2:04 PM: roiling creek is a recent 40x46” painting i considered unsuccessful. this morning a cut off 2 pieces i found interesting, and this is one of them. i’ll probably mount it on board at some point, since it doesn’t have room on the edges for stretching.
celebration XIII rubbed over & painted into as a creek-scape /
celebration XIII 30x34”, as it looked moments ago
2:22 PM: there was way too much going on in the central portion of the composition, so i simplified it, and in the process it became a more dramatic painting, with the reflection of the aspens in the background becoming the focus of attention. i’m going to stop here & see how i feel in the morning.
BELOW: three phases of the painting today
celebration XIII as it looked moments ago
1:32 PM: after whiting over the 11:36 am version you see below, i behan painting into it as a creek-scape. it’s not there yet, but as always, it will progress and it’s been interesting making this shift.
celebration XIII, 30x34” as it looked following my scrub-over this morning
11:36 AM: when i encountered the painting this morning, it looked way too dark, way too busy and just not me.
so my first impulse was to take a break from painting in oils and start a new watercolor/gouache, series, which i still may do. but i had to get rid of all that harsh business, so i scrubbed it down with solvent. here’s how it looks post-scrub, and i’m contemplating going over it with a thin layer of white, allowing some of this to show through. if so, i’ll post later.
celebration Xlll continued /
celebration XIII as it looked at the end of my painting day today
3:47 pm: i continued work today on celebration XIII, which is unrecognizable from yesterdays version. i went into the pinks, making some richer than others, added some bubble wrap textures, also in pink, and the green palms inspired by shots of mikela i took from above a while back. the lower half of the composition has a black charcoal drawing of a bar scene, inspired by a b&w photo i have in my collection. i’m stopping here for the day.
celebration XIII /
celebration XIII, 30x34” oil on portrait linen, as she looked moments ago
1:55 PM: i rolled up yeserdays roiling creek 1 and put it in a corner. i didn’t like where it was going, and there was too much going on underneath from previous compositions, including collaged elements that ultimately took away from the freshness.
so i started celebration XIII, a continuation of my celebration series, which i worked on back in march through may of this year. when i use some of the figures that have appeared many times in earlier paintings, they become like a familiar laguage that i can play with more and more freely. while the juices are flowing, i can play around; scraping, smudging and using my brush sometimes like a tool, other times like a japanese calligrapher.
roiling creek 1, day 1 /
roiling creek 1 40x46” oil & collager on linen as it looked at the end of my painting day today
12:59 PM: one of the 4 canvases i pinked yesterday had a few layers already. so today i painted into that one with a new composition: roiling creek 1. here’s me at work a few moments ago.
i haven’t yet done any work on the remaining 3 canvases but i may start one or two tomorrow, since i always work better when i can switch between two or three works in progress.
woman at work / 4 pink-prepped canvases /
four canvases prepped with pink strokes. the one on the bottom is a whited over pre-existing painting.
3:36 PM: this afternoon i preppped 4 canvases, one of which had already been worked on. i used a pinkish color, brighter than what i used 4 days ago on orange creek. whereas on orange creek i worked ro=ight into it while it was still wet, i lay these down on my floor until tomorrow, when they’ll be about 75% dry, and will start working into them then and she where they want to go. the unpainted white shapes will play an important role in the compositions.
woman at work, 25x10 1/4” oil on linen, 1997
12:48 PM: this is one of the 100 or more paintings that arrived from houston a few days ago. the subject is a woman at work at night.
this is a good example of how patterning delights me and has been a part of my work for decades. it harkens back to some of the interiors i painted on the excursions my former mother-in-law niki karagatsi and i made to shops in and near piraeus.
very glad i discovered this one this morning as i was doing some organizing in my studio. i haven’t yet had a chance to look at 90% of the paintings that arrived from houston.
DRAWING OF EYE PUPIL EXAM GEAR YESTERDAY AT ANSCHUTZ IN DENVER /
7:12 PM: yesterday mikela and i had eye appointments at anschutz in denver. while we were waitong to be seen, i made this colored pencil drawing of the pupil exam geat i was sitting next to. behind the machine was a framed print with blue & orange colors.
remembering my Dad on fathers day /
portrait i made of my dad a few months before he passed, age 92.
3:32 PM: a few months before my Dad, roy tarlow, i made this little portrait of him in his nyc appartment. he was a born seeker, always going deeper in his search for meaning.
ORANGE CREEK, 40X35”, DAY 1 / selection of paintings delivered from houston /
orange creek, 40x35”, oil on linen, day1
3:37 PM: i started working on a new 40x35” painting today, titled orange creek.
12:17 PM: just now i selected some of the paintings delivered from houston yesterday amd photographed them. what they have in common is that they all have skies.
HOUSTON PAINTINGS DELIVERED 6/13/24 /
8:33 AM: yesterday afternoon a van arrived from houston containing at least 100 of my paintings on canvas and paper. they were all from the former gremillion gallery, which recently closed it’s doors after many decades. over the years i had one man shows, took part in group shows, have talks and spent wonderful time with the former ownder/director and dearest friend, ron gremillion.
the paintings are now sitting in my studio and newly built studio storage room. it will take time for me to go throught them, photograpg and catalogue them and eventually find homes fro some of them, including museum and private collections as well as galleries across the country.
here are a few shots i too k as they were being unloaded from the van and placed in my studio by the amazing tate, who packed, loaded them and drove from houston over 2 days+.