atoms

If You study atoms you will find that quantum particles do not exist in any one place or state until they are observed. Prior to being observed they are pure potentialality. They both a particle and a wave, both here and there. Reality requires an observer. The observer not only changes reality, he is part of the reality. If you look into the abyss, the abyss looks back at you...

life

I got some tragic news from a friend today. The kind that kneecaps your whole day and takes the wind from the sails. There are some things in this world you just dont have words for. Great tragedy puts a lot of things in perspective. I hopped on a train (my last trip up "north") and watched the hudson roll by....

suddenly, you were gone
from all the lives you left your mark upon
I remember...

dreamline

time is a gypsy caravan steals away the night to leave you stranded in dreamland.. distance is a long range filter, memory a flickering light, left behind in the heartland.

n.peart

update

I am back in NYC. Moving was hell--- A few more details to square up. I went to Elaine's last night, the famed literary joint. The writer Stuart Woods was there. I have never read his books. For some reason the only place I can really create is in NYC. I need the chaos and the energy. I am not one of those artists who can create in happy tranquil, pastoral places---god knows I have tried... I need the grit and the crazy streets. I cannot upload any images yet as my computer is not set up.   There was a time of my life where I almost wound up in Pennsylvania. Some parts of Pennsylvania are so nice the look like the shire from the hobbit. The best laid plans of mice and hobbits oft go astray. I am happiest when I am close to The Met. I live for that museum, I used to be the first guy on the steps before they opened every Sunday..that was brunch for my spirit.

167 mott street studio

I will be working onmy art at 167 mott street three days a week. It is a street level storefront/ showroom for my buddies glass company...feel free to pop in and say hello. I will post exact days Im there soon.

alexo

one wish

If I had a single wish it would be that every hour would take me back one years time.. in ten hours it would be the year 2000, in 100 hours it would be one hundred years and in 500 hours it would be the 1500's. I would like to stay the same age and watch the years pass by my window. That would be a great wish.

the 9th level of hell

The people I am surrounded by are clapping for the golden girls. I welcome the solar flares of 2012 that will end the human plague of idiocy...

the emmys

im in a bar and the emmys are on..my braincant separate 33 minersin a dark hole deepin the earth or 5 million pakistanians flooded into hell. I cant ignore an ecomony on the verge of collapse...maybe you can

boardwalk empire

I was an extra in Boardwalk empire the upcoming scorcese hbo flick. I did it so I could watch scorcese work. They actually gave me some parts next to steve buscemi so I may even be visible. it was a hell of a lot of fun but I only was able to stomach a day or two of filming. I cant believe people do that for a living...the hours were insane. But it was worth every minute to watch scorcese in action...

moving

tomorrow is move day for alexo.. I will be back in NYC. New sketchy folk paintings but I cant post the pieces until tomorrow..everything is boxed up. My gypsy heart is happiest on the fly but It is high time I spread some roots...somwhere, somehow, maybe..

bravado

and when the music stops
theres only the sound of the rain
of the hope and glory
of the sacrifice in vain
and the love remains
though everything is lost
we will pay the price
but we will not count the cost.

N.peart

words of the day

Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.
----confucius

marriage

the ultimate goal in marriage is neither love nor understanding. The ultimate goal of marriage is matching sweatsuits. I have solved the mystery.

neckfinity

The lady in front of me on the train had a symbol of infinity tattooed on the back of her neck. She also had a few extra pounds so when she would move her neck a certain way the whole symbol would disappear. I found this fascinating and I am sure a smarter person could figure out what god was trying to tell them in this brief commuter moment but I am at a loss. I am like an armless man at a pinata party. where is steven hawkings when you need him?

update

sketchy folk is finishing two of his zodiac paintings today..He was supposed to deliver yesterday but he is sketchy and he blames me because I was in NYC and he couldnt use my studio The two paintings will be delivered tonight. That sketchy folk is a piece of work. Although I have a feeling his sketchy zodiac series will be a winner. will post images..

the great ledge of life

another tragedy in today's post. An ambassador's daughter falls to a drunken death in NYC. A life of priviledge and parties ended at 17. Her blog was one big quest to stay as wasted as possible..easy to do on daddy's dime. Maybe there is something to be said for the crappy jobs most poor and middle class 17 year olds have to work to pay for school etc. These keep you grounded..You can poke your finger in the eye of fate But the odds get even in the end and the stakes are high and the great ledge of life is a slippery one, you bet your life.

traces of home

Just put down my deposit on my new home in NYC. My old block, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Ten New Sketchy Folks!

Sketchy Folk Just told me that he has ten new kick ass sketchy folk paintings! And he has a website on the way in Sept. Two are already sold but the rest will be up for grabs--He has sketchy fish, sketchy frogs, sketchy zodiac and sketchy surprises. They will be for sale through my blog (until he builds his own) and there may be a few at my buddies restaurant, rainwater grill...They go fast so be on your sketchy toes!

staten island cover

just picked up staten island yellow page. Cover printed nice. It was my first nocturne for the YP. Making staten island pretty is a toilesome thing. will scan and post later.

Alex Gets interviewed by the Norwegian Business Daily

I was just interviewed by the Norwegian business Daily in Union Square park.

NBD: what do you think of the economy?

AG: we are doomed, there will be no recovery--our debt ration is too high--we are going to wind up like greece.

NBD: Do you think the govt should help out the people

AG: They did, they gave them houses they couldnt afford and that is in part why our economy collapsed

NBD: What do you think of the stimulus?

AG: it was a scam it went to offshore banks---geithner and paulson from the fed told us we are not allowed to know where the money went.

NBD: How is your career/ job.

AG: I am actually in good shape, I just landed a contract to take me throught the next year but I have a lot of friends in trouble. I am used to the edge, I know how to survive...a lot of people dont--they cant take it.

