Happy New Year! a new canvas

The sun sets on another year and time paints her final, gentle shadows across the landscape of 2007! Soon a blank canvas will stare back at you from the easel of possibility and it is up to you to a timeless masterwork that will inspire the ages. The greatest enemy of art is fear. The same is true for life, if fear is the guiding force of "your brush" your canvas will turn into a lifeless thing. A lot of people from all walks of life read this "blog" which makes no sense to me because it is just me trying to figure out life and art and hanging out my reality like so much dirty laundry. It is strange to open up to strangers but I guess it is cheap therapy. I think people like this site because they can sense I am walking a road that I don't truly understand and that I am just reporting back from the field. The idea that people like my work and art is what keeps me going so any feedback is always welcome even if it is criticism. Thanks for supporting my art habit.

alex

MR. VONNEGUT READS BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS

I found a great link today of Kurt Vonnegut reading his book, "Breakfast of Champions." It is great to hear him read his own works in NYC.



LISTEN

(to listen, scroll down a bit and click play.)

this painting is in my brothers home and as of yet, unframed...

ebay

some people have been complaining that I do not put stuff up for sale anymore. I have been caught up on projetcs but i have a few things in my ebay store and will load up more today.

in the wings

I drew this last night out of my head and video taped the process.

click here to buy:




in the sun

oil on gessoed paper

12 x 18 inches






I picture you in the sun
Wondering what went wrong
And falling down on your knees
Asking for sympathy
And being caught in between
All you wish for and all you seem
And trying to find anything
You can feel that you can believe in

May gods love be with you
Always
May gods love be with you
Always

I know I would apologize
If I could see your eyes
Cos when you showed me myself, you know
I became someone else
But I was caught in between
All you wish for and all you need
I picture you fast asleep
A nightmare comes
You cant keep awake

May gods love be with you
Always
May gods love be with you
Always
May gods love be with you
Always
May gods love be with you

Cos if I find - if I find my own way
How much will I find
If I find - if I find my own way
How much will I find
If I find - if I find my own way
How much will I find
If I find - if I find my own way
How much will I find
How much will I find
How much will I find
You, yeh, you
Ill find you, you, you - oo
Ill find you, you, you - oo
Ill find you, you, you - oo

Oh I dont know anymore
What its for
Im not even sure
If there is anyone
Who is in the sun
Will you help me to understand
Cos Ive been caught in between
All I wish for and all I seem
Or maybe you're not even sure
What its for
Anymore than me

May gods love be with you
Always
May gods love be with you
May gods love be with you
Be with you ...

lyrics by joseph arthur

horsehsoe crab

Anyone who knows me and my work knows about my obsession with the horseshoe crab and that I am convinced that our salvation as homo sapiens lies in this noble little creature. Unlike mammals, the crab has no immune system and therefore it cannot create antibodies to fight disease. Saltwater, as you may know, is a sort of bacteria Grand Central Station and yet the genius of The Crab survives unscathed through the ages--- a virtual aquatic napoleon! The general of the great bacterial army is the illustrious and feared ENDOTOXIN! The Crab, like any great military leader, has learned how to use the the enemy to his advantage and turns the great General Endotoxin into an ally and defense against infection. It is the precise property and genius that our crab possesses that make it's "blue blood" one of the most sought after commodities by the pharmaceutical industry. The magic blood is what keeps your medicine and vaccines free from bacteria today! Luckily, they are not harmed in the process of stealing their precious blood and they are returned to the drink with only a slight break in their routine. This is only the beginning of of man's understanding of the sacred Crab and I am certain that there will be many more discoveries deep inside the copper rich blood of this timeless creature.

Bronx Cover

Here is a painting I made for the Ambassador Yellow Pages Bronx edition. Ambassador forced me to actually go to the Bronx zoo which was an amazing experience for me. You can see this on the website of of Ambassador Publishing. I think this was last years cover, I have done them for five years now and cannot remember exactly. Painting on Yellow is a challenge and it forces alex to become Pop Art Alex and that is okay as it puts my art in kitchen drawers in all the boroughs next to the Campbell soup cans. The bronx is a double cover and the other side was painted at Yankee stadium. Once in a while I like to have fun and not be so serious (even though I am still trying to rescue modern art from the gutter in which she sleeps.)


