Saturday, May 31, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
oil sketch--bethesda fountain (on ebay)
Here is an oil sketch of bethesda fountain in central park. I am adding a few more elements and working out some issues.
8 x 10 masonite
click link to purchase: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290232837928
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
gardega manifesto
1) Modernism is a lifeless and empty dinner
2) all great art lives in the past
3) Art deco, art nouveau (they matter)
4) abstraction is symbolic of a society who seeks beauty without effort.
5) The greatest rebel today is a classicist
6) There is more beauty in a single NC Wyeth painting than in the entire collection of the MOMA
7) art is empty and meaningless and it is empty and meaningless that it is empty and meaningless.
8) craft is a five letter word (not a four letter word)
9) Irony has had her day.
10) art should transcend class and education, it should be accessible to a plumber. Elitism is the enemy of true art.
11) looking backwards is looking forward.
12) art is like a river, when art is sick the people are sick.
13) without philosophy and the geometry of spirit ,there can be no art.
14) Don't be afraid to be hated.
15) Greatness in art and life requires unnatural courage and the loss of the affections of the mediocre.
16) It is far better to be known than unknown.
17) Courage is knowing what not to fear.
18) Artist, sell thyself!!!
2) all great art lives in the past
3) Art deco, art nouveau (they matter)
4) abstraction is symbolic of a society who seeks beauty without effort.
5) The greatest rebel today is a classicist
6) There is more beauty in a single NC Wyeth painting than in the entire collection of the MOMA
7) art is empty and meaningless and it is empty and meaningless that it is empty and meaningless.
8) craft is a five letter word (not a four letter word)
9) Irony has had her day.
10) art should transcend class and education, it should be accessible to a plumber. Elitism is the enemy of true art.
11) looking backwards is looking forward.
12) art is like a river, when art is sick the people are sick.
13) without philosophy and the geometry of spirit ,there can be no art.
14) Don't be afraid to be hated.
15) Greatness in art and life requires unnatural courage and the loss of the affections of the mediocre.
16) It is far better to be known than unknown.
17) Courage is knowing what not to fear.
18) Artist, sell thyself!!!
william faulkner
Writing
In an interview with The Paris Review in 1956, Faulkner remarked, "Let the writer take up surgery or bricklaying if he is interested in technique. There is no mechanical way to get the writing done, no shortcut. The young writer would be a fool to follow a theory. Teach yourself by your own mistakes; people learn only by error. The good artist believes that nobody is good enough to give him advice. He has supreme vanity. No matter how much he admires the old writer, he wants to beat him". Another esteemed Southern writer, Flannery O'Connor, stated that, "The presence alone of Faulkner in our midst makes a great difference in what the writer can and cannot permit himself to do. Nobody wants his mule and wagon stalled on the same track the Dixie Limited is roaring down."
the eyes of texas--update
Here is my painting that I am about 1/3 the way through on. It has promise, the trick is not to lose the reins and fall into the mud. I photographed on a bit of an angle by accident...the background will be bricks when finished. I bought this cow skull off of ebay many years ago. I always hang her over my art table because her horns are good to hang my clip-on lights to.
24 x 24
update
I have been working since three AM on various projects. There is never enough time to get my work done. I will load updates today on "eyes of texas" painting and my mcsorleys watercolor battle (if I can salvage it.) I also did a small oil painting of the bethesda fountain in central park photograph it if I am satisfied.
Monday, May 19, 2008
a quicky
I am fairly apolitical but I dont like the government wasting people's money and spending our money like a wretched drunken sailor. It is real easy to spend and waste money you took from people and never actually earned. This is why I do free illustrations for Citizens Against Government Waste. They are a non-partisan group that acts as a watch dog on the over bloated and corrupt US government. I have done free illustrations for them for about three years now. I usually put off until last minute because I am lazy and I dont get paid. I usually dread sitting down and doing them but they turn out to be fun. Why does are brain make every task out to be so much harder than it really when you just sit down and "do it."
color of the day--explained
| Day | Color of the day | Planet | God of the day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday | red | Sun | Surya |
| Monday | yellow | Moon | Chandra |
| Tuesday | pink | Mars | Mangala |
| Wednesday | green | Mercury | Budha |
| Thursday | orange | Jupiter | Brihaspati |
| Friday | blue | Venus | Shukra |
| Saturday | purple | Saturn | Shani |
In Thai tradition, there is an astrological rule (which has influence from Hindu mythology) that assigns color for each day of the week. The color is assigned based on the color of the God who protecting the day or Navagraha. For example, the God of Sunday is Surya which has red color. These colors of the day are the traditional Thai birthday colors. For example, King Bhumipol was born on Monday, so on his birthday throughout Thailand will be decorated with yellow color.
painting vs. glass
It is easy to paint a face or an eye. one need only practice everyday for ten years. Carving a face in glass is harder--- it took me twenty years to get an expression of a face in glass.