NBD: What do you think about govt helping people?

AG: The gov.  is run by a bunch of idiots who never ran their own business, never made payroll...alll they know how to do is waste money---

NBD: dont you think they need to give people money to get the economy rolling?

AG: if you are in debt--personally--does spending help the problem? Lower the tax rates for the rich and small businesses this stimulates economy better than anything but idiots cant understand the idea that by saving the rich tax money you actually help the poor..when the rich spend more the economy does better. I used to  work in a bar serving drinks to wall streeters--I learned this lesson first hand...

NBD: thank you

AG: I am smart, not like most artists..artists are a dumb breed, the are just repeaters --they repeat talking points...I am not like them, I dont drink the kool aid....Ever meet odd nerdrum? he is the greatest living painter and a norwegian.

NBD:

classic nyc tourist

I watched a tourist yesterday ask an umbrella salesman on the street if he took credit cards. He didnt even have a table, just a rolling cart. I did my best not to laugh in the girls face as did the umbrella seller. only in ny..

perspective

the chileanminers have been trapped for 20 days.. 30 men in a small cave. It will take 4 months to rescue them, a fact they have not shared with miners. they are sending food down via oxygen tubes. They should send ipods with family photos and videos and music. this is my two cents...

ten day traffic jam in china

you may complain about the BQE or the LIE but in china they have a ten day traffic jam. If given the choice of being in that traffic jam or going to see the movie eat, pray, love my only question would be "which truck is mine?"

words of the day

if you are a hammer you see everything as a nail..

I cant remember the author. carl jung?

sketchy folk

Sketchy Folk is coming over today to paint two commisions. He is painting two zodiac signs, scorpio and leo. I am envious of sketchy, he paints in a simple and clean style. My work take 5 times as long and on top of it I have to handle his business end. Lazy bum. im going to start charging a percentage.

georgia okeefe

I just finished a book on georgia okeefe. I never cared for her workk and I wouldnt have read the book if it didnt fall in front of me. I will say this, she was a fascinating person and maybe brilliant. She had the ego and vision and drive that are the holy trinity of survival for an artist. She put art before all else yet she wantedno part of anyone labeling her...portrait of an artist, great book. I still dont love her art. but her spirit was great.

st. joseph

I start my 5 etched windows for a mausoleum very soon. It is a big commision and a lot of work. A lot of difficult work. I am going to document process from sketches to installation..many months it will take. I start friday, I believe. I will be back in NYC, my favorite city and spiritual home. the dog days of summer were getting a bit old, I am ready to hit the grounds of fall running.

back in nyc

I see faces and traces of home, back in NYC.

p. gabriel

thought for a day

If God was smart he would have made animals taste bad and vegetables taste good. Man would then have gladly eaten old radishes from the dirt over a big juicy bison steak. This is why he doesnt want us to be vegans or even vegetarians...Beets dont smell like bacon.

Happy Birthday Amy!

Tis my favorite friend and collectors birthday today! God bless, be healthy and enjoy! see ya soon.

the flu shot and narcolepsy: link

http://www.thelocal.se/28446/20100819/


the swine flu came and went with but a whimper...but for those who took the vaccine--you can now sleep easy (even if you arent tired)


Hey , kids----Having trouble sleeping? dont take nyquil--take Pandemrix! For a permanent fix..

There are millions of tons of flu shot vaccines that the sheeple didnt take---where are they going? Landfills.

hudson river by gardega

Reclaimed

I just took back 6 pieces of my glass art that were leased for two years by a nightclub. Now I can sell them. I think they are all sold. I cant believe its been two years....I had a very short amount of time to make all these pieces and somehow I did and I am happy with them...In each frame there were two LED strips that changed color with the music and beat. The whole club was wired to a central unit. It was a nice effect but in the end the club kept the LED lights, I tried to buy but they wouldnt sell...When I look at my own work the main thing I think of is the hair pulling deadline, the stress, the problems I had to solve...but I can still enjoy them. I hired an artist who I used to work for as an assistant to help. I dont think he like the tables turning but that is the way the big wheel spins.

the breakfast of art

One should take the same care in preparing for painting as one does preparing breakfast The canvas should be toned to the same golden brown as french toast. The drawing and subject should have the same perfect taste of bacon, and it should all be surrounded by the bananas of wisdom. Strawberries are symbolic of the great patient monk who fell off the cliff and while hanging by a branch decided to eat a strawberry. In the end the breakfast should be served in bed to the sleeping psych of the public to awaken them to greater things. I make a mean breakfast. You cant rush a masterpiece.

sound waves

If you are in space you cannot speak to the person next to you. Sound waves cannot propagate in a vacuum. Light waves can travel in a vacuum.

painting of the day: odd nerdrum

Bernie in Hell Hot Sauce

This was my response to The bastard Bernie Madoff stealing your money. I was eating my eggs and pouring hot sauce on them as the Bernie case came on TV. I Said "burn in hell you bastard" and three days later my idea was around the world. Never underestimate the brilliance of eggs. They have been the genesis of many an idea of genius.


http://www.bernieinhell.net

all proceeds go to a good cause----my wallet.

a face of leaves

this is the tree outside my studio window. I see a face of leaves..maybe its just me...

viva gardega

my portrait was approved! I hate showing portraits, it is like a root canal. i stressed for two months on the likeness. agony and ecstacy baby, nothing like it.

time stand still

summers going fast
nights growing colder
children growing up
old friends growing older
If I could slow it all down
like some captain whose
ship runs aground
and can wait until the tide comes around...

