sat in the corner of the garden grill with the plastic flowers on the window sill....

lot of five drawings by gardega

In order to get to the surface you have to swim through the darkness and into the light. That is the point of this drawing. Maybe you can float to the light in peace, I am not sure. This is another lot of five drawings, this is the only one I am showing the rest I will pick myself. They will be nice drawings, not doodles.


price 100.00


you can buy to the right or email me.


alexgardega@gmail.com

five drawings by gardega

I am selling my drawings in lots of five. I need to clean my house again as I am sick of tripping on my own art., I am sick of living like a pack rat. My art breeds like french rabbits on viagra, I wake everyday and have more stuff. sketches and drawings and doodles are piled everywhere like a crazy person. I am sick of ebay as well--- it is a pain to post and I spent thousands of dollars in fees.. I am trying to sell off of my own site and I am learning the ropes. Here is one of five drawings you will receive in a lot. The other drawings are up to me.



100.00 lot of five sketches by gardega,

email me or you can click on the button to right and buy for 100.00. just specify what you are buying. The first person who buys off of my site will get a free gift from me.

iris panel

I recently unearthed this piece. It is an iris on gold leaf. The exact size is 5 inches by 31 inches. It is oil on gold leaf on masonite. signed lower right.


For sale $100.00

school of athens geometry--by gardega

I have been trying for months to figure out the geometry that raphael used in his construction of the school of athens. I spent my thanksgiving drinking wine and working on it. I finally figured it out using overlapping pentagons. I have very little doubt as to this being his method of construction. I also think the circles may represent planetary alignments by I will not stray into the esoteric, I will stick with math and truth. I used some photoshop to make it easier to see where my drawing fits in. Overlapping pentagons is pure genius. VIVA Raphael. Try drawing this yourself and you will find that it is very hard to keep track of which circle ends where and for that matter how many overlapping circles there are...can you count? I was constantly losing my place and would have to start over from scratch.

watercolor of the day---by gardega

Whenever I venture back to my parents I go through dozens of my "pack rat" bins I own and dig through them to find stuff. I have about 50 bins full of things that other people would never understand. I save old magazines, articles, old sketches---- anything I think I may be able to use one day. I try to throw things out but I have a hard time. I found this sketch on turkey day. It was a watercolor I made for a mural proposal for an architect years ago.


If you want to purchase this it is $100.00 dollars. I set up the blog today to accept cards and paypal.. Not sure if it works yet. feel free to try.

watercolor on paper 8 x10 roughly

words of the day--n.p

All of us get lost in the darkness
Dreamers learn to steer by the stars
All of us do time in the gutter
Dreamers turn to look at the cars
Turn around and turn around and turn around
Turn around and walk the razors edge
Dont turn your back
And slam the door on me

alex explains the dollar

If you look on a dollar you will see that it is a federal reserve note. It is not actual money. The fed is not a branch of the govt. but rather a private institution that prints money willy nilly and lends it at interest to banks. The constitution says that only the treasury can print money. But no one cares about that document anymore. Each dollar used to be backed by gold. it is now backed by nothing except hot air. (which is why one day it will be worth nothing. ) you cannot print money out of thin air forever. We have what is known as a FIAT CURRENCY* a fiat currency is like a Macy Thanksgiving parade float eventually it is deflated or put to pasture (or worse.) People tend to think they hold actual money in their hand, you are essentially holding a promise (just as lucy promised not to move the ball..) Enjoy your turkey and drive safe. My brain hurts when I think about anything but art.


*The terms fiat currency and fiat money relate to types of currency or money whose usefulness results not from any intrinsic value or guarantee that it can be converted into gold or another currency, but instead from a government's order (fiat) that it must be accepted as a means of payment

melamine

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,457710,00.html


Our tap water is full of pharma, flouride and poison --bottled water is even more polluted and our milk is full of bovine growth hormones. now this. I am going to start drinking whiskey.

all I want for christmas is this....

