Must repaint yankee stadium...new angle..30hours wasted..no rest for the weary

in progresso

Here is a book cover I am working on....a "famous and new" baseball stadium. Photo is blurry and that is fine because I am not done, either, so it will remain a blurred mystery until the glazing and oil painting is finished...On a side note I get a free tour of Yankee stadium on Thursday before it is open to public. I am not a huge baseball fan but If I had to pick a team it would be the yanks. I am too busy to follow sports. back to the easel..I painted for 20 hours yesterday, slow going...

detail of lost souls...

Here is my "Lost Souls" detail that is going to be in an online art auction soon...This is so dark I am surprised people seem to like it.

the secret of my art...

A clean and ordered workspace is and has always been the key to my success. This is me after working for 15 hours straight.

I have been painting yankee stadium since 2AM...getting blurry..need break

http://www.chilepepperinstitute.org/

If not for art I would have studied here..

after the show...632 hudson st.

I took a final snapshot of the place I had my art show----632 Hudson street...What a great and wonderful place to work yourself to death in...Sad to take the art down but I have some good photos--preserve your memories. I love this space..

painting of the day--dante by botticelli

Not an awe inspiring work but I like both Dante and Botticelli....two artists, one stone.

finished piece--outside, the rain...

22 x 30 sumi ink on arches paper

billions and billions is so 1980's

Quadrillion? That’s a number only astronomers use, right? You know…as in the North Star is “just” a couple of quadrillion miles away.

But, ominously enough, Earth’s economists are actually starting to use it, too. No, not to discuss the amount of dollars out there (though it might feel like the Fed just pumped a quadrillion greenbacks into the economy). The Bank of International Settlements recently reported that the amount of outstanding derivatives has now reached the $1.14 quadrillion mark ($548 Trillion in listed credit derivatives plus $596 trillion in notional [or face value] OTC derivatives).

Whether you’re an astronomer or an economist, that’s an awfully big number. In case you need a mega-number refresher course, million is followed by billion which is followed by trillion which is followed by quadrillion (and, okay, quintillion and sextillion follow that). Yes, it takes a thousand trillion to make up one quadrillion, and, sadly, that’s where we now find ourselves with the derivative situation.

gardega on picasso

It is okay for an artist not to like Picasso, just as it is okay for a person not to like the rain but to deny the genius of Picasso is as useless as pretending it is not raining.---gardega

coming back to life

Putting together my art show in 30 days was almost too much for me. It took a big psychic and physical toll on me. There was too much to do and too few hours and besides it really cut into my drinking/ quiet/ alone time when I fabricate my thoughts and ideas and clean out my soul. Next time I will take six months... I feel like I just now am recovering from the storm and creeping back above ground...That is the basis behind some of these pieces..the calm after the storm so to speak. I am painting like crazy again but there is no pressure..this is peaceful creation, not manic crazed beat the clock creation...Rome wasnt built in a day, but it sure burned pretty quick.


sumi ink on arches paper


22 x 23 inches

these paintings are going to be auctioned through an online art auction house..I will update info as I have all the info.

words of the day--dylan

I was thinking of a series of dreams
Where nothing comes up to the top
Everything stays down where its wounded
And comes to a permanent stop
Wasnt thinking of anything specific
Like in a dream, when someone wakes up and screams
Nothing too very scientific
Just thinking of a series of dreams

Thinking of a series of dreams
Where the time and the tempo fly
And theres no exit in any direction
cept the one that you cant see with your eyes
Wasnt making any great connection
Wasnt falling for any intricate scheme
Nothing that would pass inspection
Just thinking of a series of dreams

Dreams where the umbrella is folded
Into the path you are hurled
And the cards are no good that youre holding
Unless theyre from another world

In one, numbers were burning
In another, I witnessed a crime
In one, I was running, and in another
All I seemed to be doing was climb
Wasnt looking for any special assistance
Not going to any great extremes
Id already gone the distance
Just thinking of a series of dreams

outside the rain fell dark and slow...