time stand still

gardega news

on way to deliver portrait to upper west side. must be there by 9. two hours sleep, saying goodbye to old friends in the town I live rough night but I gave my word to deliver. hell or highwater, im coming through. I could have pushed off til monday but that would be weak. The hard thing to do is often the right thing to do. life is made up of a million little victories or failures. Sleep is for the weak.

you cant go home

I am a firm believer that an artist cannot return to his hometown. To return to the womb of where you grew up is to neuter the psychic energy from where your art and life and fire flows. The umbilical cord slowly wraps the spirit and like a boa constrictor chokes away the life. Friends and family mean well and they love you but kindness can kill as easily as poison. safety and security are glue traps and life becomes a slow and protracted ordeal and dreams wither in the light of some suburban womb. A piece of ground in your hometown looks a lot like a burial plot. I cant stomach to see the faces of those "who stayed" nothing ventured, nothing gained and life becomes a zero sum game. I got out young and fought like hell to never get sucked back in. Watered yards and firemans fairs and bbq's and vacant stares and shopping malls and golf and prayers and sports bars and hybrid cars and broken homes and construcrion zones you cant go home.

portraits

just finished a portrait. portaits are tough to paint. Even someone who knows nothing of art can tell if a portrait works or not. it is either a likeness or it isnt. tis much easier to point a digital photo at a person than to paint an oil portrait. will post when approved by client. Portraits are not my specialty but I believe in finding a way to solve any art problem. It just takes sweat and will.

another vacation

our prez is taking his 6th vacation. I havent taken one in 4 years. I work 7 days a week. I am going to take my first my vacation to colorado very soon but it will be a working vacation. I will paint 7 days a week but I will be in a mansion and I will be happy as a clam...yes we clam....can

flu shot causes narcolepsy

There is now an alarming number of cases of teens with narcolepsy related directly to the flu shot. If they had followed the gardega blog they would have known better than to take the shot. It was simply a big pharma hype to make billions and it fizzled out faster than Obama's poll numbers. In the 70's when they first hyped the swine flu the vaccine cause many people to suffer major health problems. The side effects included death and paralization and still the sheep line up, guided by the media hype spewed from the hi def idiot box. You wont get wise with the sleep still in your eyes and now you can barely stay awake. Learn from history or pay a fabulous price. I do my part to keep people on their toes, this aint pet photography. this is life. Im here to keep you on your toes and to keep you awake.

the book of hate: a parody by gardega

Here are the lyrics to a wonderful song called the book of love. (Gabriel does and amazing version FYI)

lyrics by the magnetic fields

The book of love is long and boring
No one can lift the damn thing
It's full of charts and facts and figures,
and instructions for dancing
But I
I love it when you read to me
And you
You can read me anything
The book of love has music in it
In fact that's where music comes from
Some of it's just transcendental
Some of it's just really dumb
But I
I love it when you sing to me
And you
You can sing me anything
The book of love is long and boring
And written very long ago
It's full of flowers and heart-shaped boxes
And things we're all too young to know
But I
I love it when you give me things
And you
You ought to give me wedding rings
And I
I love it when you give me things
And you
You ought to give me wedding rings
You ought to give me wedding rings



The book of hate by gardega

the book of hate
is damn good reading
Im glad I bought the damn thing
all those tourists in NYC
or lada gaga when she sings
And I hate it when you block the doorway
or take three days at the cash machine
The book of hate is damn good reading
and written very long ago
its full of crap and abstract paintings
or another f*&%ng reality show
And I hate it when your cell phone rings
and you talk out loud about nothing
If you cant walk straight why are you breathing?
you know I have somewhere to go.
the book of hate is good beach reading
bring it everywhere you go
I hate it when your cell phone rings
or people when they call me 'yo"
I hope you choke on a chicken wing....

all apologies to the fine band who wrote the original..

The case for not being clueless

I read the NYPOST today. It is my morning routine--red bull and "the post." There is an interesting story about a lady named lori berenson who decided to drop out of MIT and go to Peru to help leftist rebels. The rebels are called the tupac amaru revolution. (no relation to the late rapper) The tupac army killed roughly 70,000 people. This led to her arrest---She was initially handed life but then had it dropped to 20 years. By all accounts Peruvian jails are a not exactly club med. This leads me to the following question..Why is it always the privileged white people who go off and do such things? A bunch of trust funders from San Fran go hiking in Iraq and now they are rotting in an Iranian Jail. The stories are endless. You are going to MIT, one of the top schools in the world, a school a million poor genius' would sell there thumbs to go to and you drop out to fight a cause that has about as much to do with you personally as I have to do with the fluctuations in the price of pork belly futures. Street kids and minorities dont seem to fall for such fools errands, they are too busy doing a thing called survival to entertain a good brisk hike through the hills of Iran. They are worried about life, keeping the lights on, maybe finding a safe home. Adversity builds character and privilege can often dumb a person down to the intellectual level of a toadstool. Street smarts are sometimes 10,000 miles away from book smarts and often the twain never meet. I dont have white guilt, I dont have rich guilt. The only thing I rebel against are modern art, stupidity and my own laziness.  My favorite cause is painting for myself  (and occasionally ronald mcdonald house) I have seen too much in this world and come too far to waste my butt in some jail because my rich ass hiked over an invisible border into hostile territory. I like my morning redbull and my NY Post (both of which may be scarce in an Iranian jail, methinks) I guess these people mean well but they are misguided and their good intentions have paved their own road to hell. One of the best ways to squeeze the toothpaste of idiocy and cluelessness out of your tube is to have the big boot of life stomp it out of you. This smartens a man up, it gives you a sense of the bigger picture. I once knew a girl from long island who decided to go live in communist yugoslavia (If I remember) the next month communism collapsed in the very same country and she returned to her parents large/ safe house with a swimming pool. My best Friend grew up in bulgaria...He had no toys---they made their own toys out of wood and string-- he lived under hyperinflation (and communism). We used to drink wine and laugh about such clueless people. He is like me, he has the thousand yard stare. He is nobody's fool. I come from the Ayn Rand school of selfishness. My paintings are more important than your cause and I dont feel a damn bit of guilt about it.

