primavera---by gardega

I painted this today as I am focused on spring and the rebirth of hope. My favorite flower is the iris as it has an interesting structure. It is only half finished but I thought that the process my interest people.

oil on gold leaf on paper

unfinished

leaving home

Here is an oil painting on glass. I think it carries an essence of sadness for the two figures "parents?" watching the flight of the one who is leaving. There is no going home again as it is a spiritual journey and a mind expanded to a greater reality can never sit content with what used to be. the strange shadow effect is my reflection as I photograph the piece.

SOLD

winter---by gardega

This piece leaked out of me today like rust from an old pipe. I am prone to the winter blues and it often comes through in my work---The hardest part of this painting was to get the puppy to sit still. This painting is oil on glass with a gold leaf backing. I am realizing that prussian blue is a serious color to work with and it can kill a picture as quick as it can bring it to life.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290203550801&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:US:1123

Birth of the Oceans---by gardega

I had a dream once that a figure fell from the sky and her/ his hair grew and swirled to form an ocean. I suppose the figure came from the sun and it was some kind of creation myth. I like the idea of the sea as an analogy to hair as it reminds me of Da Vinci who often found such similarities in nature.

watercolor on paper.


10 x 12

for sale

a nation of sheep! by A. Napolitano --read it!

Here is a good winter read! It doesn't matter if you are left or right, there is something we all must protect and that is our Constitution and our Constitutional rights. The government is slowly eroding away our liberties and we will not get them back. I am not sure about you but I read 1984 once a year for reason, I choose not to live in that world. Here are some main points of his book...

• Why is the government using the war on terror as an excuse to sidestep the Constitution?
• Why are Americans not challenging and questioning the government as it continues to limit more and more of our freedoms?
• What part of "Congress shall make no law..." does the government not understand when it criminalizes speech?
• Whatever happened to our inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that are proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence, guaranteed by the Constitution, yet ignored by the governments elected to protect them?
• Why does every public office holder swear allegiance to the Constitution, yet very few follow it?
• Don't we have rights that are guaranteed and cannot be taken from us?

Open Letter to all my collectors and fans

I am closing down my blog....




just kidding,

if anyone knows a really good flash/ web builder I will trade some of my best work, I want to build one of the best websites on the internet...

I found this great site, and want to move my crabs around in a similar manner, if anyone knows a good web builder I will trade some of my best work to make my site happen as it is high time...

here is the site that I like...
http://www.jonathanyuen.com/main.html

the relative size of the planets--by gardega

An old friend sent me this image that shows the relative size of the planets--- If the sun is so big how come it is so damn cold outside?

Gold---by gardega

I bought some gold leaf today. I like to paint on gold leaf because the surface is so different from wood and canvas and paper---Will make a new picture tonight and post it as well...rainy February, I will try to lift myself out of the gloom with some decent art. There are two kinds of gold in this world--- external, monetary gold and internal gold. I know a lot of very rich people who I enjoy talking to as much as watching cadmium green dry, For some people the pursuit of gold comes at the cost of the internal treasure. I guess it is a Faustian deal. It must be terrible to be rich and unhappy, where does one go from there? Money is a carrot that keeps me painting and drawing and it does buy you some freedoms but it has the same Dharma as a scorpion if you are not careful...

Wheels within wheels
In a spiral array
A pattern so grand
And complex
Time after time
We lose sight of the way
Our causes cant see
Their effects---NP

circles

smile

ebay find! by gardega

I am always on the lookout for Dali books I do not own. Here is one I just won on ebay for a rather small fee! This is the first time in 1,500 entries in my blog I put the image on the right and words on left. I feel vertigo...this book title sounds like a list of the three things that have caused me the most trouble in life...

lipstick on a pig--by gardega

There is a great southern saying that states if you put lipstick on a pig it is still a pig....I have made art that never worked, no matter how nicely framed or makeupped. Then there are pieces like this one, when framed correctly the painting finds a life of its own. I was never too sure of this piece until I saw it framed with a black matte. The black matte really makes the piece sing as it brings out or emphasizes the breakdown of simple shapes in the work. I takes a lot of words to try to say "zen." Life is really simple at it's core, wake up, shower, eat, work ,sleep, laugh, cry...etc


This is from a collector named Amy in Colorado.

mucho thankso

the family and the fishing net--by gardega

This was my favorite song for almost ten years of my life from my teen years on...I still see the same images in my head as I did back then. (This is a re-post for new viewers..the painting is not my best but you win some and lose some.)