I woke up this morning and it was raining so I put on my favorite song that feels like rain to me...(pink floyd--coming back to life)

linked
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx1l0cj8Gdg

..this is sumi ink on watercolor paper and is all about the specific line in the song---outside, the rain, fell dark and slow...I cannot add one more thing to this piece or It would sink like a boat. Just as you cannot add another word to that simple lyric---It is the most minimal of works, a shroud of rain and sadness balanced so that the slightest detail or bird or whisper would sink this painting into the dark and swirling drink of lost harmony.



"Coming Back To Life"


Where were you when I was burned and broken
While the days slipped by from my window watching
Where were you when I was hurt and helpless
Because the things you say and the things you do surround me
While you were hanging yourself on someone else's words
Dying to believe in what you heard
I was staring straight into the shining sun

Lost in thought and lost in time
While the seeds of life and the seeds of change were planted
Outside the rain fell dark and slow
While I pondered on this dangerous but irresistible pastime
I took a heavenly ride through our silence
I knew the moment had arrived
For killing the past and coming back to life

I took a heavenly ride through our silence
I knew the waiting had begun
And headed straight..into the shining sun

my main themes...

creation myths


floods


flight (psychic flight)


Lost souls


landscapes (internal landscapes)


sacred geometry


alchemical gold of the spirit vs. material gold


these themes are what I am preoccupied with, they came to me over the years--- I didn't sit down and try to think or work in any series of themes--or "series of dreams" as dylan once put it..

after the flood...in progress

"Here Comes The Flood"

When the night shows
the signals grow on radios
All the strange things
they come and go, as early warnings
Stranded starfish have no place to hide
still waiting for the swollen Easter tide
There's no point in direction we cannot
even choose a side.

I took the old track
the hollow shoulder, across the waters
On the tall cliffs
they were getting older, sons and daughters
The jaded underworld was riding high
Waves of steel hurled metal at the sky
and as the nail sunk in the cloud, the rain
was warm and soaked the crowd.

Lord, here comes the flood
We'll say goodbye to flesh and blood
If again the seas are silent
in any still alive
It'll be those who gave their island to survive
Drink up, dreamers, you're running dry.

When the flood calls
You have no home, you have no walls
In the thunder crash
You're a thousand minds, within a flash
Don't be afraid to cry at what you see
The actors gone, there's only you and me
And if we break before the dawn, they'll
use up what we used to be.

Lord, here comes the flood
We'll say goodbye to flesh and blood
If again the seas are silent
in any still alive
It'll be those who gave their island to survive
Drink up, dreamers, you're running dry.

a watercolor a day--after the flood

As I grow as an artist I know less and less what I am doing...I simply get out of the way. My days of anal, over- rendered and noodled pictures are behind me. I am interested in the world beyond the visible spectrum, beyond the rational..the Supra- rational!. Dali thought dreams were best painted as ultra hyper real frozen photographs. I am interested in the blurred vision that is beyond my own understanding. My spirit has turned into the unknown and into worlds I do not understand.

"when I was a child, I had a fleeting glimpse out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look but it was gone, I cannot put my finger on it now, the child has grown--the dream is gone."...r. waters

I think there are some parallels to zen art in that I am not interested so much in the final piece but in the act of creation or the space of nothingness, the emptiness of the process that makes the bowl or cup useful.


"driver where you taken us?" J. morrison

there is no doubt in my mind that after the first flood came the calm and the rainbow..the first visual spectrum..God's first painting











a watercolor a day keeps the shrink away.

my lucid dream

I had a dream last night that was so real and lucid and strange I am sure words will fail me as I try to convey it.

I was having an art show in Long Island and by chance Dali and his wife Gala strolled casually into the room. I knew that they were both long since dead but I accepted that it was both of them in the flesh for some reason--- I don't remember a grand entrance or grandstanding-- they were both fairly quiet but dressed in the clothes of the uber-wealthy. The dream was so crisp and clear not unlike a hyper- real dali painting. I remember the pores and tones of Dali's face, the blank coldness of Gala's eyes and her tight lips--they were as clear to me as my mom and sister were in front of me yesterday. Although he said nothing I got the vibe that Dali liked my work that he saw and I asked if he would make me quick drawing on a scrap paper I produced from a desk---a receipt or some such thing.. He picked a different piece of paper and did a quick Dali sketch..The sketch was okay--nothing amazing or Dalinian about it...Gala looked at him--Gala never let Dali give away any work ever, even napkins she would tear up or put in her purse--I thought she was going to tell him no but she almost had a warmth to her (she was notoriously heartless and cold and mean in every account I ever read.) Dali handed me the sketch and they walked out without a word. I still remember the lines in his face and the shadows on her chin. It was the most lucid dream I ever had, ever. I awoke from it shaken up and without a sketch. If I had a psychiatrist I suppose he/ she would have a field day with my psyche but my therapy comes in 3.75 m tubes