CLICK HERE TO BUY

quote of the day

As a sword cannot cut itself, nor a finger touch its own tip, so mind cannot see itself.

sufi aphorism


I read this quote today and it got alex thinking about the essential duality of human nature. The simple action of thinking about yourself implies two or a duality. The "two" being the thinker and the one being thought of. If you are essentially two then who is the true self? If you can observe yourself thinking and make judgments about yourself then who is the self? I guess this can lead you into the issue of pure being or pure experience that is free from thought and judgment. When I was sixteen I read the entire Upanishads and started meditating and was able to get into a place where there was no duality and no thought. most people laugh at this and think that it is impossible to have "no thought" because if you are thinking of nothing you are actually thinking of something. Through deep meditation you can get into a space of pure light where there is nothing except being. You cannot explain to someone how to ride a bike as riding a bike requires experiential knowledge you cannot impart with words. The old cliche about the sound of one hand clapping struck me one day as so simple and profound--The sound of one hand clapping is the sound of one hand clapping and nothing more. It is nothing else than what it is.

solar activity as art

I found some amazing video tonight of the surface of the sun that shows changes in solar activity!

click here

electrons--explained by gardega

I read a lot about electrons today and I thought I would share a simple and very interesting concept.

first, I would like to share this wonderful quote:

Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle

"The more precisely the position of an electron is determined by observation, the less precisely the momentum is known at that instant, and vice versa."
Heisenberg, 1927

the original model of an electron had it orbiting the nucleus (not unlike a planet around the sun.) The problem is that you can measure both the position and the momentum of a planet but it is not the same with the glorious and finicky electron! It was soon learned that if you look at an electron you effect that electron. For example, light (or protons) when used to view an electron change the position of the electron.

now, my enlightened friend, you may ask how they then determine the zip code of the humble electron as she spins in her orbit? It is here that our science friends use something called orbital shapes and probability. It is possible to draw a volume of space where an electron can be found 95% of the time! The magic is that Mrs. Electron can be found anywhere in the universe the rest of the time. This is not unlike your poodle disappearing and suddenly appearing on the doorstep of the Kremlin.

backwards writing

I found a drawing from my childhood today and on the back was a bunch of math problems. I noticed that half my numbers were written backwards and I realized by the patterns that I was making my numbers backwards on purpose. As a young adult I realized that I can write backwards as fast as I can write forwards---I do not even have to think about it, I just do it. I can also write upside down and backwards (although I have to pay attention to do that well.) I think the fact that Da Vinci wrote backwards because he was lefty holds no rain water. It probably has to do with not wanting to let his ideas get stolen. I suppose I have some form of dyslexia but it doesnt really bother me because I like to think backwards, it is easier to back into the garage.

DNA

I spent much of my day today reading about DNA and as usual my ADD kept me from my sketchbook. I started painting a painting on glass today ---I am painting a painting on five different layers of glass that will be displayed to create the effect of one 3D piece. The subject is St. Sebastian and it is one of two pieces I will be showing in NYC. The pieces of glass are only about 8 x 10. My last supper prints seem to be the water cooler talk in the halls of Fox News. I always get weird premonitions before earthquakes so if there is a big quake tomorrow then remember that alex told you so. I am going to draw all night until Dawn because I slacked today. My landlord thinks I am nuts because I never have any visitors and I sit up in my cottage 12 hours a day reading and thinking and drawing and painting. I never feel lonely because I live with Gardega. Picasso said that Dali's mind was an outboard motor that image never fails to draw a smile from me when I think of it.

Gardega Update

I will load up some new art today for sale (I promise) there will be some surprises as well!

blueline glass--gardega

Here is a website (in progress of being built and perfected) that shows my commercial art glass work I have done for many private and corporate ventures...

BLUELINE GLASS

Gardega at CFM gallery

I will have my St. Sebastian in opening at CFM Gallery in NYC on may 8th...

my discovery

Now that the universe has lifted her skirt and allowed me a brief glimpse I will use my discovery in the service of great art and begin my studies for my painting entitled St. Dali (as originally painted by Ribera and in turn again painted by Gardega)

the great discovery! Ribera paints Dali!!!

I was researching St. Sebastian today and found a painting by the great Spanish painter Ribera. There was something about the face that would not leave my genius alone. Gardega soon went to his great memory bank and realized that he had made another discovery for the ages! Notice Dalis face on time magazine in 1936 and notice him again before he was born as a model for the painter Ribera in 1621. If I do not get feedback on this I will break my pencils!

St. Sebstian study 3

St. sebastain study #2

Here is another sketchbook page of studies of St. Sebastian. Will put up for sale before noon.

ebay

to buy St. Sebastian study

click here:

St. Sebastian first sketch

Here is my very first sketch/ study for my St. Sebastian painting. It is my intention to study all the traditional approaches to the subject by the masters and to then make it a gardega...I am just thinking with a pencil at this point and not concerned with detail etc.

vermeer, one of the all time greats...

