1:31 PM:  mikela stopped by this morning & pointed out an area she felt needed work. she dislikes streight lines in these paintings, and one that was especially drawing her attention away from the rest of the painting was the edges of the blue map to the right of her face.

i worked on it, collaging a piece of another map, which i had cut into a biomorphic shape. it worked, and now, if you compare the images above, (today's version is on the right) you'll see what a big difference that little intervention has made. that blue right angle of the map is gone & your eye is now free to roam the surface unimpeded, and the mysterious energy of gaze 14 has been restored. i also did some subtle work on the face itself; mostly to the eyes, lips, neck and the shape of her cheek. her left eye, in particular was tweaked, so that there are shadows above & beneath, pushing the eye back so that it no longer pops out.

a dream i had this morning is playing some role in my work today, but i can't put my finger on exactly what that is. i was on a flight form NYC to L.A. a woman was walking down the aisle with a pillow, making lots of noise & annoying me. i followed her back to her row, and she sat down on a man's lap in the center seat. as i drew closer and prepared to talk to her, i realized it was my mother! what, i asked out loud, are the odds? i haven't been on a transcontinental flight in over a decade. and to meet my mother on this flight? one in ten million! i looked behind her head to see who the man was, and it was my father! at the point i totally lost it. the feelings it engendered in me were warm and loving ones. i was thrilled and honored to have reconnected with my parents, both of whom have died, and who divorced while i was a student in college.
[null, {"document_url": "http://philiptarlow.com/updatesnews/2016/12/20/gaze-14-tweaks", "unformatted_src": "https://static1.squarespace.com/static/505103ebe4b0b2bc7caf0fb1/5859986b46c3c4d1bb53179c/5859987ef7e0ab30bd086496/1482266763815/SITE-12-19+gaze+14.jpg", "src": "https://static1.squarespace.com/static/505103ebe4b0b2bc7caf0fb1/5859986b46c3c4d1bb53179c/5859987ef7e0ab30bd086496/1482266763815/SITE-12-19+gaze+14.jpg", "formatted_filename": "SITE  gaze", "alt_text": "SITE-12-19 gaze 14.jpg"}, {"document_url": "http://philiptarlow.com/updatesnews/2016/12/20/gaze-14-tweaks", "unformatted_src": "https://static1.squarespace.com/static/505103ebe4b0b2bc7caf0fb1/5859986b46c3c4d1bb53179c/5859986b1b631b0f1e639136/1482266745425/SITE-12-20+gaze+14+1-30pm.jpg", "src": "https://static1.squarespace.com/static/505103ebe4b0b2bc7caf0fb1/5859986b46c3c4d1bb53179c/5859986b1b631b0f1e639136/1482266745425/SITE-12-20+gaze+14+1-30pm.jpg", "formatted_filename": "SITE  gaze    pm", "alt_text": "SITE-12-20 gaze 14 1-30pm.jpg"}, null]