Leonardo Learning---the spectrum

I had a CD on my window sill and the sunlight hit it at the right angle and produced this visual spectrum on my ceiling..I thought it was a perfect chance to explain the color spectrum to my humble readers...will expand on this today..much work and watercolors to make today...will post those pictures as well.

my studio

This is where I make my art (my glass art is made in brooklyn) My mom and sis were very kind and helped get my space back together after all the work I did for my show turned my studio into Goyaesque war zone. (big thanks!) There is nothing in the room that is not covered and smeared with paint and linseed oil...my socks, my clothes, my bed, my plant, my computer...my brain. I never gave a fig about possesions and creature comforts---My space has always been about work first and living second..I didnt even own a TV for most of my adult life. I own very few clothes and most of them are ruined with paint. I am fairly monastic in my view of life--- I dont need to own stuff to impress people, If I keep the spirits happy and my soul uncorrupted, then that is enough--- I am a monk who likes wine a lot more than I like "other people." Put a paintbrush in my hand and I am one happy monkey and richer than any monkey- king.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5uKHa9Gmks&NR=1

a series of dreams

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcMzqbiycVQ

words of the day---POE

It was many and many a year ago,
         In a kingdom by the sea,

   That a maiden there lived whom you may know
         By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
   And this maiden she lived with no other thought
         Than to love and be loved by me.

   I was a child and she was a child,

         In this kingdom by the sea;
   But we loved with a love that was more than love-
         I and my Annabel Lee;
   With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
         Coveted her and me.


   And this was the reason that, long ago,
         In this kingdom by the sea,
   A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
         My beautiful Annabel Lee;
   So that her highborn kinsman came
         And bore her away from me,

   To shut her up in a sepulchre
         In this kingdom by the sea.

   The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
         Went envying her and me-
   Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,
         In this kingdom by the sea)

   That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
         Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

   But our love it was stronger by far than the love
         Of those who were older than we-
         Of many far wiser than we-

   And neither the angels in heaven above,
         Nor the demons down under the sea,
   Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
         Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.

   For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams

         Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
   And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
         Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
   And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
   Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,

         In the sepulchre there by the sea,
         In her tomb by the sounding sea.

went out with Marshall last night for our post- show talk over a bottle of vino. We always wind up in great and crazy conversations about everything from spirits to hauntings to buffalo to american indians and so on...(Wish I had tape recordings of the stuff)...To an outsider it would sound like to crazy people talking but we get on the same page and surf the same dimension. The theme of the show was Tranference--the idea of transfereing emotion or knowledge from art to viewer--or student teacher..last night I finally understood why we had the show and what I took away from it and where I am going next, conversation can move people ahead--- can change your mind, your state, they can transfer energy ....mission completed. back to the easel.

leonardo learning----LINE

Line is a direct conduit to the soul of an artist. The great Masters of line have been leonardo, rembrandt, dali, Lautrec, rackham, dulac, and steadman. Mucha was also a master of line and art nouveau was all based on line...If not line then we deal in 'forms" and "shapes" and "color play." My compradres growing up thoughtt that that sargent was a master of line, fools--- he had no better sense of line than a fig has a sense of being a newton. Economy of lines means you express the most with the least amount of line!!! Anal rendering is deader than a frog on a texas highway...Hokusai was the master of line of all time , the japanese above all understood line!!!!!!!!! WOO HOO!!! Van gogh tried and failed but failed with more passion than any human. His line was "okay" a mere bastard cousin of the divine japanese line. That is why he shot himself in a field of crows on a sunny day in france. I still love the old crazy bastard, to this day.... If you sell your "line" to a corporation or become a commercial hack, they in turn own your line AKA..."your soul." This is the faustian deal, the timeless goetheian idea of the devil stealing the last easter egg you had hidden under your couch. My eggs were never for sale, I fought angels and devils and humans for "it." Once they buy "it" they own it and it is never yours again. It is like virginity, you cant get it back. You become the portrait of dorain grey and age accordingly. My soul has no price, I paint what I want and I do what I want. I have done my share of hacked work but I have never given my heart and soul over to "THE COIN" I am free and alive and fearless and I sleep very well. My line is GARDEGA and not some devil corporation idea of line, my only deal was with myself ad I paint from my heart and soul and gladly pay the price the angels require of me.