There is a simple harmony to this painting that even I will not try to explain. There is much speculation that Vermeer used a camera obscura (google) to help him paint. If he did, it did not help him paint the amazing surfaces and tones he achieved here..I painted an exact replica of this in my teens which I later lost or destroyed. The light here is second only to god's own light. After a day treading through the dark alleys of modern galleries I will often stare at this painting to purify my eyes and soul.

st . sebastian

today I will start my drawings of my st. Sebastian painting. I am not intentionally on a st. theme, it is the universe that has decided that for me as I was requested to paint st. Sebastian. I am going to push the limits of what I can do with pencil and paint on my st. Sebastian and all my sketches will be for sale....

me as St. Thomas

When I was in my teens I discovered the greatest painter who ever lived and his name was Diego Velasquez. All modern painters including picasso and the great dali and gardega are but so many flies on the window- screen of history compared to the great Velásquez. In my twenties I discovered his painting of St. Thomas which proved to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was meant to be an artist for a living.

Gardega

I had a the strangest sleep last night! I spent the entire night (even when I was dreaming odd dreams) thinking about where I want to go next in art and where all the pieces fit together (including my blog of genius.) Alex decided with crystal clarity to kick things into high gear and to get a show together for a gallery in NYC. I will spend the next six months with the single minded dedication of a Navy Seal as I work on my show. I will document the process on this site and make many videos as well. I am pushing myself into levels of discipline and work I have never even considered. I will sell all my studies and sketches on this site as usually but the finished pieces will be for sale only through a gallery. I will have hundreds of drawings and studies for sale in order to fund the project (otherwise I will have to take on commercial work which will only distract me from my goal.) Any purchases of sketches etc will be greatly appreciated as it will help me reach my goal. I have not thought out my theme yet for the show and I may not even use a theme. My first piece for my show (by galleries request) is a painting of St. Sebastian. I will follow that with a self portrait.


The Hermit

christmas with alex

Please be sure to watch A Christmas Carol tonight or tomorrow (the black and white one from the thirties!) Even if you do not celebrate Christmas there is much to be learned from the awakening of old Ebenezer from the dark slumber of misery and his transformation into an enlightened human who learns that life is about as short as a ride on the Coney Island roller coaster and that the ups and downs of life are what give it is flavor and texture. The only guarantee is that one day your toes will be pointing up so it is best to live an honest life and a deep life and remember that material things are good stuff but they are not what makes us human beings.

God bless your families.

Viva Holidays!

happy christmas

I have been in a funk for a few days but know I am in the high Christmas spirit. A christams carol is on tonight so we can watch scrooge awake from his misery...

childhood journal

I found this today, It is the journal I kept when I was about nine or ten and living on a small farm in texas...It is funny to see I have not changed much in all that time and yet the world has spiraled into a maddening orbit...

first day of winter

I will put more art up today to celebrate the first day of winter. I am not sure why I would celebrate winter but it is good to live where the seasons change her mind.

discovery video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SBOKcuVHDo

here is an interesting bit on H.crab vision..

gardega at art basel

strange world--beyond the visible

Strange World is a series of watercolors I started painting in Los Angeles on the beach on thanksgiving. It was an attempt by me to escape into a different frame of reality and escape the dark place I was in at the time. Luckily, the downside of having a strong imagination is that you can use it to escape the salt-mine of reality when the spirit needs a break from flatland.


click here to buy

ophelia print

Here is a chance to own my sought after Ophelia signed print. It is on ebay and explained there as well.


buy it here

brooklyn bridge print

here is a chance to own the aforementioned brooklyn bridge print:

click below:

ebay

friday

Good morning everybody. After speaking to many of my collectors and friends I have determined that people want me to upload new work for sale to the site and I will spend all day doing just that. Like many artists I have been spread thin among projects but I am determined to keep this site alive and interesting. I will be drawing and painting for eight hours today with one break to deliver something. I will load up at least ten new works today. It is funny how keeping oneself afloat as an artist is the very motivating factor which makes you hit the art table... It is nice to have my mural behind me and soon I need to start my St. sebastian painting for CFM gallery.

brooklyn bridge--- signed print

Here is one of my tear-sheets from my new brooklyn bridge cover. There are only fifty of these that I will sign and number. I will put on ebay in an hour or so..

gunthers watercolor

I have re-listed my gunthers watercolor, done at kerouac's infamous watering hole...there is no minimum price set so those who have had problems winning my art my have a better chance on this one...

click below:.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290192864653

Christams with Dali---a novel by gardega

STAVE ONE

DALI’S GHOST

Salvador was dead, this was fact and the door was not open to speculation or doubt. There was little room for rumor nor rebuff regarding the passing of the great surrealist. One need only to walk into the corner less room and gaze upon the masters lifeless frame to understand the true gravity and weight of the loss that would soon become international news and local fodder for tea-time talk about his legacy and the notorious loose ends that swirled around his life and estate in his final hours on this earthly plane.

