"3/21/25 ano kato" / 38x20" ano kato, 2023 /  by Philip Tarlow

3/21/25 ano kato, 31x27 3/4 cm watercolor and collage on arches paper

3:52 PM: 3/21/25 ano kato has flipped 90 degrees and received on more piece of collaged paper.

2:02 PM: today 3/21/25 ano kato transformed into a watercolor/collage. after extensive detailed work in watercolor, i kinda knew what was coming and opened my drawers devoted to various pieces of paper, including old maps, and commenced collaging over the watercolor, not without some delight.

s few areas of the original watercolor remain, and the rest is covered by collaged paper, some of which has quill pen drawings i made expressly for the purpose of collaging. i looked everywhere for where i put my glue sticks following the studio clean up and re-org, but couldn’t find them. fortunately, there was one partially used one sitting on my work table.

this 38x20” 2023 ano kato series painting hangs in our entryway.

38x20” ano kato, 2023

"3/21/25 ano kato" /  by Philip Tarlow

3.21.25 ano kato,31x27 3/4 cm. watercolor on arches paper, as she looked at the end of my painting day today

3:12 PM: i worked on 3/21/25 ano kato today, which is full of patterning, from the clothing to the tiles and the adjacent rug. i think i might complete it tomorrow, and see if i feel like making a larger one in oil on linen.

drawing for "3/21/25 ano kato" /  by Philip Tarlow

the drawing for 3/21/25 ano kato 31x27 3/4 cm.

1:27 PM: this morning i made the drawing in pencil on arches aquarelle paper for 3/21/25 ano kato. it’s inspired by a photo i shot from above in a shopping mall. there are 3 figures strolling along, and one standing figure interacting with a woman sitting in a chair. the walking area is made of marble, which has been very artistically cut into pieces that fit together almost as if the size of each piece and how they fit together was designed by an artist. adjacent to the marble walking area is a patterned olive rug with a blue border and a design with light ochre leaves punctuated by rose/blue patterns..

i’m excited to begin the watercolor!

"3/17/25 ano kato," day 4 /  by Philip Tarlow

1:31 PM: today’s variation of "3/17/25 ano kato," presents a dancing figure on a yellow ground, with hints of 2 moredancing figures left and right.

"3/17/25 ano kato," 32x38” as she looked today

"3/17/25 ano kato," day 3 /  by Philip Tarlow

1:13 PM: 3/17/25 has been partially whited over and turned 90 degrees to that it’s now a vertical, 38x32”

two new figures have entered the composiiton, and what happened to the rest of the composition as a result of scraping and a whiteover is, in all humility, pretty cool! the tiled floor beneath the two new figures provides a structure ; the red stripe, previously on the right side of the composition, works perfectly as a floor” and what were, in yesterday’s version purple shadows work, along with the blue dots on the baby carriage, to provide mystery.

3/17/25 ano kato, 38x32” oil on linen, at the end of my painting day today

"3/17/25 ano kato," day 1 /  by Philip Tarlow

the baby carriage, 32x38” day 1

3:05 PM: this afternoon i began painting a new one, titled the baby carriage, 32x38” it’s in a very early stage, but you can discern the woman pushing the carriage, viewed from above. several other figures will appear tomorrow. i’m painting this one over a previously started one, and you can discern, if you look carefully, the sideways minoan taurus heas, just beneath what will become the baby carriage.

god only knows when i shot the photo i’m working from. but, in sorting through a pile of my photos this morning, i discovered it, and it turned me on. we’ll see where she goes tomorrow!

starting “Skouloudis’ shop” / Matisse quote /  by Philip Tarlow

skouloudis’ shop, 15 1/2 x 9 3/4” watercolor on arches paper

4 PM: i just completed the new watercolor: skouloudis shop, 15 1/2x 9 3/4” the original is in egg tempera, so using watercolors was tricky, but i think it worked out well.

1:05 PM: this morning i started work on a watercolor version of my 1979 painting in egg tempera on board, skouloudis’ shop. nikos skouloudis was a beloved member of the tiny, at the time, world of chora, andros. we frequented his sweet little shop, where he sold local produce and, as you can see from the original painting, skip detergent, etc.

as you can tell from the black ribbon on his jacket, he was in mourning for a family member when i shot the original photo.

skouloudis’ shop, 1979, egg tempera on board

11:53 AM:

"3/11/25 ano kato," day 5 /  by Philip Tarlow

12:51 PM: the fgure on the lower right now sports a pink top, while the face and plaid shirt of the upper figure have been tweaked.

it’s likely that this is the final stage of the painting. three stages leading up to today are shown below. today’s modifications, especially the pink shirt, have brought the painting to life.

3/11/25 ano kato, 20x18” oil on linen

BELOW: 3 stages in the evolution of 3/11/25 ano kato

"3/11/25 ano kato," day 4 /  by Philip Tarlow

3/11/25 ano kato, 20×18” oil on linen, as she looked following today’s transformation

12:47 PM: once again, i scraped and whited over it and commenced a new composition, inspired this time by photos i shot 3-4 years ago at the opening of an exhibition in denver. this particular gallery has an upstairs space, and from there i was able to shoot the photo i used today.

as usually occurs, the underlying layers; the scraping revealing a bit of those previous layers all contribute to an unpredictability and richness, allowing the viewer to enter the dance. the architectural rendering of space, which we can find in the original day 1 version (go to my 3/11 post) has now gained in subtlety and mystery.