words of the day---N. peart

Hold your fire
Keep it burning bright
Hold the flame 'til the dream ignites
A spirit with a vision is a dream
With a mission

I hear their passionate music
Read the words that touch my heart
I gaze at their feverish pictures
The secrets that set them apart

When I feel the powerful visions
Their fire has made alive
I wish I had that instinct
I wish I had that drive

Spirits fly on dangerous missions
Imaginations on fire
Focused high on soaring ambitions
Consumed in a single desire

In the grip of a nameless possession
A slave to the drive of obsession
A spirit with a vision is a dream
With a mission

I watch their images flicker
Bringing light to a lifeless screen
I walk through their beautiful buildings
And I wish I had their dreams
But dreams don't need to have motion
To keep their spark alive
Obsession has to have action
Pride turns on the drive

It's cold comfort
To the ones without it
To know how they struggled
How they suffered about it
If their lives were exotic and strange
They would likely have gladly exchanged them
For something a little more plain
Maybe something a little more sane

We each pay a fabulous price
For our visions of paradise
But a spirit with a vision is a dream
With a mission

gardega on fear

my whole life (even as a child) I have been obsessed by the idea of FEAR. If I was afraid of something I would step into it 110% and I wasnt even sure why. When I was a child in texas we had an electric fence to keep in the cows and horses in. Every year or so I would force my self to go up and grab the wire because I as so afraid of it. It was strong enough to keep cows and horses in line and was high voltage and I was 8 years old but I would intentionally grab it once a year to test my resolve. The shock was so bad it was almost impossible to let go and it would burn my hand and knock me to the ground--- It made no sense but I would do that once a year. I once put my hand in a wasps nest in the same manner. I got stung 50 times and almost had to go to hospital. In high school I would fight the biggest jock bully three grades higher at the drop of a hat if he picked on me and I usually wound up broken and bleeding but eventually they learned that I was not the right person to mess with. I have the same view of art, if I am afraid of something I go into 110%, a new direction or style or avenue. Just being an artist is a horrifying notion (unless you have rich parents or backing) because you almost go insane from the fear and stress. Unless You draw cheese all day long for a bag of coins which I vowed I would die before I became that person. If your life is run by fear then you are not alive. I respect people who are responsible and do the day to day grind and tow the line, I really do. I even envy that life at times. I am just hardwired differently, I could be a rich sci fi illustrator right now or a millionaire designer of toys and hubcaps but I must follow my intuition at all costs and that means I live free and will die free.

words of the day---evis presley

He was an odd man because he was a genius. he was not just a singer he was a southern surrealist--- like myself, southern surrealists are the greatest surrealists because understand the landscapes of the south that few ever really get to know.

please vote!!! damnit

If you log in please vote on the above painting ..I always need input. vote to right!!!!

poem by alex

all artists are mad
(at least the good ones)

all artists are sad
(at least the good ones)

all artists are bad

(except the good ones)

I went out with the caterer of my art show and his lovely girlfriend to The Palm last night. I gifted them a painting and dozen white roses we drank mucho vino. Alex is off the vino but last night it was all worth it and a wonderful evening. Good people are few and far between and when you find them it is something that makes life grand. He used to produce music for aerowsmith and I heard many a great story about those times and the band that I will never never share. SHHHH...


here is his catering website, top notch!


www.jasons.tv

words of the day...p.gabriel

River, river carry me on
Living river carry me on
River, river carry me on
To the place where I come from

So deep, so wide, will you take me on your back for a ride
If I should fall, would you swallow me deep inside

River, show me how to float
I feel like Im sinking down
Thought that I could get along
But here in this water
My feet wont touch the ground
I need something to turn myself around

Going away, away towards the sea
River deep, can you lift up and carry me
Oh roll on though the heartland
til the sun has left the sky
River, river carry me high
til the washing of the water make it all alright
Let your waters reach me like she reached me tonight

Letting go, its so hard
The way its hurting now
To get this love untied
So tough to stay with thing
cause if I follow through
I face what I denied
I get those hooks out of me
And I take out the hooks that I sunk deep in your side
Kill that fear of emptiness, loneliness I hide

River, oh river, river running deep
Bring me something that will let me get to sleep
In the washing of the water will you take it all away
Bring me something to take this pain away

painting of the day--william blake

ancient days.


