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.