While most around him were more concerned with the heavy snows that were falling outside their frosty windows this afternoon they still held in the back of their own limited craniums concerns as to what their personal fortunes would bear out without the good ship Dali beneath them to cover their expenses and bills and livelihood.

Meanwhile, In the sleepy eastern town of Clacton On The Sea, there was a singular child who wept the kind of tears that only a child (or a woman who loses a child) can weep.

tis the season

it is much better to receive than give when you get a gift such as this...

the great un-american novel

Today alex had a vision for a novel that will be the first great american novel that does not take place in america. My novel will be called Christmas With Dali and it takes place in england in the mid 1800's. They always say that a writer should only write what they know about personally and that is why I chose england in the mid 1800's. I will serialize my work of literature on my blog soon!

queens cover

I had a wonderful birthday and would like to thank all my friends and supporters for making it so.

good morning

all reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated ...

the stash of secret pencils

On the Texas farm on which I lived as a child, there was an old and scary wasp-filled barn that I would sometimes venture into when I was feeling brave (which was often). My bravado was amply rewarded one day when I found a big box of pencils half- covered in sawdust and spiderwebs. The special thing about the pencils I found was that they had a really dark lead in them and I became obsessed with only using pencils that had a really dark lead in them and not the soft and vile lead that my other pencils had back at home. I kept my magical secret to myself and would sneak out to the barn and "steal" the good pencils whenever I needed them. I was always afraid of getting caught because it did not occur to me that they were only pencils and would not be missed by anyone, anyways. Years later, when I was in art school all the lemmings would dress the same and draw the figure in the same style using mechanical pencils to make extra sure to take all the life out of any human figure they tried to draw. I have never even held a mechanical pencil and would rather sell insurance than draw with a such an instrument. It was I alone who understood the true secret of art and that no art will flow from anything as dreadful as a mechanical pencil and that is why my art school comrades (whom I never spoke to anyways) are now happily working away making mechanical layouts for western union and insurance companies.

childhood drawing--age seven

I too had an obsession with flying machines as a child, although I think Leonardo's had a better chance of taking off as his was not piloted by duck with sneakers.

childhood drawing--age six

Here is another drawing I made at about six or seven that in today's sanitized world would probably put me into a special classroom and under observation. I find there is a certain happiness to my early work that brings me back to the carefree dreams of a solitary child on a remote texas farm...It is clear to see that I did not think like the other six year olds and spent much of my time thinking alone about the world realities and surrealities beyond the next field.

childhood drawings

On this, the birthday, of your humble artist, I find myself reflecting on my childhood and the art I made as a child. I would call much of my childhood art fairly unconventional and at times rather odd. I have no idea what was going through that little texas brain of mine but I do remember that drawing for me back then was pure bliss because there was no right or wrong...(Although I would often go into obsessive fits if I could not get a line to flow the way I wanted it to go...) this piece was age seven and shows signs of a budding genius (or at least a kid who should be closely monitored....)

good morning

today I will travel into nyc for a meeting with yellow pages about my cover. I will have lunch with one of my friends and collectors and then a second meeting with ny artist series website later. Perhaps I will remember one of these days to do my christmas shopping..

holiday greeting

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes
for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress,
non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice
holiday, practiced within
the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your
choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the
religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their
choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all I also
wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically
uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted
calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of
choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped
make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater
than any other country nor the only America in the Western
Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race,
creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or other
preferences of the wished.


(I cannot claim authorship of this document)

alex writes a limerick

there once was an artist named al
whose brain on to fame he did sail
if the wind ever died, with all of his pride
he would paddle towards fame in a pail.

my oath

I would like to add a final word on leonardo and geometry and nature. One must consider the human being as a work of architecture not unlike the pantheon or the parthenon or the alexethon. God uses his own mathematics to construcut nature and a genius like leonardo (or a non-genius like gardega who works hard to be a genius understands this.) That is why great artists have studied geometry and especially divine proportion (which is best explained as the small is to the large as the large is to the whole.) Although much wisdom is lost and modern artists are adrift without the sturdy rudder of geometry I promise to do my best to re-light the torch of renaissance wisdom that was almost completely extinguished by the death of Dali.