I painted this for someone on a black leather jacket in high school for money--- I think I got 50 dollars. One day that jacket will be worth a million but it is probably long lost to the ravages of time.

while you slept

I have had an educational board game brewing in the cauldron of my subconscious for a long time ...As I slept last night the elves of the subconscious went to work and when I woke this morning the shoes of reality were all sewn and finished and ordered and shelved...it all made sense when I awoke to the light of dawn.. I am going to follow through with my vision and it will be on store shelves in one year. Always trust "the elves.." Never enough time!

schedule

11 paintings by april 1st for online auction house.


10 more paintings for may 11 then off to colorado--road trip to delver Last Supper.


Then to Texas to study the landscapes of my youth sometime after I catch my breath.

forest of souls---in progress

As a child I lived on a farm in the middle of nowhere in Texas..That is where the landscape of my imagination was formed. I used to go on long hikes alone as a child when I was only 7 or 8 all the way to a spooky creek that ran behind our farm. Once, while there, I was a approached by an abandoned dog who was larger than I, a German Shepard with a worn out body and ribs sticking out of his skin.... I thought he was going to kill me and froze in fear. He approached me slowly--- I held out my hand, touched his head and he turned and walked away. I really thought I was going to die. This is the exact location in my mind where that event occurred. This event is burned into my mind like it was yesterday.

gardega age 5--Dr. Shockey Blue

Every time I visit my parents in Long Island I find more art. I have 20+ of bins full of art. My whole life is plastic bins full of stuff..old magazines, drawings, ideas, weird stuff..etc If you drew this today at five they would take you in for a special evaluation. You would be on the short bus and have your own classroom.

well painted cheese

This is an amazing work of craft! Genius and skilled and rendered. The secret ingredient in the formula of this painting is the 85% surgically removed soul and the addition of a loving spoonful of semi-soft cheese.

original oil for sale

This painting of Pop elegance is on every doorstep in NYC...the original oil (without lettering) is for sale. Lady liberty has many faults but lack of exposure is not one of her issues. It is probably in your kitchen cabinet next to your Campbell soup cans right now.

When it comes to execution, I am a fairly mediocre to just- above -average artist, my genius lies in the multitude and the supra rationality of my ideas...alex said that

compulsory civil service--the draft

Just thought I would let America know that Congress is passing a bill that will require all youth and in turn, adults (18-24) to perform "mandatory community service." This sounds like a safe idea, the idea of working for the greater good of your country...The truth it is actually a draft in sheep's clothing. Helping in your local soup kitchen will eventually parlay into basic military training. Just as an american indian tracks a buffalo and knows the habits of the buffalo I know the habits of the government. This civilian army will be no different than any country that has forced conscription. I am glad I have no children that will be drafted into this thing. I am an independent and I hated Bush as much as I distrust Obama. Good luck trusting the governement as your kids are shipped off into some war via "the new draft." Think for yourself and turn off the TV---dont follow leaders and watch your parking meters. ---dylan

bouguereau

this is a wonderfully rendered work of art. It is beautifully painted and admirable--- it also has about as much soul as eric clapton trying to sing the black delta blues. Give me blind willie dixon or robert johnson and and save me from the confectionery sugar of lifeless painting. You cannot explain soul anymore than you can tell someone how to ride a bike, it is an experiential matter----not a matter of words it is SUPRA RATIONAL. It is still better than the crap that the abstractionists sold us but it has no nutrients, either. Nerdrum surpassed this man by a lance armstrong mile ...At least he labored hard.

leonardo learning--color basics

Leonardo used very subdued colors and he always suggested dusk was the best light and the best time to paint a figure etc...There was/is nothing garish in Leonardo's color. It is smooth and harmonic and graceful.