this is true

I had dinner with a friend who was dining with his three ex wives and his current wife ( who is an angel) this is a true testament to humanity. Everyone one was laughing and talking about old times. There is not enough time for bitterness and hate and it is sad that is the way relationships sometimes end. It was the funniest most interesting dinner I ever had. If you wrote it into a movie script, it would be rejected as far-fetched. Love is like a dog, it can turn on you but I think it is great when people can get past hate and anger and find the general humor in life. One day we are all "toes up" and you may as well laugh at life and love, what is the alternative? misery and anger?

surrealism follows me around like a line of baby ducks...my life is a strange animal

glass art

Spent two hours taking down my glass art from a brooklyn nightclub when the truck came to pick up to deliver to colorado I realized I couldnt use that truck as the truck changes cargo three times. I cant have my pieces moved except to load and unload----So I spent a tough day on a bad foot for nada. Humor is a gift. I didnt even get mad. I limped to The Palm and had drinks with a friend. If you let such things get you as an artist, you wont last a day. It is par for the course. god tests artists. you have to laugh at pain and setbacks and poverty and the like. Art weeds out the weak real quick. If you dont have rich parents do not be a painter if you dont have skin thicker than thieves. The dues are great but then so are the rewards. ON a light note someone told me a story about passing out from alcohol in the airport on their way to england (in the 80's) with a twelve pound lobster. He awoke in a queens hopsital---sans lobster. I thought the story was so funny I started crying with laughter--couldnt breathe. Not sure why it hit me as so funny. I think it was the english accent of the teller.

michelangelo

I own a series of dvds on michelangelo by the teaching company. it is part of the great courses series. The scholar is amazing. i recommend anyone to buy them. I have watched them 50 times. always new info! amazing. the professor is william e. wallace. he knows his stuff.

art critics

if you cannot paint then you shouldnt be a critic. If you dont understand painting and drawing through living in it then you cannot possibly write about it. It is a different paradigm. You have a better chance teaching someone to ride a bike using a book. You cannot speak of art effectively if you dont live it. You can love art but you cant explain it.

dog days

I am handling many a detail. Just turned in my sketches and invoice for five windows of St. Joseph. I hate the dog days of aug. the energy drags slow and cruel and then comes fall. Colorado mural, then back to NYC, my spiritual home to start crafting my windows. I always think about these installations and realize they will out last me. Once I am buried and gone these things will be there..strange concept. You never know what happens to your canvas or drawings but these things are set in place--unless they break. Glass is both fragile and permanent ..it is in truth a slow liquid--not really a true solid. but I digress

no excuses...none

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TP-GTwy9jjI&feature=player_embedded

"For people like me, there were only two options. One was to abandon all dreams, which would lead to a quick, hopeless death; the other was to struggle without arms to live an outstanding life."

visions of johanna

one of my first true loves (high school) was name johanna. On our first date I parked my car in her driveway and forgot to use emergency brake so my car rolled down a hill through a fence and came to rest on her neighbors boat. Our relationship pretty much took the same direction over time. We stayed in touch over the years and I heard she recently married. Aint it funny how the time slips away? I used to play her this dylan song...


Ain't it just like the night to play tricks when you're tryin' to be so quiet ?
We sit here stranded, though we're all doin our best to deny it
And Louise holds a handfull of rain, tempting you to defy it
Lights flicker from the opposite loft
In this room the heat pipes just cough
The country music station plays soft
But there's nothing really nothing to turn of
Just Louise and her lover so entwined
And these visions of Johanna that conquer my mind.

In the empty lot where the ladies play blindman's bluff with the key chain
And the all-night girls they whisper of escapades out on the D-train
We can hear the night watcman click his flashlight
Ask himself if it's him or them that's really insane
Louise she's all right she's just near
She's delicate and seems like the mirror
But she just makes it all too concise and too clear
That Johanna's not here
The ghost of electricity howls in the bones of her face
Where these visions of Johanna have now taken my place.

Now, little boy lost, he takes himself so seriously
He brags of his misery, he likes to live dangerously
And when bringing her name up
He speaks of a farewell kiss to me
He's sure got a lotta gall to be so useless and all
Muttering small talk at the wall while I'm in the hall
Oh, how can I explain ?
It's so hard to get on
And these visions of Johanna they kept me up past the dawn.

Inside the museums, Infinity goes up on trial
Voices echo this is what salvation must be like after a while
But Mona Lisa musta had the highway blues
You can tell by the way she smiles
See the primitive wallflower freeze
When the jelly-faced women all sneeze
Hear the one with the mustache say, "Jeeze
I can't find my knees"
Oh, jewels and binoculars hang from the head of the mule
But these visions of Johanna, they make it all seem so cruel.

The peddler now speaks to the countess who's pretending to care for him
Saying, "Name me someone that's not a parasite and I'll go out and say a prayer for him"
But like Louise always says
"Ya can't look at much, can ya man "

As she, herself prepares for him
And Madonna, she still has not showed
We see this empty cage now corrode
Where her cape of the stage once had flowed
The fiddler, he now steps to the road
He writes ev'rything's been returned which was owed
On the back of the fish truck that loads
While my conscience explodes
The harmonicas play the skeleton keys and the rain
And these visions of Johanna are now all that remain.

god bless bob dylan

this song brings a tear to me eye. you can laugh but Ill kick your ass. Dylan is one of my favorite humans, I worry about the day he dies. I dont want to think about the tailspin of depression that will cause me.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUSvAWmUZ8g

1. well, it's all of fair and handsome girl,
She's all in her tender years.
She fell in love with a sailor boy,
It's true she loved him well.
For to go off to sea with him
Like she did not know how,
She longed to see that seaport town
Of canadee-i-o.