Good Day Alex

I guess I win in the share your birthday with someone else contest (I think Albert Einstein trumps Keith Richards) but nonetheless HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Alex I have a question for you. I own two works from you, an Ophelia print and a watercolor. I would like to add to my collection but I have tried on ebay and every time I get close someone outbids me with seconds to go. By the way, I am the person who was fairly good at answering your word clues recently on your web site. I wanted to buy your palette once but you had already sold it and promised you would give me a chance at the next one (if I replaced it). How can I go about buying pieces from you without playing craps on ebay. Can I send you some new equipment (did you ever find your brushes) or something like that. Sorry to take up your valuable time and again have a happy, and healthy birthday and a wonderful holiday season

Gene

leonardo exposed---step 10

Now that Gardega has taken you back through the sandy ruins of time and guided you skillfully through the the footsteps of leonardo as he created a masterwork. I will show you how he grouped his disciples into four neatly grouped groups of three. Notice that the purple "zones" were used by leonardo to group the torsos of all his figures-- at times leonardo even told them to lean ever slightly more into "the zone" like a photographer tells his wife to move closer to the Eiffel tower. This has been my gift to all my collectors and fans and supporters who believe in me and my work and my endless drive to save art from the soulless and modern infomercial it has become. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Now back to the regularly scheduled program..

leonardo exposed---step 9

With my latest lines it is clear to see where more verticle lines can be drafted according to the major axis points! I will allow you , my humble reader to find the top of Leonardo's table yourself using my construction and to enjoy the uncovering of genius by a non genius who works hard enough to become a genius. Now that I have shown you how to figure out Leonardo's construction I will show you another four leaf clover that has been overlooked by the fools who think there is women and hidden chalices in Leonardos masterwork!

leonardo exposed---step 8-- copyright gardega

Being that it is the holidays I decided to be kind and color code my process for you so as not to confuse you as I dissect the last supper. The red dot indicates a point not to be ignored as it is clearly what was used to construct the verticle line that forms the side of the tapestry. I used a green dot to show the same line on the opposite side of the picture.. Notice how in each major point where a major horizontal meets a major verticle there occurs an important construction point in the creation of the last supper.

leonardo exposed--step seven

Please know that the center point (which is centered upon the head of christ) gladly radiates outward and meets the points we determined earlier to construct the tops of the "abyss like" tapestries. Now--- if you put aside the minor discrepancies of my scan and ruler etc I think one cannot doubt that gardega has done a noble job this far of following the foot prints of leonardo through the sandy ruins of time. Please do not leave my party yet as you are a welcome guest and I have not shared all the wine of my intellectual pursuit.

leonardo exposed--step six

Behold, dear viewer, that our three squares were kind enough to give us points to draw two more horizontal lines that divides the picture into four equal horizontal parts! Beyond giving were they as they also gave us the point which marks the height of one of the tapestries which is all leonardo needed to determine the height of all the tapestries! I will demonstrate this clearly in my next entry!

leonardo exposed---step five

If one could not see that transcribing two squares also called for a third central square then you should be now elevated to see the logic and reasoning as the mind of gardega dissects the mind of leonardo. This construction is mine and mine alone and not borrowed from books or found on the net as alex is as honest as a dalinian shadow is long. I find no need to steal or borrow from other artists aside from some good ole influence from the great thinking minds of art. By now there should begin to gel in your minds eye a picture of leonardo illuminated by candle light late into the Renaissance night drafting the very same lines.

leonardo exposed----step four

minus the slight error in my rush to draft the lines you can see how Leonardo found the outside corner edges of one set of his tapestries. Coincidence or did leonardo understand that nature uses geometry in all her constructions?

leonardo exposed---step three

after you graduate from crayons to pencil you can divide the central square as shown and magically find the construction of the ceiling! again, there is some fungible room for scanning etc...

leonardo exposed---step two

It follows logic that even a third grader could take his plastic ruler and crayon and arrive at the next logical step of breaking down the last supper into its sacred geometry. (As of yet I see no women nor hidden chalices.) One can already see that there is strong evidence that these vertices's were used as construction lines to determine the lines of the tapestries on the wall! behold progress!

leonardo exposed--step one!

There first thing one must do is to pretend you are a cell and divide yourself evenly both horizontally and vertically. I think a third grader interested in geometry would agree that this is a noble and confident step forward on a long journey...please allow for slight discrepancies due to scanning etc...

happy holidays from gardega!