Here is the most basic color lesson for those who do not know about color.


The three primary colors are Red, Yellow and blue .

These primaries cannot be made from other colors and form a perfect triangle of possibility that you can use to make almost any color with these on your palette.

Yellow and blue make green and red and blue make purple ...etc

this is a very simple lesson but it is important to understand the idea of primary colors as your travel on the path of Leonardo learning.


Blue is the color of dreams and the sea.

Red is the color of the blood of armies, the blood that stains the soil beneath the ageless battle of reason vs. Love---Apollonian vs. Dionysian--- the battle field exists in every human. (alex said this, not leonardo)

Yellow is the color of genius and madness and the sun of wisdom.


Alex never wears anything red--ever never and never. If I wear red it is like a pebble in my psychic shoe, I cannot ignore it and my eyes are distracted all day long like a man with a bee in his ear.


Alex never ate "mac and cheese" ever never ever as a child or now because I abhorred the color yellow that it was...It was and is the most horrid yellow/ orange--- neither fish nor fowl!...alex would sooner eat a blue vegetable (which doesnt and cannot exist.) than taste the dreaded and failed yellow of mac and cheese...

not for sale

The part of me that became obsessed with the Flower of Life is also the part that told me that I am not allowed to sell it---- I am not allowed to sell it for money. I will paint them but I am not allowed to sell them. I am an art whore and I sell hundreds upon hundreds of works but I am not allowed to sell the flower of life---I can only gift them..If you want one, email me and trade me a round canvas ---- I will send you one. You must send me a 20 inch round canvas for trade. I am purifying my soul. anger out--- good stuff in...god bless

leonardo learning---by gardega

For the last four months I have been thinking about teaching art---Very strange, as I never thought about "it" in my whole life. The idea of "transference" (my art show) was about a teacher/ professor student relation from college and the idea of learning and growing (transfering knowledge) from a "teacher, a shaman, an instructor." I walked passed a synagogue the other day and the sign said---" he who teaches , learns..."The universe tells you many things if you are open to listen. I am now launching a free art lesson website online--Leonardo learning----art lessons using the wisdom of Leonardo.

good line vs. bad line---please vote

sargent
raphael
alex is testing peoples view of good drawing....line quality is everything..please choose which line pleases you more. vote to right.

entire art show explained.

I took the time today to explain my entire art show as my friend said it was not consistent and lacked focus. Please note the last supper is the final painting in show..please scroll down to to follow from the first painting--the birth of the moon.

the last supper

From sacred and a spiritual beginning and geometric birth mankind has seemed to have lost the spirit that is/ was so much a part of our being. Our media food has no nutrients for the soul, we are fed yet we are empty and hungry. TV and media has done more harm than good. There is no more tribe we are divided and alone and empty. We turn to drink and pills and wonder why we are empty and hungover in the morning. Life is short and sacred and the last supper has gone from being a sacred painting of love and hope to a reality live media event. The bread of spirit must once again be broken and the wine of wisdom shared.

sad eyed priest of the lowland

Mankind eventually created religion. Art and religion have always been neighbors.
I am not anti- religious, I just try to think about it and understand it. If you shake my family tree a little of everything falls out--russian, american indian, dutch, irish. I am a mutt...I try to be a good person--- that is my religion, I am not very good at it.

Bernie in hell hot sauce

I made this "art" hot sauce as a statement. It is about greed and the loss of the spiritual alchemical gold in search of the material gold. (The true def. of hell) This is a semi- sad statement...One must not be angry but sad for those who are so lost...it is sad to be so poor inside that you need to fill it with material gold. Bernie in Hell is also about humor--- If we couldnt laugh at our folly, we would all go insane. I actually feel for this guy...and felt kinda of bad because I dont like to be mean--bad karma.

artists

As man grew some became artists and shamans, they are the seers and the ones who brought back the fire to the tribe. They are also the finger pointers. They also lose hope. Vonnegut held a mirror to mankind and he didnt like what he saw. Mankind's ability to create is just as great as his ability to destroy.