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2008/11/25/2008-11-25_100g_book_on_michelangelo_to_go_on_show_.html

Gardega Newsletter---rough draft

Dear Sir/ Madame,

I am writing to introduce you to my work and to my humble newsletter, The Gardega Report. I am an artist whose vision is focused sharply on the heels of the great American Art Dream. My art is a thing undefined, a token of my journey down a strange highway. I am most interested in visual imagery that creates a sense of transcendence from the “here and now” and whatever media or highway gets me there is not important. My vision is influenced by science and literature and the Renaissance and the modern media. As an explorer, I do not make the same visual bread everyday, Picasso spoke of this and I share his restless nature . My ingredients and vision change with the available light of reality.

I have a large following throughout the US and abroad of collectors who buy my work. I have done countless commissions and architectural installations. I have decided to get back to my gallery roots and I am looking to expand my gallery dealings as I have dealt with many galleries in the past and I have owned my own NYC gallery. I believe strongly in my work and I still believe that art matters and honesty matters above all. Perhaps contemporary art is a comment on the quantum emptiness of the American dream-atom. I prefer a reality and an art that speaks to the heart. It is the journey in art I am after, not the arrival. I have no map and I reject the ones drawn by other’s hands. Technique is not craft anymore than heartfelt honesty is kitsch and irony is a twice told tale. If you are overly aware of what you are doing (in a calculated sense) you are not making art, you are baking bread. Only the madmen and dreamers have advanced art and the colors of conformity fade in a season. Albert Pinkham Ryder said he felt like a caterpillar on the end of a branch reaching out into nothing.

That works for me.

Alex Gardega

"MODERN art is like a Hollywood whore on her last legs no one loves anymore. She needs a savior to drive a stake through the foul heart of modernism and to bring painting back to the lofty planes of the Renaissance" - art-world rebel Alex Gardega . . .

PAGE SIX: January 14, 2008

staten island book cover

I painted this for ambassador publishing. It is Staten Island. Yes, I actually took my first visit to S.I to try to make it right. I must admit to heightening reality a bit. I will include the tear-sheet/ book cover print as well.


for sale.

(I will include a signed tear-sheet/ book cover print as well.)

18 x 24 oil on canvas




email me for inquiries. alexgardega@gmail.com


happy days are here again, the sky is blue and....

ivory ghost

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/11/23/massachusetts.piano/index.html

quote of the day---hst

"Myths and legends die hard in America. We love them for the extra dimension they provide, the illusion of near-infinite possibility to erase the narrow confines of most men's reality. Weird heroes and mould-breaking champions exist as living proof to those who need it that the tyranny of 'the rat race' is not yet final."
—The Great Shark Hunt, 1979

art with alex video

irises.

I found this in my archives/ closet today. It is oil paint on gold leaf. The only reason the gold leaf looks a bit not flat and wavy is that I simply dropped it into this frame to photograph it. If the glass is pressed against piece then it is flat. I didnt want to press it as it was still a bit wet from touch ups I made. The actual piece is aabout 15 x 20. the frame is 24 x 30. I am not sure about the green matte. White would be better or cream.

great interview

drawing age six--gardega

I drew this when I was a child. I found it for the first time today. Yes, that is the WTC I was obsessed with the WTC as a child because of the king kong painting that was made for the 1976 king kong movie.this drawing really kind of scares me when I think about it.

words of the day

plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

terrible beauty

I think there is no greater horror than the prospect of a nuclear war. Somehow I have always been fascinated by the mushroom cloud created from nuclear explosions. I wish I didnt find them interesting things but I do. I also hope never to see one. If you think in certain terms maybe that fuzzy old scientist einstein did more harm than good by letting the atomic genie out of the bottle. But if not him then it would have been another.


No one who saw it could forget it, a foul and awesome display.
-Kenneth Bainbridge, physicist

outdoor heaters banned in EU

EU bid to ban patio heaters (even though they don't harm the planet)

By DANIEL MARTIN
Last updated at 15:06 31 January 2008

• Comments (12)
• Add to My Stories

Smokers forced out into the cold could have patio heaters taken away to save the environment by the EU

Patio heaters have a minimal effect on the environment, an expert said yesterday.

Dr Eric Johnson spoke out as Euro MPs were about to demand that outdoor heaters be banned to tackle climate change.

Millions of Britons have the heaters in their gardens and they give a vital boost to trade at pubs, cafes and restaurants by enabling customers to sit outside in cool weather.

They have become particularly important to pubs since the smoking ban prevented customers smoking inside pubs.