I decided it is my duty as a human and artist to share with you my unlocking of the geometric secrets of the last supper. I am not interested in the patenting of my genius, I will share it with you for free as a holiday gift to all my faithful supporters! viva leonardo! I cannot stand that leonardo had been coded and eroded and toaded and so and.... The only mystery to the last supper is the sacred geometry that created her. Most artists think geometry is the name of the small man from fantasy island but I am here to save the misguided and shed some light on the brilliance of leonardo so we can prevent the further yellowing of the varnish of his genius by fools.

collection of

the following people own art by gardega:

martha stewart

woody johnson (johnson and johnson)

Matt dillon

ford motor corp.

art garfunkel

the clintons

drew barrymore

armani exchange

richard johnson

natural history museum

the chrysler building

bruce cutler

quizzman

the goldsteins

mary d

mrs. babanick

the rooneys

bill oreilly

sean hannity

steve doocy

judge napilatano

palm steakhouse

brian kilmead

sumner redstone

joan and david corp.

bruno magli shoes

quote of the day

"obscurity is not an option" avida dollars

horseshoe crab

I will upload video in a few of alex in art basel with my infamous remote controlled horseshoe crab as she navigates the convention center...Later on I will read some of dali's writing and upload that video as well! the things I do to avoid painting the statue of liberty!

viva procrastination!

viva alex!

viva don knotts!

andy warhol

I never much cared for andy warhol's art. I do think he had some interesting ideas but his whole cult of personality thing was lifted (admittedly) from Dali. He was actually a decent draftsmen and did a bunch of shoe illustrations before he got famous that show competency with pen and ink. I give him some credit for understanding as much as he did about fame and the game of art. I think he was surrounded by a bunch of pretty sad and negative people in the end and I wouldn't want that energy around me. He invented the fifteen minutes quote and alex invented the "obscurity is not an option" quote. I am not interested in looking at his work ever but I understand some of his concepts. I prefer my brooklyn bridge to his if I must be honest. The funny thing is I found this image for the first time today and realize that he made a blue bridge against a yellow background. My yellow background was predetermined by the yellow pages and blue was a logical color to set against the yellow. I guess great minds think alike except I prefer to be alex as I am still making pictures.

saturns rings

I was thinking about the concept of age last night as I am a year older come tuesday. Although thought (and especially brilliance) does not age I find it fascinating that each year we creep closer to our final breath on the earthly plane. I was doing my regular research last night (which lately includes more astronomy and less DNA) and learned that they now believe that the rings of saturn to be as old as the solar system and possibly as old as 4.5 billion years! Even though your humble artist cannot wrap his brain around 4.5 billion years I will help my readers understand--- If you stack a billion pennies-- one atop the other--- it will make a pile 1,000 miles high. If you stack a penny for each year of alex it will be not so very high. The zinc core of a penny is coated with copper which is the same coating that coats the statue of liberty which brings me back to my art table deadline...

happy monday

today I will finish my NYC cover and deliver it. I will then start my drawings for my st. Sebastian piece for a gallery in NYC. I attended a christmas party on saturday at the home where the mural was painted. I cannot explain the work this man put into his wine cellar, he spent six months on woodwork alone. The party was great and I met a lady who does design for ralph lauren perfume bottles. We had a long discussion about glass art and I am going to meet her art director to discuss working with them on some projects.

dreams made solid

as I pondered earlier about the idea of dreams or thoughts becoming fossils I came across these lyrics...

Looking down on empty streets, all she can see
Are the dreams all made solid
Are the dreams all made real

p. gabriel

maybe our external manifestations of our thoughts and dreams and desires are actually the same thing as fossils--- the fossils of old bones or fingers. By that I mean they are plastic representations of possibility into external reality. We dream of building a house and we build the house...first comes the dream and then the tangible reality.

brooklyn cover

I received this in the mail today. If you live in brooklyn you will find this painting by gardega in your lobby and it will soon find a home in your kitchen cabinet next to your cambells soup cans...Gardega does not draw soup cans as he is more interested in landmarks. That is why if you take the elevator in the Chrysler Building you will stare into the numbers of glass panels created by your humble artist and he promises that the numbers add up to nothing except the sum total alex.

finger sculpture

I cannot stop thinking about the fact that they found a finger fossil only a fossil throw away from where I grew up! I decided to design a sculpture out of the fossil and will carve it in stone soon...here is my design...

fingers

I think about eyes and fingers a lot. I also am a big fan of fossils and the idea that something can become fossilized.. Imagine my supreme happiness upon making this discovery on the net this morning. There is much in this world to be learned when the TV is turned off..The best part about this discovery is that it happend very close to where alex grew up in texas. There was a park near my home that was called Dinosaur Park, I would go there as a child and play in huge footprints left behind by dinosaurs. Here is the letter confirming that this is indeed a human finger that has fossilized! I wish that thoughts could become fossils.

Dennis Petersen
4345 Stevens Ct.
Placerville, CA 95667

Dear Dennis,

I was first able to view what I now believe to be a fossilized human finger shortly after it was excavated. At that time my comment was "interesting".

The fossil clearly had the shape of a human finger. It had a fine taper of the tip, typical of a female finger. Male fingers tend to be a bit more blunt. The fingernail and cuticle were clearly visible and perfectly formed and proportioned. Nevertheless, I withheld judgment as to its authenticity knowing that rocks such as limestone can assume nearly any shape when they flow into a hole before setting up.

