April 15, 2024 by Philip Tarlow

*words & worlds,* 42x42” oil&collage on linen, as it looked following the modifications i made this morning

12:16 PM: words & worlds seemed too busy when i made my first glance this morning. although i saw some beautiful passages and strokes, the composition as a whole seemed confusing; my eyes kept bouncing around and couldn’t find anyplace to land.

so i untroduced a warm grey around what i feel are the most striking, evocative forms and am moving on to a new one, the exact same size:42x42”

i’ll see how i feel about it later today.

3:47 PM: late this afternoon i started a new painting, which is also 42x42”

it’s inspired by photos i shot last night during a program about victims of the war in the middle east.

words & worlds, day 6 / April 13, 2024 by Philip Tarlow

3:20 PM: more collaging happened this morning. for example, on the mid-right you’ll see a collaged piece of a map of texas.

the bird on the left has appeared in earlier paintings; she likes showing off her black spots.

as a whole, comparing this to other recent paintings that are on the wall to the right and left of this one, there seems to be more certainty. the newly added blues and yellows make it pop. and, while there are human forms throughout, they are less distinct than in previous paintings in this series and integrate more into the composiiton as a whole.

"words & worlds" day 5 / April 12, 2024 by Philip Tarlow

1:21 PM: this morning was collage time. i made some ink drawings on a large roll of paper, then cut them up and collaged some of them onto words & worlds. as usual, they required careful smoothing out, using a few of the tools i have for that purpose. then i went into a few areas that needed simplification with white titanium-zink oil color, and added some drawing in siena where i felt it was needed.

collaging the drawings onto the painting

words and worlds / April 11, 2024 by Philip Tarlow

day 4 of *words and worlds* 42x42” oil on linen

4:19 PM: this is day 4 of this painting, which started out as creekscape, it’s new title is words and worlds.

how i work when it’s flat on the table is quite different from when it’s tacked to the wall, as it now is. that’s likely because my plotting mind is less engaged and my strokes and marks are freer. it may well go back on the table tomorrow.

elton & bernie / April 10, 2024 by Philip Tarlow

untitled as it looked at the end of my painting day, as a vertical and horizontal composition

2:18 PM: i’m adding to the drawings i’ve made for the oil i started a few days ago. i had titled it womens basketball but it’s going beyond that, so there will be a new title.

this drawing is based on shots i took 2 nights ago from the amazing elton john-bernie taupin concert.

womens basketball / April 9, 2024 by Philip Tarlow

3PM: these are the first 2 drawings for womens basketball. the size of the final canvas has not yet been determined.

back to the studio / April 8, 2024 by Philip Tarlow

2:05 PM: mikela is progressing with her healing so this is the first day i was able to go to my studio for about 3 hours. i had been ruminating over the past week and envisioing clearing a space on my work table, unrolling an 85” wide roll of portrait linen and seeing where i go.

that’s exactly what i did. using only a few oil colors and looking at one of my enlarged creek photos, i started this new painting. no idea where it might go, but that’s part of the journey i’m on.

i stasrted working on this new painting on my work table, with the canvas unrolled and uncut to leave space for whatever happens next

what's next? / April 6, 2024 by Philip Tarlow

3:12 PM: i’m keeping mikela company while working on a small 6x7” study of a mosaic from a bedroom at Villa Romana del Casale, Sicily, 4th century, CE.

8:18 AM: i haven’t been posting lately, but i’m back. i should be able to be back in my studio monday or tuesday for limited amounts of time, until mikela’s healing has progressed far enough.

of course i’ve been thinking about, contemplating on what i’ll be painting next in my studio. i have my watercolors here in the house so i may start making some preliminary sketches and see what emerges.

*celebration X* 36x38” this was completed march 21, 2024

celebration XII ...continued! / March 29, 2024 by Philip Tarlow

*celebration XII* 16x20” oil on linen, as she looked moments ago

2:50 PM: pink has been added, as well as greater definition to the upper garment and torsos of both figures

*celebration XII* 16x20” following this morning’s whiteover & new composition

12:20 PM: while it was a fun experiment, yesterday’s C-B XII reclining woman was just that; an experiment. today i whited over it and, inspired by one of my photos from above of women playing basketball, began a new composition. as always, it benefits from theprevious paintings showing through. i simply did as matisse said; following where the painting wanted to go rather than imposing my will on it.

celebration XII is now C-B XII/reclining woman / March 28, 2024 by Philip Tarlow

*C-B XII, reclining woman,* 16x20” oil & collage on linen

1:47 PM: celebration XII was entering a territory i prefer to avoid: predictability.

so i worked into it, scraping, drawing with compressed charcoal and yes, occasionally glancing at deKooning’s women.

this is what has emerged thusfar from a burst of frenzied work. hints of the underlying painting remain, resulting in an enigmatic poetry of sorts; how, for example, the plaid shirt is incorporated into the reclining woman’s cheek.

i shortened title to C-B XII, reclining woman since spelling out celebration made it too long.

so if you take a look BELOW at yesterday’s version and compare with today’s, you can see for yourself what i mean when i say it was predictable. while the figures are animated and interesting visually, the composition as a whole is somewhat formulaic, especially if you have a look at previous paintings in this celebration series. while i continue to admire them as beautiful paintings, i think i reached the end of that road; that period.

BELOW: on the left: celebration XII as she looked yesterday, and right: C-B XII, reclining woman today