athena--goddess of war

Daughter of Zeus, and only by him, the Goddess Athena was not generated by any woman. She leaped from the head of Zeus, already adult, dressed with her armor.
But the mother is not completely missing from the miraculous birth of Pallas Athena. According to Hesiod's account of the weddings of Zeus, the King of the Gods chose Metis as his first wife. She was of all beings "the most knowing" (as the word metis is interpreted), or "of many counsels" as translated in the sense of the Homeric epithet polymetis.
As she was about to give birth to the Goddess Athena, Zeus deceived his pregnant wife with cunning words and assimilated her into his own body. Mother Earth and Father Sky had advised him to do this so as to prevent any of his descendants from robbing him of his kingly rank. For it was destined that the most brilliant children were to be born to the Goddess Metis: first, the daughter Athena, and later a son, the future King of Gods and men.
In the most ancient account, the Iliad, Athena is the Goddess of ferocious and implacable fight, but, wherever she can be found, she only is a warrior to defend the State and the native land against the enemies coming from outside.
She is, above all, the Goddess of the City, the protectress of civilized life, of artesian activities, and of agriculture. She also invented the horse-bit, which, for the first time, tamed horses, allowing men to use them.
She is the favorite daughter of Zeus; and that's why he let her use his insignia: the terrible shield, the aegis and his devastating weapon, the ray.
The most used expression to describe her is "the bright eyed". She is the first of the three virgin Goddesses, also known as Maiden, Parthenos, and from this name was taken the name to the most important Temple dedicated to her, the Parthenon.
In poetry she is the incarnation of Wisdom, Reason and Purity.
Athens is her city; the olive tree, created by her, is her tree; the owl, is the birth consecrated to her.

sacred spirit

The sacred woman---the sacred feminine--- is the yin of the man's yang. Both men and woman spring from the same universal womb and both are subject to sins and temptations of life and both suffer karma. Represented here by a woman I imagine drowned in central park and lives in limbo for eternity..

freud and jung

Man develops reason and his brain is a symbol of the great intelligence of the universe. He loses touch with his connection to the universe and becomes small. Here Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud stand before Jung's tower. Carl Jung built this tower after his split from Freud. For two years he sought the answers to his own soul alone as he built his lakeside tower. Lost souls can find themselves again.

Lost souls

Man loses his way. He becomes a fool, a drunk, a buffoon, angry--- his karma becomes a trap for all of eternity.

flower of life

Geometry is man's way of seeing what is "out there." It is our map of reality. Math only exists in man's head----The Map is not the territory. This symbol has existed in all culturs at the same time. Sacred Geometry is part of our collective unconscious---- found then lost again...

shore of the dead

From the beginning there was death and as well as birth. The souls ascend to the heavens to become stars the cycle of birth and death was there from the start.

out of nothing, something..

After the initial chaos of creation---all was calm. This is the simplest of pictures, So simple I had to remove my signature as it ruined the piece and signed back of canvas. It (reality) has begun its wings have dried and it takes flight.

my show and its meaning

this is the first piece. The creation myth is what I was interested in to start the birth of my show.. The supra rational rooster gives birth to the "egg of the moon."

For J.S.

most artists are one trick ponies and they are generally are a dry lot with little or no sense of humor...my bud Chris is a great singer and writer and human and you can judge for yourself if he is funny...His humor brings me to tears (much like my bank account)

my buddy

words of the day--roger waters

Through the fish-eyed lens of tear stained eyes
I can barely define the shape of this moment in time
And far from flying high in clear blue skies
I'm spiraling down to the hole in the ground where I hide.

If you negotiate the minefield in the drive
And beat the dogs and cheat the cold electronic eyes
And if you make it past the shotgun in the hall,
Dial the combination, open the priesthole
And if I'm in I'll tell you what's behind the wall.

There's a kid who had a big hallucination
Making love to girls in magazines.
He wonders if you're sleeping with your new found faith.
Could anybody love him
Or is it just a crazy dream?

And if I show you my dark side
Will you still hold me tonight?
And if I open my heart to you
And show you my weak side
What would you do?
Would you sell your story to Rolling Stone?
Would you take the children away
And leave me alone?
And smile in reassurance
As you whisper down the phone?
Would you send me packing?
Or would you take me home?

Thought I oughta bare my naked feelings,
Thought I oughta tear the curtain down.
I held the blade in trembling hands
Prepared to make it but just then the phone rang
I never had the nerve to make the final cut.