Read more...

• Blow to obesity campaign as EU refuses to back simple warning labels on packaging

Industry experts say a ban on outdoor heaters could cost the pub and catering trade £250million a year in lost business.

Euro MPs are today due to vote on a resolution calling on the European Commission to set a timetable for abolishing goods with low energy-efficiency ratings, with outdoor patio heaters specifically mentioned.

But Dr Eric Johnson, national expert reviewer for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, said plasma televisions produced more carbon dioxide than patio heaters.

"The overall impact of outdoor heaters on global warming and greenhouse gas emissions is very minimal, and once you look at the domestic models used in homes, the impact is almost non-existent," he said.

"Once comparisons start with wellknown offenders such as aeroplanes, outdoorheaters dwarf in comparison. In fact, plasma TVs produce far more CO2 than patio heaters when you compare normal usage patterns for each appliance.

"What constitutes a waste of energy is always going to be open to debate but it is important that the public is properly educated about environmental impacts."

Dr Johnson said Government figures showed that emissions from all domestic patio heaters amounted to 22,200 tons of carbon dioxide - only 0.002 per cent of the total UK CO2 emissions.

By contrast, TVs produce 4.6million tons of CO2 a year in the UK. It would take an equivalent of more than five patio heaters to produce as much CO2 as one TV on stand-by mode does in a year.

Today's European Parliament vote was initiated by Liberal Democrat MEP Fiona Hall, who represents the North-East.

She has also called for the abolition of the stand-by mode on electrical appliances and new EU-wide minimum standards for energy efficiency covering air conditioning, TV "decoder" boxes and lightbulbs.

If her motion is passed the Commission will have to consider it. The resolution does not specify how long the phasing-out period should be, saying the decision should be left to the Commission.

thank you

a big thanks to Mary for the box of canvas. Mary is a great DJ in westchester who I have been lucky enough to meet a few times. She has always been a big supporter of my scribblings. I would listen to her on the radio as she is a great DJ and has a nice voice. I have linked her below.

http://www.wfasfm.com/index.php?src=gendocs&ref=MaryDesilva&category=airstaff&submenu=airstaff

words of the day--peter gabriel

The wretched desert takes its form, the jackal proud and tight
In search of you, I feel my way, though the slowest heaving night
Whatever fear invents, I swear it make no sense
I reach through the border fence
Come down, come talk to me

In the swirling, curling storm of desire unuttered words hold fast
With reptile tongue, the lightning lashes towers built to last
Darkness creeps in like a thief and offers no relief
Why are you shaking like a leaf
Come on, come talk to me

Ah please talk to me
Wont you please talk to me
We can unlock this misery
Come on, come talk to me


I did not come to steal
This all is so unreal
Cant you show me how you feel now
Come on, come talk to me
Come talk to me

The earthly power sucks shadowed milk from sleepy tears undone
From nippled skin as smooth as silk the bugles blown as one
You lie there with your eyes half closed like theres no-one there at all
Theres a tension pulling on your face
Come on, come talk to me

Wont you please talk to me
If youd just talk to me
Unblock this misery
If youd only talk to me


Dont you ever change your mind
Now your futures so defined
And you act so deaf and blind
[and you act so deaf so blind]
Come on, come talk to me
Come talk to me

I can imagine the moment
Breaking out through the silence
All the things that we both might say
And the heart it will not be denied
til were both on the same damn side
All the barriers blown away

I said please talk to me
Wont you please come talk to me
Just like it used to be
Come on, come talk to me
I did not come to steal
This all is so unreal
Can you show me how you feel now
Come on, come talk to me
Come talk to me

I said please talk to me
If youd just talk to me
Unblock this misery
If youd only talk to me

drawing of gay talese

I stopped into Elaines for a few red wines last night. The writers Peter Hamill and Gay Taleses were holding court at a table. I drew a few napkins of the table. Gay Talese liked a few of them and he signed my quick sketch of him getting up and leaving. Pete Hamill wrote a great book called a drinking life that I read many years ago. I am pretty proud of my napkin signed by Gay Talese, it is a keepsake. They kept a couple of my drawings I wonder if they will save them and frame them or toss them.