Ophelia
I just picked up one of my last remaining Ophelia glass pieces and I think I will put her up for sale today on Ebay---I am photographing her now. I do believe my Ophelia glass piece to be one of my best pieces in the glass medium. I think I have made about five versions of her, each with a different necklace or expression. This one is pre-framed and lit internally.
Email to purchase this piece. alexgardega@gmail.com
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Saturday, May 17, 2008
mcsorleys seven
Here is a photo (of a photo) that hangs on the wall of Mcsorleys pub in NYC. It has a strange dreamlike quality. I think these guys are the mcsorley's seven baseball team. They have all long since left this world.
in progress
I started this piece today. She is "the eyes of texas" There is a fine line to straddle between kitsch and genius. It is all about nailing the right energy to the wall of reality. I like images that can be misconstrued or have a lot of weight and pre-conceived baggage. Painting such images is like starting a race with your shoes untied.
update
later today I will upload my mcsorleys study and I have started a new masterwork called "Fooling the Eyes of Texas..."
trompe loiel (fooling the eye) is an artistic term for fooling the Eye through precise. realistic, naturalistic painting.
trompe loiel (fooling the eye) is an artistic term for fooling the Eye through precise. realistic, naturalistic painting.
Bread Of Eden
I am almost done with my still life. I was initially going to title this piece the bread of genius but I decided on the "Bread of Eden." I swiped this title from a Peter Gabriel song "blood of eden." On the Bread of Eden feed the woman and the man.." Genius is concealing your sources (or not)...as the say...Methinks bread should have the glow of life, an aura of hope.
oil on canvas 16 x 20
Friday, May 16, 2008
Please vote!
If you like my site or simply read it everyday because you hate it, please vote to the right! it is my one year anniversary today and I would appreciate all my readers and detractors to vote. It is "annie nomus" so dont worry---just vote!
happy anniversary
Today is the one year anniversary of this website! (Good thing I have people to remind me of such things.) I will celebrate in my usual fashion--- painting alone all night in my apt with my gabriel albums on random and some red vino. I guess I will upload a whole bunch of memories and images from the last year as it seems that so much transpired and so much more is to be done. Time has a cruel and callous eye and it is best to work hard and to leave the past behind you with scarecly an occasional glance up through the fog of what "was." I get a chuckle when I look back at all the mayhem and madness of trying to fill the thousands of letters and requests and thank god for my former assistant Jacqueline who saved me as I am barely capable of stuffing envelopes.
mcsorleys
went to mcsorleys yesterday to work on a watercolor. will upload later. finishing some touch ups and unrelated ma.ttters.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
tomorrows painting--
I am painting McSorley's ale house tomorrow. It is one of the oldest pubs in NYC and Abe lincoln drank there after giving a speech at cooper union.
PICASSO VS DALI
instead of voting for three different heads of a globalist- political hydra you can vote for art! Vote dali or picasso today is final day!
photo by gardega
I am not a photographer as I do not generally respect photography as an art. I am a painter who takes snapshots. This is the wall above my art table in my new apt.
street still life
I love finding random compositions in the street. This was not arranged and I did not cheat with photoshop--I just "snapped it as it lay"
ID theft---How to get even
I have a solution to ID theft! destroy your credit to the point of non-repair. If someone steals it it will be like stealing a poisoned chicken! Just a random idea I had today.
global drooling--by gardega
The great issue at hand is not the environment, nor the possible effects of global warming. The greatest issue at hand is global stupidity and the over all dumbing down of humans. Perhaps it is the fluoridation of water which is proven in scientific studies to lower IQ over time by 20%. Keep drinking that tap water Folks! Those little square objects that people used to read are now ancient relics best used for propping up short coffee table legs. Our water is filled with Prozac and more pharmaceuticals and chemicals than keith richards and the height of our conversations concern american idol. TV has turned out brains into mush and if mush gets warmed up by global warming then I say so be it---oatmeal is best served warm.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
long day in the salt mine
I got up at 3AM today and worked until 6pm. I finished an etched glass piece and hung it in tribeca and now I will start working until about midnight on other projects. I will load some updates and photos tonight of new work.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
marshall arisman
Here are a few photos I took today at my friend Marshall Arisman's art studio in NYC. He is a great artist and a class act. I am curating a show for him in Brooklyn soon and all are invited.
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