Several years later I was privileged to view the fossil again after it had been sectioned. At that time I observed that the fossil was not of uniform or random density and coloration. The internal appearance of the fossil was identical to what one sees when a human finger is sectioned. The skin margins and subcutaneous tissue were clearly delineated. The bone matrix was clearly defined, and features consistent with flexor and extensor tendons were present.

CT scans of the fossil likewise revealed the anatomical features of a human finger, as noted above.

It is my professional opinion that the fossil unearthed at Glen Rose, Texas, is, in fact, a petrified human finger and not an infill of a wormhole or similar artifact.

Sincerely,

Dale H. Peterson, M.D.

feedback

I have had over 20,000 views to this website but so few people leave feedback. I much prefer to hear from people (the nice people) feel free to leave your jumbled thoughts on my doorstep...just click on chat (below my photo) and enter a name or your name and babble away, it is easier than changing a sock...It makes me feel like I am not talking to myself which surely would be the sign of a crazy person..

artist of the day---coleridge

as a young artist I tried to immerse myself in as much literature as possible. I remember discovering that some writers stood out as giants compared to others (much like michelangelo stands out compared to the thumb less abstract expressionists.) Samuel Taylor Coleridge is the most visual writer I have ever discovered especially in his masterpiece "the rime of the ancient mariner..." He was a heroin addict and I am not sure if that was part of what enabled him to make such hallucinatory masterpieces but whatever it was it worked for him. A great artist named gustave dore later illustrated his poem and I think the art is almost worthy of the poem. I have included a small snippet of the poem below...

Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink ;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.

The very deep did rot : O Christ !
That ever this should be !
Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs
Upon the slimy sea.

About, about, in reel and rout
The death-fires danced at night ;
The water, like a witch's oils,
Burnt green, and blue and white.

gunthers watercolor

click below to buy my gunthers watercolor...


http://stores.ebay.com/art-by-gardega

gunthers

I did a gunther's watercolor today. Every time I paint or draw I try to try something new.. I prefer a different approach to the same song as I think it is important to focus on the journey and not the token that is left from the journey. Paintings and drawings are merely tokens, visual ticket stubs from a mental process. To get too caught up in making a piece or a statement is to lose sight of the process. I am not sure where I went with watercolor as I was trying to find a different kind of approach from all my other watercolors...time will always tell one if he fell or if he stood his ground. For me watercolors are always a psychological battle as the spirit you approach them with will bleed through like rain through a roof. I must have heard a hundred stories from the day drinkers I painted here.

gunthers

as my readers know I am a big fan of bringing my sketchbook in to dark and lonely bars and drawing the occupants and scenery therein. I have the old holiday urge to sit in a dark place and draw and paint and I haven't had the time in many months. My plate is full but I am slipping out to Kerouac's old haunt to hit the watercolor pad for a few hours...I will load them up for sale when I return..if you buy them you will be supporting me going to a bar in the day time and I am not sure if your conscience will be okay with that... Then again you will be buying works of genius and madness. I retain the right to refuse sale to anyone who buys my work because it matches their sofa--- unless I am painting a mural and then it does often make sense to consider all the elements in a room...I was supposed to go into NYC to meet with yellow pages but I am awaiting word....and If I get word I will drop my brushes and head in...

two great curses

as gardega sees it there are two great curses in life---one is to be born an artist and the other to be born rich..John Lennon often said it was a great curse to be an artist and sometimes I see his point of view. I enjoy my life and my lot but sometimes feel like I am in a carnival ride I cannot escape and that I have no other options because alex is scarcely fit to bag groceries outside of my art studio. Please do not think I am complaining I am only observing as was the practice preached by the ancient and wise Hindu's--- "observe thyself..." Often it feels that there is no way out of art and both feet are firmly sealed into the cement bucket of fate by a man with a with a diamond pinky ring. As for being born rich there is the tragedy of not really ever knowing what you may have become on your own sans silver spoon and without daddy's swollen piggy bank. In a sense you have the curse of your destiny laid out for you like clothes by a chambermaid. As Gardega ponders this dilemma he has decided that he will be born again in his next life as a rich artist!

