celebration IX, 32x36”, oil on linen, as she looked at the end of my painting day today
2:53 PM: still unsatisfied with the image of the female singer on the right side of the composition, i played with her this morning, and as a result she’s a more integrated piece of the composition as a whole.
celebration IX as she looked yesterday (left) and today
celebration IX, 32x36” following the extensive changes i made today.
3:44 PM: mikela was horrified by the pink version i did yesterday, and when i entered the studio yesterday afternoon and glanced critically at it, i knew she was right. so while it was still wet, i rubbed out what i had done. since the underlying white version didn’t have time to dry, i wiped that out as well, which was a rather messy process, and started over this morning, using a photo i printed out of the march 9th version with the white ground.
it’s been a long day, but i think i got it to a good place, perhaps even better than the march 9th version, and i’ll see in the morning what more, if anything, i want to do.
BELOW: celebration IX as it looked on march 9th (left), yesterday (center) and today (right)
11:02 am: this is an evaluation published by salon:
https://www.salon.com/2024/03/01/like-someone-pulled-the-metaphorical-plug-dr-john-gartner-on-accelerating-dementia/
celebration IX following further modifications this afternoon
celebration IX at 2:37pm
celebration IX 32x36”, oil on linen, as it looked following today’s re-work
1:11 PM: i wasn’t satisfied with yesterday’s changes, so here’s what it looks like today.
8:23 AM: from my sky high series; to view the others: https://www.philiptarlow.com/skyhigh
one of the paintings in my sky high series, 2019, oil on linen
celebration IX 32x36” oil on linen, as she looked at the end of my painting day today.
1:51 PM: my first glance at celebration IX when i entered the studio this morning let me know that i needed to re-work it. so i did, starting with broad strokes of white and then progressing from there. the vertical pink mark is critical in the current composition, as are the red patterns on the singer’s sleeve. she was part of the celebration following the 2020 olympics and she, like all the performers, was dressed in brightly patterned garments. whar remains of the underlying composition contributes to this figurative abstraction . as time goes on, i’m getting the hang of my new language, so that the figure(s) seamlessly integrate.
untitled, 2023, 80x20” oil & collage on linen
7:56 AM: these are 3 of my paintings currently hanging in our house.
11:26 AM: this morning i tested out my new little portable easel, creating a watercolor on 2 pads of paper one above the other. then i cut them up and pasted them on this grey board. no big deal; just looking out my south windows, but i found it fun using the easel. plus, i haven’t used watercolors in quite a while & it was a good feeling.
when both mikela and i looked critically at the new piece i was working on all day yesterday, we both declared it resolved, so it will remain as you see it here and i’ll take what ilearned creating this one and move on to something new.
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.
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 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
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