"burning out in sudden flashes, draining blood from the well fed faces.." It took me twenty years to figure out this song is about a wedding and the capturing of a "groom" by the family. The quote probably refers to the flashbulbs at a wedding...I am sure it had something to do with Peter Gabriel's reluctance and fear of getting married and "making the plunge" (and the whole ritual involved therein.)

framed and framed

Three things make me happy...

1) making my work

2) selling my work

3) seeing it framed correctly!

flowers of evil--by gardega

a collector sent me this image today. It is one of my paintings as it looks framed on their wall. Even though the photo is blurry it kind of works with the piece. I really like silver frames ( when they work they really work)

emails from the past--by gardega

I received an email today from the people I did my VERY first book cover illustration for ---(I guess they found me on the net.)--- It was more years ago than I can even remember---I do remember drawing a monk for a book cover but the manor drawing I barely remember. Here is the email. (note: there was no such thing as email when I did the drawing)

Hello Alex,

Think back a number of years, when we here at Maple Hill Press were looking for an illustrator to draw a medieval manor, and found you. Our client, Jarrett Publishing Co., was very pleased with your illustration and has used it in their Regents Review Book for Global History ever since.

I thought you'd like to know that the drawing has just found its way into the Jan. 2008 New York State Regents Examination in Global History and Geography. Every high school kid in the state will see it. (You never know what paths your work will take, true?)

You may also remember that we asked you to do an illustration for the cover of our own book, PageMaker 4 with Ease, in 1991; you came up with a marvelous monk, moving from work by candlelight to a computer screen. We got that book accepted as a course text in the Houston Community College System (which encompassed a large number of schools) and others, such as Northeastern University in Boston. (Unfortunately, PageMaker 5 came out earlier than we had hoped, and we missed the wave, but it was fun while it lasted.)

I looked at some of your glass work on the website -- it's stunning! Did I understand correctly that some of this work is in the Chrysler Building? Wow.

If you have a couple of minutes sometime, drop me a note.

birth of genius on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290203035130

Brooklyn Test Cover---by gardega

I made this as a test when I was working on a new Brooklyn cover for the Ambassador Yellow Pages. I decided to use a different angle and put this one in my files. If anyone wants this just email me.

spring time

Got the winter blues?

I found this cartoon in my files....thought it had some hope in it.

on a white horse--- by gardega

SOLD

Here is an oil painting on glass. Death is a common theme in my art. I am also occupied with the twin themes of rebirth and resurrection. I think I would be rich If I would paint "nicer" pictures and paint them again and again and again...I cannot bring myself to paint puppies as I have to stare into a looking "glass" over my sink each morning.

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True.

---revelations

queens cover

Here is painting I made for Ambassador Publishing Queens edition. It is 15 x 20 (photo is a bit off- color as it is a pure yellow background.) This is for sale for $100.00--- if you are a Queens or NYC resident then you know the landmark very well. I will include a signed actual printed cover in addition.

Birth of Genius--by gardega

What genius awaits inside this kitsch- jeweled egg?

Birth of Dali---by gardega

I woke up at Two AM and went jogging and then I drove to seven eleven and got my morning big gulp. --- I had something brewing and itching inside that I had to address but I wasn't sure what! I looked atop my shelf and I found my solution. My friend Teal had bought me (for Christmas) a "musical egg" that plays the sugar plum fairy when wound. There was something missing from inside the egg so I decided to one day make use of the void--- but I wasn't sure how! Then It hit me!I quickly sat down and took an egg from my empty fridge and hollowed it out into the sink. I then painted (in black and white) a portrait of definitive genius. If anyone wishes to purchase my "Birth of Dali" you can make an offer via email. This is one for the ages.

artist of the day---chris elliot!