2. so she bargained with the sailor boy,
All for a piece of gold.
Straightaway then he led her
Down into the hold,
Sayin', "i'll dress you up in sailor's clothes,
Your jacket shall be blue.
You'll see that seaport town
Of canadee-i-o.

3. now, when the other sailors heard the news,
Well, they fell into a rage,
And with all the ship's company
They were willing to engage.
Saying, "we'll tie her hands and feet, my boys,
Overboard we'll throw her.
She'll never see that seaport town
Called canadee-i-o.

4. now, when the captain he heard the news,
Well, he too fell in a rage,
And with the whole ship's company
He was willing to engage,
Sayin', "she'll stay in sailor's clothes,
Her color shall be blue,
She'll see that seaport town
Call canadee-i-o.

5. now, when they come down to canada
Scarcely 'bout half a year,
She's married this bold captain
Who called her his dear.
She's dressed in silks and satins now,
She cuts a gallant show,
Finest of the ladies
Down canadee-i-o.

6. come, all you fair and tender girls,
Wheresoever you may be,
I'd have you to follow your own true love
Whene'er he goes to sea.
For if the sailors prove false to you,
Well, the captain, he might prove true.
You'll see the honor I have gained
By the wearing of the blue.

why blog

I never thought I would start a blog. I started it as another way to whore my art. Now it is over three years later and enough hot air I have spewed to warm Canada for a winter. When I junk into something, lookout. I suffer from adhd and I combat it like a holy war so I over compensate and hyper focus on things. It is not enough for me to read one newspaper a day. I read five and I then read ever news site on the web--left and right. When I was a kid my mom said I drew 700 pictures of a dinosaur until I got the back to look the right way. I have serious anxiety if I dont blog every day. on any given day I read the Nasa website, I read about the brain and anything I can find about the smushy grey thing. I dont read art blogs..they bore me. my friend had a good blog but she quit to be a brain surgeon. (true) I have a french artist I never met who makes awesome art that I follow. The info. highway is way too littered with bad photo blogs, food blogs and quasi art blogs (like mine) I am just another dead possum on the blog highway.

rebel

I was born a rebel. Actually, no I was a quiet and nice kid. But I got the rebel juice in my blood about 16. I decided at 16 that I was going to live my way or die trying. Talking to me was like talking to a brick wall. I am still the same. I am more stubborn than a mule. When I was a child I had a sandbox that was invaded by fire ants (texas) they stung me near to death. My mom heard me screaming and came to help but I wouldnt get out of the sandbox because the bastards were invading my space. My mom still laughs about this. Im stillsitting in the same sandbox..I call it life...dont mess with me.

happy town

I like to look at the good in life sometimes. Here is what I am happy for.

I made it to my age without a police record.
I am not married to someone I no longer love....(that must be hell on earth)
I never did anything meant to hurt other people  (minus a few youthful barfights)
I have not allowed myself to get fat or out of shape. (artist diet --alcohol and stress)
I have a hell of a great mom.
I stuck to my guns despite 10 million reasons to quit art.
I make it a rule to always give my last dollar to a homeless person...this will keep me from ever being homeless. karma
I dont have any enemies (I have people that dont exist to me)
I chose my own path. No dad guided me or set me up in a biz. I walked my path on my own since I was 17.


I would like to have more money but not at the cost of my soul.

crazy

If you know that you are crazy then you are not crazy. Crazy people have no idea that they are crazy. Fish dont know that they are in water. Eccentric is good. all good artists are eccentric. They are bent spoons, you can still eat cornflakes with a bent spoon.

1800 fix .com

thanks to my sponsor 1800fix.com for fixing my G Phone!!! stage diving with Gphone in pocket is bad idea, they said.

the inner child as artist

the trick to art is to never lose the shiny coin in your pocket called childhood. You must hold onto some of the magic of youth with all your might, life is a lion and she does all she can to steal it away from you. My inner child is bruised and half-pickeled but he is still there. I know people who have lost the spark in the eye at 40....Art has helped keep me on track and in touch with my childhood. Not much has changed, just me alone with my sketchbooks and a dozen pencils....Sometimes I forget the joy of creation but it always finds me again, eventually.

moody man

I get moody a lot. I am a moody arteest. I bitch and complain too much. Good thing I never lost my sense of humor. I still find everything funny in a tragic way. If you lose your sense of humor you may as well lay down in the dirt....Laughter is one of god's greatest gifts to man. Ive seen it all--the good and the bad...Humor has always pulled me through the hard times. It is like an umbrella for pain.

words of the day

and I wonder if she remembers me at all, many times I often pray. In the darkness of my dawn, in the brightness of my day.

bob dylan

copy, copy, copy! art lesson by gardega

I copied this a few years after high school--thanks mucha!

When you are a young artist copy everything you can! Copy every old master you can find..when I was 15 to 20 I copied my ass off. This is how you learn to peel away the layers to become yourself. I peeled away dali and raphael and vermeer and degas and leonardo and became gardega...copy your ass off!!!!! steal as much as you can, but become yourself..and get the hell out of your hometown  or you will rot...

the genius of gardega

how to create a snapshot in NYC that is a genetic twin of one of the great artworks of all time--Vermeer's the lacemaker...

vermeer's work of genius

gardega's man sewing

in a single press of a camera's button I have proven that photography is easier than painting and thus not worth a hill of cold beans..My man sewing is a great photo but compared to vermeer's lacemaker it is not worth the snot of a dying beagle. Thus I have placed a sword in the neck of the bull that is photography and the matador of genius lays down his cape.

plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

 

same damn hands five hundred years later

classic comment...

slakingfool said... I don't have a particular fetish for Rachael Ray, but I love this because the subject looks like a real, honest-to-goodness woman.

