays changes

further revisions to "celebration II" / a look at my “interiors” series of paintings /  by Philip Tarlow

celebration II , 14x18” as it looked following revisions today

2:17 PM: i continued revising celebration II today. BELOW is yesterday’s version (left) and today’s

8:06 AM: this is the catalogue from my interiors exhibition in 2017. the painting on the cover was inspired by a visit to our dear friend’s beautiful home in maarssen, the netherlands. it’s one of a series of interiors i made during that period, some of which you see BELOW.

revision of "celebration II" /  by Philip Tarlow

celebration II, 14x18” following todays revisions.

2:21 PM: while preparing for my houston show,i’m reviewing the smaller canvasses and revising the ones i feel need it. celebration II was last worked on february 28. we both looked at it today and decided there was too much black, and that the entire left side of the composition needed work.

so i got into it a few hours ago, and here’s where it’s at. the before (left) & after are BELOW.