Gay Talese (born February 7, 1932) is an American author. He wrote for The New York Times in the early 1960s and helped to define literary journalism or "new nonfiction reportage", also known as New Journalism. His most famous articles are about Joe DiMaggio, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra.

Talese is a visiting writer at the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California each spring.

quick charcoal drawing

Here is a four minute charcoal sketch that I drew from my head tonight without reference or too much thought. I did not add any sound as I was lazy.

some books alex has read and recommends

The secret life of Dali---salvador dali

Hidden Faces "

Dali on modern art "

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Hunter s. thompson

Prince Jellyfish "

The sun also rises Hemingway

complete short stories "

To have have and have not "

The jungle upton sinclair

The lives of the artists vasari

The dialogues of plato plato

every work by Vonnegut V.

the complete works of Joseph Campbell

The complete works of carl jung

The journals of Delacroix

Da Vinci on painting

Illusions richard bach

the stranger camus

the plague camus

no exit------sartre


sacred geometry


the work of vitruvius

anything by bradbury especially dandelion wine.

billions and billions----carl sagan


the renaissance ---any book with this title will do.

joseph conrad----heart of darkness---best story ever written..

all I can remember right now.

Mother should I trust the government?--roger waters

I thought I would let those know who do not know or who are too busy watching TV and the spoon fed media that two trillion dollars of your tax money is being handled by the government in such a manner that you are legally have ZERO over site as to where it is going. NONE. Paulson rammed it through with threats of martial law to congress and you are not privy as to where it is going. It is your money and you are not allowed to know what the drunkard called the us government is spending it on. Congress could have waited and taken a breather and thought it out and actually read the document but like the patriot act "there was no time." But dont worry the government is a good drunkard and they have your best interest in mind. It is better that the sheep do not know where they spend your two trillion. You have TV and sports to watch. Go Yankees. If you want to know how long it would take to count to a trillion?---31688 years 32 days 1 hour 46 minutes 40 seconds. Woo Hoo! By the way I know where the money is going and I aint sayin'. Your mission is to figure that one out with your own grey matter. And FYI the package was supposed to include the bailout of the americans in bad mortgages but they decided to change that clause in the last minute and not tell you where the money is going. I would start counting now and call me in 31,000 years--- But dont worry they are looking out for you..

new painting by gardega

I spent about 25 hour this weekend just trying to figure out how to use my web cam as my video cam would not function. I then spent most of today trying to upload to make it viewable and nothing would work. I never give up. I would rather put my head on the train tracks than ever admit I cant so something. I have made a small amount of progress in the desired direction.

Saw a group of people forming
Round a figure lying down
And someone runs to make a phone call
And the man kneels on the ground
The man kneels on the ground
Theres a tightening in my chest
I know that Im drawn in
Oh God let it not be you

Dont leave us
Dont leave like this
Dont leave me here again
Im not quitting on you
No one else
Youre not quitting on us
No running out

The colour in your shirt is darkening,
Against the paleness of your skin
I remember how you held the goldfish
Swimming around in a plastic bag
Swimming around in a plastic bag

You held it up so high
In the bright lights of the fair
It slipped and fell
We looked everywhere

Dont leave us (your eyes are bright, your blood is warm)
Dont leave like this (your heart is strong, youre holding on)
Dont leave me here again (I feel your pulse, I hold your hand)
Im not quitting on you
Theres no one else
Youre not quitting on us
Theres no way out
No way out

Dont leave us
Dont leave like this
Dont leave me here again (I feel your pulse, I hold your hand)
Im not quitting on you
Theres no one else
Youre not quitting on us
No running away no way out

"bailout" update

I will give some updated info. here on the raping of america that some call a "bail out."

article by paul watson.

Neel Kashkari, the fox appointed to guard the henhouse and front the multi-trillion dollar bailout, faced angry questions from Dennis Kucinich and Rep. Darrell Issa during a hearing today, as Issa accused him of playing a “bait and switch” game with taxpayers’ money.

All the major networks carried footage of the U.S. House subcommittee hearing this morning and aired Kashkari’s opening statement in full. But as soon as Kucinich and Issa were about to weigh in, the networks almost simultaneously cut the feed and moved on to a different story. Another example of how the corporate media is owned by the same elite that runs the Federal Reserve.