stained glass eyes

As I walked through a darkened room yesterday my eye was drawn to what I thought to be a television flat screen above a large oak dining room table. I was amused when I realized that what I was really looking at was a small stained glass window that was illuminated from behind by an electric light. I found it infinitely more soothing and pleasing than a television and I began to think about stained glass and its use in churches and in windows in general. It occurred to the brain of gardega that stained glass was (in a sense) the forerunner of television!! As a child I was obsessed with magnifying glasses and found many uses for my lenses other than killing ants. I would wait until my parents were gone and sneak up to the TV and stare for hours at the matrix of tiny colors. If you look at a TV screen with a magnifying glass you will see it is broken down into small "bits" of color that is very much a micro- stained glass window. In the middle ages there was very little visual stimulation save for candle light and the occasional manuscript and only the rich had paintings...Imagine the impact the windows had on the eyes of a young artist who eyes were not swollen shut with you tube videos and foot powder commercials! Stained glass was used to convey messages just as mass-media would be five hundred years later ---It was hi def . I do not think it is an accident that life/ reality follows such paths as she does and it does surprise me that more people do not ponder such things....

keith richards

Tuesday is keith richards birthday and I have always appreciated him as an artist---Not as much for his music as such but if you have ever read an interview with him he has a very interesting intellect and philosophical take on art and life. Rumor has it he shares a birthday with another visual artist who I cannot currently recall the name of but I will research and find out....

twice told tale

I cannot remember if I ever posted this image but I will risk telling the same tale again for the sake of new viewers. Many years ago (10 to be exact) I was hired to do a group of beer labels for a brewery that was called Long shore brewery in long island. I really put my heart and soul into the labels as I was very excited about the idea of doing beer labels. This label is based on a rock off of long island called target rock. It is a rock that was used as target practice by the british in the revolutionary war. It was great doing research about long island and discovering as much as I could about landmarks etc. I do not think the beer lived up to what it could have been and the owners were cheap buffoons who I had to threaten to leave the project many times until they paid me. I think they were sunk by their own attitudes as opposed to external forces. I really enjoyed the artwork and creation of labels and have a few leftover to remind me of that event. This beer was the best tasting of the lot (if I recall...) As is my practice I have hidden little initial among the rocks of my girlfriend of the time...

sketchbook page

I have sold all but a few dozen of my teenage sketchbook pages. I think I sold about 1,000 drawings from my teen years and I dont really miss them...onward and upward. I found some more boxes if you are interested in owning work from the formative years of Gardega. Perhaps one day these drawings will put your children or grandchildren through college...This one is for sale on ebay

buy it now

STATUE OF LIBERTY

I am starting my statue of liberty painting today for the NYC Yellow pages.....did anyone get a queens or brooklyn gardega yellow page pop art cover on their doorstep yet? please let me know.....

illustration

I had half an hour this morning to do an illustration for citizens against government waste in washington DC. I do these for free and always try to do a decent job but I usually have no time and have to "get er done" before they go to print....they are a non- partisan group whose mission is simply to stop the government from buying $14,000 toilet plungers or starting a $3,000,000 thimble museum ...I dont even remember how or why I started doing their covers but they are worth doing. I am only posting it because it is for a good cause...please understand I had half an hour to finish entire piece..

the sandbox of life

As a child alex was stubborn beyond all things. I grew up, dear reader, on a farm in small-town Texas and as many children of my age I had a sand box in which I would create or destroy my own universe as I saw fit. It was not long before my sandbox was invaded by the unwelcomest army of guests---Texas fire ants whose sole reason for living was to displace the great gardega from his sandy kingdom of bliss. (I would remind my humble reader here that I have little recollection of this story as it was relayed to me many times by my dearest and lovely mum.) Fire ants have a sting that will send the toughest of cowboys running for the hills and they prefer to sting en masse as it is the best way to subdue large prey. It was my solid belief that these were invaders and therefore had no claim to my sandy domain. The ants felt very different than I and decided that I was an obstacle, a swollen tick that must be killed and removed and carried away in bite- size pieces. As a child who was oft prone to stubborn fits that were beyond explanation and beyond comprehension by my exasperated parents I was not interested in giving up my sacred turf to the scarlet army. My mother told me that I would scream and cry and shout but I would refuse to leave the sandbox as I was attacked and stung and bitten. If she took me away it would not be long before I would be back defending my turf. My stubborn nature eventually proved too much for even the marauding insects and gardega experienced his first victory where stubbornness prevailed over the external forces of nature. To this day my single minded and stubborn nature has guided me through many a sting by the cruel ants of doubt and despair in the sandbox of life.

viva the mule!

howdy folks

I had a long day on the second mural, in art the devil is always in the details...Tonight I have to do a free illustration for citizens against government waste in washington DC and then I have to start my statue of liberty painting!....It seems my brooklyn books are done so if you live and brooklyn and walk through the lobby of your building you will soon see Gardega's painting of the Brooklyn Bridge piled on the floor, to me that is very exciting to be a part of the Brooklyn Borough psyche!!!!! I had many thoughts today on life and love and will type them tonight!