Got all my art back today..Now it must be packed and shipped. I live in a studio and work in a studio, I am cramped and crowded again.... One of my Lost Souls is still for sale. I didnt sell it but I am sure it matches someone's couch, somewhere. Post photo tonight. I am worn out but going to run another five miles tonight...Try to keep 5 to 10 min. per day from here on in .....

http://www.nyctri.com/site3.aspx


I have decided today that I am training for a triathlon. I ran ten miles this morning in central park and my body felt horrible. And decided it is time to get my health back together. Winter always beats up the soul and I hide in my wine and live on cheeseburgers and redbull and stress. Habits are what make your life and if you change your habits you change your life. I will miss my vino.

flower of life

this is the only piece from my show that is still available.


20 inches round oil on canvas

strange

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/03/19/suicide.forrest.japan/index.html

alex is taking down show today...sad but true..have to ship art and give it to those who purchased...work is no fun. fun is better than work. an extra special thanks goes out to my sister racheal who helped me through entire show while juggling her own kids and life.

great quote

Paul Valery - "The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up."

the dimming of the day

I will never paint a picture as good as this song. They will bury me long before I paint a painting as good as this song.

arisman / gardega show

There was standing room only for most the night and I thank all who attended especially Marshall and Dee who were wonderful. I also thank my parents for helping and all those who bought my paintings. I had the best time I have had in years, especially the parts I remember. Finally a thank you to anya for the wonderful photos...

attendees
One of Marshall's Pieces...

a few show photos---by anya cristina

Marshall Arisman--great photo by anya
another family photo (with eric.)
freud and jung standing before Jung's tower. (before the split)
flight into nothing (sold)
...me with family, rose, thirty days of no sleep and mucho vino
Shore of the dead (sold)
central park spirit (sold)

will post more later and link to photographers website.

I stopped into a noisy bar yesterday (after work)--- I sat down with a soda and began reading a new Dali book I was graciously gifted. As I was reading it a wrinkled-grey lady approached me and asked me if it wasn't both strange and difficult to read a book in a noisy Irish bar. I told it her it was much easier than drinking in a library and returned to my book. She stopped for a moment and said nothing and returned to her Guinness.

Bernie In Hell

Hi Alex

I just got off the telephone with you concerning my order for the two bottles of “Bernie’s” hot sauce. As I explained to you, I wanted to make sure you were real since I was one of Bernie’s fraud victims. Thank you for your help and for restoring some faith in the civilized world!!

Sincerely,

S.

Every artist, that is every "good" artist is 50% clown, 40% show man, 10% drunk and zero percent lazy. ---alex

New Covers

I was walking down Lexington yesterday and I noticed my new yellow page covers were in front of stores. I followed the books like Hansel following bread crumbs and eventually found the truck that was delivering the books around NYC. The odd thing is every year I stumble upon the truck delivering my books, even in brooklyn it happened to me. Hansel made it out of the woods because birds do not eat art only bread crumbs but birds lay eggs and that is my next project.

The egg of genius

The eggs of genius are only hatched in the warm nest of classical thought. Modernism has no oxygen and the eggs will have no taste and weak shells and can never be timeless. I woke up at 4 AM and painted this Ostrich egg. I cant explain why but soon it will all make sense.

COLOR

Some artists are masters of line (raphael) Some are masters Form (Leonardo) Some are masters of personality (dali) and some are masters of color (Thomas Moran)--- he was a colorist par excellence! Alex is a master of self promotion without which he would be forced to make pizza instead of art or even worse--- draw things other people tell me to draw for money. COLOR!

new website (in progress)

I couldn't resist giving a glimpse of my new website--- Impatience is my virtue.



http://www.gardega.com/gardega2009/index.html

rebecca keast is the web designer. I will link her info when it is all done.

back to work

I am back to work. All cylinders seem to be back in working order. I am laying low from my favorite vino and drinking only the wine of wisdom. ---it hurts less the next day.

thanks to all who supported my show. I will post photos from show very soon waiting for them.

Strange World Print for sale.

I am selling a limited edition print of my watercolor "strange world". There are only 100 of these available. They are 8.5 by 10 inches.

archival inks on Epson paper.

price $100...signed and numbered by artist.

contact alexgardega@gmail.com