Kucinich accused Paulson and Bush of circumventing Congress by completely changing the destination of where the bailout money would go and refusing to disclose what had happened to $2 trillion dollars of taxpayer money, adding, “I think it’s fairly obvious that Congress would have never passed the [rescue plan] had it known how Treasury would marshal the resources it was given.”

Kucinich’s battle with Kashkari went as follows, according to a Washington Post blog report.

“I assure you the secretary is passionate about this,” Kashkari said.

“Passionate about what?” Kucinich said.

“About helping homeowners,” Kashkari replied.

“Where?” Kucinich asked, sarcastically. “What country?”

“We are using all the tools available to ease the credit crises,” Kashkari said. “Let me give you an example…”

Kucinich interrupted Kashkari and continued his harangue.

“Maybe this is a game to some people in the administration. They’re on their way out of office and they can do whatever they want,” said Kucinich who tried to launch impeachment proceedings against Bush. “Meanwhile, people are hoping against hope” for help with their mortgages.

Kashkari tried to explain why the $700 billion was not used to buy troubled mortgages, but Kucinich would hear none of it.

This bill was originally sold to the people with the idea it would help them keep their mortgages. they lied! Congress should be evicted and sent to New Jersey Prisons.

alex is not for socialism but if you are stealing 2 trillion from the american taxpayers at least help the people keep their homes instead of sending large portions of money to overseas banks a and to the bonuses of the rotten thieves who created the mess.

brilliance

ram bahadur bomjon

I cant stop thinking about this kid from nepal. The world is imploding on itself and we are seemingly on the eve of destruction and one kid decides to go sit in the woods and meditate and has become a worldwide phenomenon. He has been sitting for years now and was even filmed by the discovery channel for four straight days and he did not take food or water. (For all you skeptics I suggest you try to sit without moving for 20 minutes. ) some call him the reincarnation of buddha and he just reemerged from the woods to for a week to talk to people. I think it is endlessly fascinating that in the midst of all this chaos the act of just sitting is drawing the attention of the entire world. Imagine sitting without a TV.

as a child of eight this was my favorite song. My mother says that as a child I spent all my time alone with my books and drawings. Not much has changed.

The best movie I never made.

I had a dream last night that I found a DVD of a movie I made. The only problem was I couldnt remember making the movie at all so I sat down and watched it. It was about 3o minutes of greatness and it also made no sense and was non-linear and had no plot. It was just one visual of daily life in america to the next but very surreal. I could never make a movie as good as I dreamt and now it is lost to the ether. I do remember it had a very strange breakfast of champions vonnegut feel but that is all I can recall. True genius is found in the unconscious. One need only move out of the way.

sometimes you paint for ten hours and find you have made nothing but a mess.

Portrait of Bindo Altoviti (Raphael)

This is the best portrait ever painted. The color is off here, the robe is supposed to be blue. this is in the national gallery. Leonardo's influence is very apparent here in Raphael's portrait of some renaissance rich banker. The eyes are the work of genius and one reason this is a masterpiece for the ages. Something tells me this guy was not a construction worker or bouncer. I would like to know what Raphael was paid for this portrait at the time.

no more miracles loaves and fishes ---been so busy with the washing of the dishes---pg

leonardo geometry

there are no accidents round here---peter gabriel

greatest painting ever painted--virgin of the rocks

gardega rates this work using the gardega scale of overall swellness.


Composition 10


Mystery 10


Color 8/9 (raphael was a better colorist than leonardo)


execution 10


Anatomy 10

quirks

people are strange--jim morrison

everyone I know is quirky. I have odd quirks that I have had for years. Here are the only ones I will share.


I) I have to scrub my sink and kitchen with ammonia everyday. If I don't have ammonia I cannot sit down to work and paint. I have driven miles to suburban stores at 5 am so I could start my day properly and clean my sink.


II) I have to have a white vneck t shirt on at all times. If I dont have a vneck I cant function.

III) I cannot paint in sneakers or barefoot. I have to have my frye boots on ---I have worn the same exact style for ten years. I am on my 4th pair.