Neither impossibly thin, ripped or cookie-cutter pretty. Just darn cute.

Also, the cherubs drizzling EVOO are just priceless!

random photos by gardega

at the met

hudson skies

nyc street

an iris grows in brooklyn

nyc subway

me in an ugly tie at the national arts club (portrait of a wino)

what do envy and hypocrisy have in common?

hint: tis a color...



http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/celebrity/sheryl-crow-queen-green

articles like this make me want to go straight to a steakhouse so I can I drink a lot of whisky in my leather boots and order a double steak rare----Then Ill go home and turn on my twin halogen 1,000 watt painting lights in my art studio and leave them on all night (just in case I get the urge to paint at 4:30 AM) ..The only thing green in my apt. is my green cadmium paint that cost 45 a tube and its poisonous.

do as I say, not as I do.

cretinous credo ...

saint alex

I dropped off my final saint joseph sketches at mausoleum today...took wrong subway so I had to walk a mile with a near broken foot....art is a wonderful thing. There is a reason paint is simply pain with a T added. In the last month I had out my appendix, Nearly broke my foot and broke my cell phone, good thing I got rid of my land line.   Sometimes I feel like a bullfighter on the wrong end of a horn.

Thank god for my sponsor and friend www.1800fix.com! 

my phone will be fixed very soon!

gardega's ten favorite songs of all time

1) mercy street          peter gabriel

2) blues eyes crying           willie nelson

3) ramble on             led zeppelin

4) harvest moon         neil young

5) a different drum        peter gabriel (passion)

6) Pancho and lefty     townes van zandt

7) dimming of the day      david gilmour's version

8) sonnet 18                     david gilmour


9) flight of the valkeries     wagner

10)  luckenbach texas   waylon jennings

update

I am running against the wind. much to wrap up in short time...Looks like a am flying to colorado on the 22nd. Shipping out my glass pieces with a mover. Trying to finish up my saint sketches for mausoleum. Pack up apt. for thurs move....all this with a bad foot that is healing...sorry for not posting art in a while too busy..will post art soon.

wisdom

Never underestimate a man who overestimates himself.

gen. macarthur

banksy

http://swindlemagazine.com/issue08/banksy/

banksy

I never thought I would like this cat..now I do..I love what he says about modern art....

B: The art world is the biggest joke going. It’s a rest home for the overprivileged, the pretentious, and the weak. And modern art is a disgrace – never have so many people used so much stuff and taken so long to say so little. Still, the plus side is it’s probably the easiest business in the world to walk into with no talent and make a few bucks.

this is a great quote..god bless banksy...

well, my sculptures symbolize the expression of the female form stripped down bla blah blah---f u and the horse you rode in on..

god art doesnt need a lot of explanation

painting of the day: edmund dulac

Edmund Dulac was a master of line and illustration. Here is a fine example...Notice the use of colour and texture and design....

amazing piece

A hobbit's life

In my next life I want to be a hobbit. I just want to be a happy little pudgy guy with furry feet plodding around my pre-industrial society. But I know myself---I would get bored and head off to the distant foggy mountains looking for dragons and gold--- Probably die or starve on the way. On my journey I would probably decide I should have stayed home. But then again, anyone can stay home.

alfred kubin: dark genius

one of my favorite artists..very few people know the name.


http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&source=imghp&biw=1152&bih=581&q=alfred+kubin&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=g1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

Sketchy Folk live event

Sketchy Folk will be painting ten paintings on location tomorrow at Rainwater Grill. Alex will not be there, he will surfing in Hawaii. Sketchy Folk is a famous street artist, he draws/ paints weird cartoons....He starts painting around 5.

a bright and nameless vision

A hot and windy August afternoon
has the trees in constant motion
With a flash of silver leaves
as they're rocking in the breeze

The boy lies in the grass with one blade
stuck between his teeth
A vague sensation quickens
in his young and restless heart
And a bright and nameless vision
has him longing to depart

N.P

foot

Damn good to be walking again. Feet are valuable things. Without feet there would be no yards and then the children would have to play in the streets.

an ill wind comes arising...

I dont have any enemies after 40 + years on this planet. I have one guy I think is a human turd but I have not an ounce of anger towards anyone in my life. Thats after a lot of damn dating, as well. Those arent bad numbers. I even wish all my exes well. Anger is like holding a hot stone, it dont make a lot of sense. I have met people with characters I find about as desirable as chewing tinfoil. But they are not in my life. Im not waking up with fleas. Im a good dog, mostly.

a norman rockwell moment

http://www.breitbart.tv/rage-at-the-drive-thru-over-mcnuggets/

getting older

I think my cowboy boot days are over. I have been wearing the same style frye boots for ten years. I am on my 6th pair. I keep getting them repaired, they fit my feet like a glove. They are not good for my back. First went my long hair, then I gave up my leather jim morrison pants, now my boots....what the hell is next? My cowboy rebel spirit? You cant have it, Im dying with that one.

p. princess

This is my next childrens book. The P is for....

I paint cute stuff

I saw a website called I paint cute stuff.


I dont paint cute stuff.


I dont mind pleasant things, but cute?

no poodles ...nope aint gonna do it.

stand me up at the gates of hell..aint doing it.

dispersant flavored shrimp recipe

12 gulf shrimp

a side of tequila


one ambulance


a side of BP sauce


etc..

did I even spell dispersant right?