Iv) as a child I would make my parents put my shoes on at least ten times until there was no "bumps in my socks" If I had bumps in my socks I would not be able to function.

these are just a few...

buddha boy returns Nov. 13, 2008

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1084758/Pictured-The-Buddha-boy-emerged-Nepals-jungle-spending-year-alone.html

high heeled rooster shoe invented by gardega 11/ 08

I woke up in the middle of the night a few nights ago and stumbled over to the art table and drew this and then went back to sleep. I am not sure why but I am 99% sure It was in my dream. in the morning I looked at it and barely remember drawing it. It is the high heeled rooster shoe. I am sure this is a work for the ages and Now it is time for me to actually make such a shoe and market it and sell it. Being an artist can be tough on the dating life as most women cannot understand why you would do such odd things. My brain is full of such ideas and images and I have to get them out like a cat spits a hairball. Today I copyright my rooster shoe of metaphysical barnyard genius. Imagine if someone asks you what you are thinking about--you cant tell them you are thinking about a shoe made out of a rooster, that there is not sane talk.

honeybees--- CCD

colony collapse disorder


why are the honeybees dying?

Here is why:

GMO corn has built in pesticides that all the bugs stay away except the bees still pollinate from it. where you have a lot of GMO corn you will find the largest areas of honeybee depopulation . If you mess with god's handiwork there is big prices to pay. I am surprised all these global warming preachers do not speak to the death of the honeybees. If you dont pollinate crops-- the crops die. If the crops die--- (fill in the blank)

. If the bees die we are toast a lot quicker than any warming trends, cancer or other such maladies yet I never hear anyone discussing this issue. Maybe al gore should have spoke about the bees so we could buy ourselves an extra 1,000 days. didn you even know that all the bees are dying?

there are those who are argue GMO crops are not the cause but I am not convinced.

to take my mind off my last discourse I offer this work of beauty. (again)

alex explains the meltdown

Most artists are foggy folk and this includes actors and musicians especially. Few people want to hear Hollywood's creative finest spewing political discourse as they prepare to step from a stretch limo into a private jet. Artists should focus on what they do, be it painting, creating, singing--- or reading a script written by another artist. Generally, artist's brains are not geared to the hi rev's that are required to understand geopolitical reality, they are better off discussing Movies and themselves. Artists tend to be zombie lemmings marching orderly towards the next cliff of Group -Think and Spoon- fed idealism. Luckily, Alex (your humble narrator) is not afflicted with the malady of Group think and his brain has not melted from TV as he does not own a TV. Alex will now explain the meltdown to you in terms of why it happened and what will come of it. If you would prefer to avoid such matters simply wait for my next post as my brain will probably decide to discuss exotic chickens. Again, I apologize if the light I shine here offends anyone as I am breaking my own rule.

Here it goes:


This economic meltdown was not an accident anymore than the "false flag" gulf of tonkins was an accident. The only difference is that the gulf of tonkins was a staged event (which most Americans have no idea about) was the reason we wound up in that hell hole called Vietnam. Staged events are common colds among governments looking for ways to achieve desired outcome----Hitler burned his own Reichstag in order to blame it on a the communists and impose martial law. (I am far from defending communism here--)The entire economic meltdown was a planned event and it was in a sense financial terrorism in that it was created with an end in mind. The forced "solution" is now slowly rearing her ugly head and most people are blind to see her corrupted face. The key word here is consolidation. The barn was burned intentionally and the farmer (you) is the one left holding "the bag." In order to understand anything you must ask yourself why and what would be the reason and the desired outcome. The desired outcome of this mess is to let the government take over and control our financial institutions. If you think this makes no sense then consider the fact that 2 trillion dollars of the bailout is not open for discussion, NO OVER SITE ALLOWED, you cannot see where that money is going--you are a slave, not a citizen. TWO TRILLION. You have been comfortably dived into two little groups of Left and Right and good cops and bad cops and have not thought about the fact that the endgame of this scenario is far beyond some left right paradigm of good democrat and bad republican (or vice versa) while your were fixated on the bad bush or bad clinton and the great obama (or vice versa) the globalists and the military industrial complex and powers beyond our comprehension were running the show behind the curtain. The rabbit hole runs deep and to understand this complex mess requires the understanding of the real purpose of the CFR, the Federal Reserve, the Trilateral commission and the Bilderbergs. We are heading towards a one world government and a one world central bank and if you think that is a good place to be you should go stand in DMV for a few hours. I am an artist at heart and I stay away from politics but I have done countless hours of research and reading and in my thinking all roads do indeed lead to Rome and the sheep have been fleeced. The government is seizing the reins (as was planned long ago ) if you wonder why the democratic congress voted the antithesis of what they stand for on every vote and why bush had a horrid approval rating and was no more a conservative than I am an eskimo. Something is rotten in Denmark and it stinks from the top down. There are no saviors and the hour is getting late. I recommend to anyone who cares to read the book--the creature from jekyll island about the creation of the federal reserve. The mortgage crises began under clinton and the drunken sailor spending under bush. I believe that we have been sold a big dream and that there is no left to save us and no right to save us yet eventually the oroborus eats its own tail anyways (doesnt it?) Please don't be offended because I do not believe in your party. I believe in the party of freedom and liberty and she is a distant ship smoke on the horizon from here.



I fear we will face another gulf of tonkins soon and obama will have some serious things to think about after the party streamers have settled.

free GARDEGA drawing

for all those who register (for free) into my www.barterfrog.com website you will get a free gardega drawing of my choice. I will spend an entire Sunday in Mcsorleys and drink brown beer and draw and you will get a nice NYC Mcsorleys famous ale house drawing. Very collectible. I will do this for the first 25 people who sign up! You dont have to trade or post anything just simply register--- I wont bother you with emails and offers etc. email me after you sign up and I'll send a drawing.

alexgardega@gmail.com

barter frog

alex is ahead of the curve! That is why I wear leisure suits--they are coming back.


http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/nov2008/sb20081111_235070.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily



please use my website! it is free and was a lot of work...

www.barterfrog.com

painting of the day---thomas moran

thomas moran painted this in long island in 1884, before developers turned this plot of land into a strip mall.

Ram Bahadur Bomjon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram_Bahadur_Bomjon

one post a day

People tell me that I should only post one item a day. In the last year I posted 2,200. I may try to slow down and do one really good post each day and see how that goes. I am not sure that fits with my nervous system but I will find out.

Barter Frog

I am very excited about my new project. I have completed a barter- based website that will be featured very shortly in a number of media outlets. Please visit and log in/ sign up if you would like to barter or trade goods and services. If you would like to advertise on the site let us know because we are about to get a lot of press across the boards. I never knew much about barter and became very interested in it after an art experiment I completed months ago. There is a huge resurgence in barter (that I had no idea about) so I am one hop ahead of the curve by hoppinstance. Please let me know if you have any issues as it is a new site!

http://www.barterfrog.com/index.html

gardega on the renaissance

Renaissance means rebirth and and the real renaissance began with that sketchy banker Cosimo Medici ...His patronage of Brunelleschi (a genius among men) is the spark that started the whole barn burning. Cosimo gambled on his money and put a pirate in place to become pope and this is another key factor in building the renaissance as the Medici fortune grew. All great things in this world have been built on crime (sad but true) from the Renaissance to the Kennedy fortune. It seems that this sand grain of evil and corruption is what eventually leads to a pearl as it did with the Medici oyster. Cosimo was a smart man and he knew that great artists are a temperamental lot and he was willing to deal with them to get what he wanted. That is my view on life as well--some things are worth the trouble they cause. Mediocrity is abundant and conformity is the most common element in the periodic chart of man. Great artists are quirky and unreliable and Da Vinci would flee from city to city to hide from unfinished projects. Artists and bankers are strange bedfellows and their offspring is at times brilliant but very often it is a gimp- chicken. So take heed and forgive the artist his temperament. After all, how would the bankers and Popes painted the Sistine chapel if not for that loon Michaelangelo? Methinks that would have chosen a nice shade of green and went back to studying their ledgers.

geometric study of a circle by gardega

quote of the day---durer

"Geometry is the foundation of all painting." -- Albrecht Durer

daily sunspot

There again are no sunspots as we are in a solar minimum. A solar minimum generally leads to global cooling on earth and other planets as well. We will see incredible low temperatures and early snow falls as this trend continues. We are no greater than the sun and the sun herself is just a minor star. I am reading a lot about Kepler these days I recommend reading about him as his life is a fantastic journey.