Moscow

To all my moscow friends, I hope you are surviving the fires and the smog. I take pleasure in knowing that people in other countries read my crap because If I am going to waste my time typing it, Then I want people wasting time reading it. Misery loves company and we are all genetically linked lazy slobs with too much time to waste. God bless moscow.

Brooklyn Bridge

I was recently contacted by a hotel chain in regards to using my brooklyn bridge book cover paintings in their lobby...This would be cool. I like doing art for interiors...I am not at liberty to name names yet. As the saying goes, I can tell you but I would have to kill you.

colorado

I am colorado bound soon. loose ends, loose ends

Idiot filter

Blogs need an idiot filter. I say a lot of stupid things and it lets me publish them....I wish I had a filter that filtered my gimp-posts. The light of day isnt always kind on art and writing.

stuff that happens to humans

you fall in love you fall out of love you find a career you lose a job you get sick you get better you marry you divorce you wake you sleep you drink you eat you laugh you cry you watch tv you swim in the ocean you travel you have sex you worry you get older you read books you eat spanish food you call your friends you think about your parents you order sushi you visit italy and think about your first love you draw on the walls you buy a kayak you go into debt get a mortgage listen to a lot of shitty music in stores as you buy stuff you vistit a museum and wonder what the poor fucks were thinking when they painted the crap and you return home to the one you married and look out the window to the street below and watch the shadows grow longer.

alehandro

ten paintings

I painted ten paintings yesterday. I painted them from the lizard brain. I attacked them, I used marker, oil, acrylic, spraypaint, I threw paint across my studio. I do this every few years to force my brain to open up and teach myself that canvas is not sacred. Modern art sucks but it sure is fun to make. I may post the pigs but i am not sure yet.

reincarnation?

When I was a child I saw a show on the ancient sumerians. They showed the clay tablets they used to make. I think they were called cuniform or something. But when They showed the tablet I knew in my head that I used to make those. It rang a bell in my head that i could never explain. I simply knew in my heart that in another time I had been a scribe. In fact I went outside and made dozens of clay tablets with the same writing on it. I was 6 years old. I would bake the clay in the hot texas sun on pieces of tin. I guess I was an odd child. I do believe I was a scribe in a former life. I have always thought this, I just never told anyone.

leaonardo learning: pride in the name of art

In your exceedingly difficult journey throught the maze of art you will encounter many obstacles and psychic wounds. These come in many forms and colours. One such spectre will be the issues of finance. The journey of art is perilous and lined with fear and poverty is oneof the great test of human wills. Poverty sucks (as the saying goes) but nothing between heaven and earth sucks worse than a lack of self knowledge, a sense of self or a lack of identity. Above the oracle in delphi it said "know thyself" it did not say "get rich above all" William blake died in poverty, one of the great souls to walk on this earth, and yet his works live on and inspire men to wonder. I have met a thousand empty souls, I have looked into a million lost eyes. What good is a pile of gold at the end of your days if you never learned who you really were, your ears deaf to the music of life and eyes blind to the magic of art. This is poverty. This is tragedy. William blake saw the universe in a grain of sand and eternity in an hour and his shoes probably had holes in them.

leaonardo learning: pride in the name of art

In your exceedingly difficult journey throught the maze of art you will encounter many obstacles and psychic wounds. These come in many forms and colours. One such spectre will be the issues of finance. The journey of art is perilous and lined with fear and poverty is oneof the great test of human wills. Poverty sucks (as the saying goes) but nothing between heaven and earth sucks worse than a lack of self knowledge, a sense of self or a lack of identity. Above the oracle in delphi it said "know thyself" it did not say "get rich above all" William blake died in poverty, one of the great souls to walk on this earth, and yet his works live on and inspire men to wonder. I have met a thousand empty souls, I have looked into a million lost eyes. What good is a pile of gold at the end of your days if you never learned who you really were, your ears deaf to the music of life and eyes blind to the magic of art. This is poverty. This is tragedy. William blake saw the universe in a grain of sand and eternity in an hour and his shoes probably had holes in them.

the fall of a tiger by gardega

I have an ear/ eye for greek tragedy. I am a fan of mythology and of all its modern parallels, just as america is rome on the cusp of the "great decline" we have multitudes of  characters who fit perfectly into the ancient mold of tragic figures. Some have fallen by pride, others avarice and some have danced a bit too long with dionysus or bacchus. If you step too far into the waters of sensual pleasure or drunkeness or indulgence the tide will sweep you away and leave you washed up on the distant shore of failure with a body far too weak to swim back to your spiritual or intellectual home. There is no swimming back across the hellspont, no bridge back across the rubicon. The charms and shiny things of life took your eye off what "matters" and the fall is great and the climb back up the mountain too steep. Tiger woods is a perfect tragic figure, he owned the world and now it is gone. Water through the fingers... I dont care about golf nor do I care about tiger. I am interested in symbols and mythology.  The greeks invented the marathon, the symbol of life and endurance and pacing..If you burn out to fast it is a long walk to the finish line or a tragic fall to the side of the road..methinks..sampsons hair has been cut and the tiger has fallen.

plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

Gardega news Network: The dark side of the green lights

gardega news network: I think so you dont have to

WE INTERUPT THE BELOW LINE BLOG FOR A NOTE FROM GARDEGA NEWS (below) but since I dont watch TV, sports or play video games, I have time to read and research. This used to get you called a "tinfoil hatter" but now that top scientists concur around the world..my tinfoil hat is el gono.