fall

central park photo

central park photo

central park photo

how to draw like raphael---by gardega

Here is a quick drawing I made tonight (again after Raphael) to show that he used his lines not only for shading/shadows but to show form. His lines follow the form and curves of the figure. I should have exaggerated this a bit to make clear but I did not. His line shave an elegance unsurpassed in art even by Leonardo. I used to be able to copy him more precise but I became myself and now it is harder. No matter how much you try to be another you will fail and end up as yourself.

how to paint like Raphael--by gardega

If you want to paint like Raphael you must learn to draw like Raphael. This takes many years of copying the master and still you will not draw like Raphael. To be able to copy Raphael's line better than anyone else is something to strive for before you become yourself.

someone from Iran reading about Dali on my website leads me to believe the universe is as strange as one would hope.

alex explains the atom

they are very small things

gardega explains the atom and reality

There is something in physics called "the measurement problem." If you want an insight to the strangeness of reality-- I will explain this to you.

Here it is:

an atom ONLY appears in a particular place if you measure it. In other words, an atom is spread out infinitely until a conscious observer decides to look at it.

so the act of observation (or measurement) creates the entire the universe. This is an insane idea but it is true idea.

if you would like to learn more about this you can read about shrodengir's cat..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schr%C3%B6dinger's_cat

How to paint like Raphael--by gardega

The thing that makes a Raphael sing is the subtleness of tones. These tones are a bit contrasting because it is the under painting. You must be patient and have faith in your work. I paint using the Gardega method which means 30% chaos 60 % stubborn passion and 10% faith in the gods of art. Plato and Aristotle are not allowed to be sloppy and ill painted they must be God like and impressive.

The Geometry of Raphael discovered by gardega

Today I stumbled upon a great discovery. Using my "Flower of Life Overlay" I was able to see into the geometry and mind of the great Raphael. I have never seen this approach before and I will explore it further. This was just a rough test but I am confident there is something here.

How to paint like Raphael--by gardega

If you want to paint the like the Old Masters (which is infinitely wiser than desiring to paint like a new master) You must understand sacred geometry. If you think the Old Masters painted without a deep understanding of Geometry you are gravely mistaken and are forgiven as well because you are no longer in the dark about the matter. If you think the modernists paint without a firm understanding of geometry then you are gravely correct. Today I invented the "flower of Life viewer" which is perfectly suited for checking composition and for discovery of ancient secrets. this is patent number "my lawyers will sue you into the stone age for stealing this idea number 76" By projecting the light of the "flower of life" onto paintings and drawings you can look for harmonies and notice defects you would never see--not unlike a detective using ultraviolet light to search for blood and other such things at crime scenes. I have also invented the transparent FOL overlay which serves the same purposes.

quote of the day

I was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth--the who

How to paint like Raphael--by gardega

I am painting an exact copy of the School of Athens by Raphael and I will show the progress as I go along so you can learn about the master. If you want to learn how to paint first you should visit the Museum of Modern art in NYC and the realize you are in the wrong museum and take a taxi up to THE MET and look at the old masters like titian and Rubens etc. There is nothing to be learned from the modernists except how not to paint and that (in a sense) is half the battle! First you must have a good drawing as a foundation and establish your structure. There are many ways to skin a cat and what ever gets a great end result is fine. Some methods are nothing more than ways to beat the life out a piece of art so be careful about too closely aping someone else or following mechanical methods. Painting is nothing if it does not have life and soul regardless of how well it is labored. On the other extreme is the jasper johns effect of slipshod craftsmanship which will not skin your artistic cat anymore than milk will get you drunk. Drawing is key and there has never been a better master of line than Raphael. I had to cover my flash up for this picture so the photo is a bit weak. Here is my under painting and basic structure of one of the central figures in the work. Paint what you see and not what you think you see when you are copying or painting from life. A lazy artist likes to let his pencil move faster than his brain. I f you have a good structure then you can proceed to think about color and details.

book cover

I have surfed many times--- my favorite place to surf is the sea of "I'll worry about it later."

sold

hologram

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/11/06/hologram.yellin/index.html?eref=rss_latest#cnnSTCVideo

work in progress