Leonardo Learning: LINE explained (by gardega)

Line is the backbone of drawing and drawing is the backbone of painting. But what is line? What is the function of a thing that flows and squiggles and lives and dies and even walks and cries? FIRSTLY, a line must have life!! VIVA LE LINE! Nothing kills a drawing faster than a dead and mechanical line! Lines come from within in you, they are drawn directly from your chi (or life) I have noticed that artists who have the personality of lawn furniture have dead and mechanical lines and that fiery people have fiery lines. Be careful, a too fiery line can burn itself out like a star and fall like icarus into the sea of over-ambition! Overworked lines are in danger of sewing their fingers together in the sweatshop of art and nothing is achieved--No shoes are made!

 THE RULES OF LINE:

1) HAVE THE RIGHT HEROES!

An artist is only as good as your heores and if you prefer the monkees to the beatles you will always be second rate just as if you prefer- modern-moma- post contemporary isms to the old masters you will only be as good as as a third rate draftsman. Led Zeppelin was schooled on the blues and the next generation only fed on zeppelin so it was watered down by half and so on and so on..You cannot beat the old masters, understand that. Lets begin at the start...

The greatest drafts man of all time, Raphael. I will rate him according the gardega scale of line genius.

gardega rating scale:

Quality of line 10

correctness of drawing/ anatomy  10

liveliness of line/ shading       10

character            10


humanity      11

Gardega

I will be posting art soon. I am in transition once again. Moving back to NYC area. First I have some art due in Colorado and then a big mausoleum job. Besides, Typing gibberish is easier than making art but writing is harder than making art. I have more loose ends than a poorly written screenplay, They multiply and I lay clever traps for them but they sneak away and breed.

laughing all the way...

I once asked a person I know "an arteest" how he can stomach making the worst possible horrid, cheese art that he made. He told me he laughs all the way to the bank..Money is fine but If I wanted money I would do law or bank, I wouldnt turn myself into an art-joke..Turning your self into an art joke is turning your soul into schlock. How does one sleep at night?

Bravado:N. peart

I never get bored of these words...A thrice posted tale. And the song is just as damn good.


If we burn our wings
Flying too close to the sun
If the moment of glory
Is over before it's begun
If the dream is won
Though everything is lost
We will pay the price,
But we will not count the cost

When the dust has cleared
And victory denied
A summit too lofty
River a little too wide
If we keep our pride
Though paradise is lost
We will pay the price,
But we will not count the cost

And if the music stops
There's only the sound of the rain
All the hope and glory
All the sacrifice in vain
[And] if love remains
Though everything is lost
We will pay the price,
But we will not count the cost

POST CARD DOODLE

I doodle on everything...yesterday I was in a cafe in NYC and I had a bunch of my postcards for my glass art so I drew many many pictures on them. This is the hell snail..Not sure why I drew the devil on a snail..
if anyone wants it, I will mail it to you...


it will cost you ten dollars because there is nothing more I hate than stamps and post offices. I have spent many an hour mailing art from post offices...I can identify the "postoffice smell" blindfolded.

todays post

there will be only one post today as it will be an in depth explanation of line in art...line is the cornerstone of drawing and drawing is the cornerstone of painting. this post will take some work.
a.

rothkos changing color

Why are rothkos changing color? because no slipshod isms stand the test of time. Modern art is an acrylic based scam, the emperor never had any clothes. Moder art has aged worse that a hollywood whore, Yet vermeer retains his vibrant genius. All shams and ponzi scams eventually wither beneath the harsh light of time. The art of the 80's is already a bad joke and the 60's as well. NC wyeth and rockwell will only shine brighter as time casts her fiery eye. Rothko was neither an innovater nor did he understand his craft..If you think the old masters didnt do color field tests to test the reactions of color to one another you can buy my bridge to brooklyn as I have painted it in 8 different colors over 6 years. Contemperary art will only be a small and shabby footnote one the map of art-time..just another cheap sitcom thatde fits into the past...

alex, mobile blog from 77th st...hence the typos

scanned (and stored)

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20012583-281.html

 

conch shells

It is no accident that conch shells resemble the inner ear. That is why we put them up to our ears at the beach...It is sympathetic magic, instinct--we listen to our own selves...If I had hearing problems I would keep a conch shell in my room as a fetish symbol. Call me crazy but the universe is not stranger than we think it is stranger than we can think..There is really nothing out there, reality is your own painting, the map is not the territory and matter is empty space.

theft

My friend Teal had all her DJ equipment stolen after she worked a wedding in Cooperstown..It was her lively hood. I am going to put up a painting for sale for her...She is a great girl and crestfallen. Whomever buys the painting can please send the money to her directly..I will include her info....I cant believe the wedding party didnt get together a pool for her as she worked it for a friend. I dont have much art left around will dig into my files...

I hate people who steal things, especially ideas...karma follows quickly...

casting call

My friend owns a casting agency in NYC...He is looking for the following....

Hi there,

I am reaching out to friends for a REAL PEOPLE casting that I am working on for Januvia.  Shoot is one day between Aug 25-27.  Talent will be paid $1500 for the day.
They should expect to be at the shoot for about 10 hours-however there will most definitely be downtime.  I am looking for the following:  Talent should read 55-65 yrs old and be moderately overweight.  By this I mean anywhere from 15-40 lbs overweight as it is dependent on height.  I need a Latino man and woman, African American man and woman, Indian male, Korean female, chinese female, japanese male.  Please feel free to forward on to those who may be interested.  Talent cannot be SAG.  It is a nice opportunity for someone to make some extra money.  Januvia is a diabetic medication.

Regards,


David


David Milosevich Casting & Consulting LLC
450 West 31st Street, 8th floor
NYC 10001
646-483-9598

I did a shoot with his agency once and It was a great time and I made a lot of money...I got to play the husband to a tall beautiful blonde and I had kids and pets and a great apt....then the shoot ended and I had to go back to reality but I got paid really well and a great time....