Here is a picture of me with one of the great masters of art. Some people know him as an actor/ comedian but they are unaware of his contribution to the world of visual art. He invented pop art, op art, pop tarts, op tarts and and even abstract expressionism. He is a true genius among the giants of art and he is happy to tell you stories about drinking with Van Gogh or how Picasso stole cubism from him. Did I mention he also invented surrealism? Notice here as he has added a floating cupcake to what would be an otherwise mundane and boring seascape. "Melting clocks are so yesterday" he muttered "but floating cupcakes are timeless." when Chris lays down his brushes the art world will retreat back to the dark ages quicker than a hillbilly to a jug of shine.

artist of the day---howard pyle

Howard Pyle was the teacher of NC Wyeth and a master of the "Golden Age" of illustration. He was a Pennsylvania based artist. He started his own school in Brandy Wine Pa. and the stress of the school was on taking great pains to get the details and realism of the accurate and to keep "life" in the work as well. I have seen many a noodler and renderer noodle the life right out of a painting by detailing it to death. (Pyle was not one of those artists.) Back in the day Artists were paid very well for illustration Even Van Gogh was a fan of his work. Pyle knew his craft inside and out was as good as any "fine artist" of his day. Photography stole the life out of illustration because magazines began to use photos instead of illustration and the golden age faded like figure in the sunset.

happy tuesday by gardega

I had a dream that I hailed a cab and that Leonardo Da Vinci was the cab driver. He didn't say much and I am not sure If I tipped him. He had a hat on that bore the distinctive look of the Renaissance. This morning I realized the hat he wore is on the cover of a book I own about Renaissance engraving. I suppose I had the dream because during the day I was pondering the thought of what would happen if Da Vinci was born today. (I guess my subconscious supplied me with the answer.) Somewhere in there is a story that someone will probably steal from me.

Big Brother---by gardega

I often think in themes and usually those themes come in fives as well. If I get interested in triangles I will usually explore five different avenues of triangles. If I am thinking about a direction to go in there are usually five paths ahead of me to be considered. Maybe it has to do with having five fingers on one hand and counting out things as a child. My gardega.com site has five crabs on it and I only own five pairs of shoes and will throw away a pair when I buy a new pair. As far as triangles go there is another triangle to consider...Outside the empire state building in NYC there is a "triangle" area where cars will often not start. It is because of the frequency of the radio tower on top of the Emp. State building. This brings me to our next topic---Big brother---The Onstar company can turn your car off for you anytime they wish and we are happy to let them into our lives and cars for "safety." If you are willing to give up your freedoms and privacy for safety and security you deserve neither. Personal liberties are not five legged star fish--they do not grow back when gone.

pattern recognition

If you look at this picture it is "obvious" to many that there is a white "triangle" overlapping the picture. In truth there is no triangle, your visual brain creates a triangle from some pac-man like circles and some smaller broken pieces. I find it interesting that our brains fill in visual blanks. I think our brains also do that with the call and response effect of music (which probably stems from the childs call out to the mother and the awaited response but I digress) I am curious if we fill in parts of memories in the same pattern. If we forget something to we add our own "triangles" to the pictures of our memories? I lived for ten years without a television so I learned to think a lot and I think the "idiot box" should be turned off often so humans learn to think again.

happpy monday by gardega

I will take a day off tomorrow to draw and paint and work on my site.

Ghiberti---Gates of Paradise

Anyone who ever studied anything about art history probably has heard of Lorenzo Ghiberti and his masterpiece-The Gates of Paradise. In the opinion of Gardega these doors were the gates of paradise as well as the entry way into the grand hall of the Renaissance itself! This is where it all started...A young Michelangelo was transformed by his viewing of these "doors." I posted this image because the trees are so well done. After a day of walking through Chelsea and staring at paintings on tin foil--- I will often restore my tired vision by viewing the Gates of Paradise. Bronze has been terribly used and abused (ala henry moore etc) and but when that humble alloy is in the right hands it is a thing to behold!

richard lacayo-----moron of the ages!

I traveled to Philly in 2005 to write about the Dali retrospective for a magazine. My article was well written, concise and had the unmistakable stamp of "knowledge of subject" --- Being a man who has read over thirty books about and by Dali and one who has studied him intensely for over 15 years I get rattled when I read reviews that are obviously just a bunch of requisite facts nicked from google and strung together to try to create the illusion that you actually know something about an artist. It is not "cool" in the elitist, ivory- towered art world to like Dali--- it is cool to praise lunkheads like Damien Hirst or rauchamburger who cant draw or paint and consider a shark in formaldehyde a work of genius. Bah to you ! Your theories will rot like the shark that must be replaced every year and unlike the work of Velásquez or Dali whose work will stand the acid test of time and ages. It would be nice to have a public debate with this writer as I would run a double helix of circles around his limited mind in regards to Dali's true value as an artist. Sometimes I understand why Hemingway would step into boxing rings with people to "discuss things" it is easier than typing! Here is his "dribble" in time magazine... My tone is not meant to be cynical, I am just fighting for something I believe in.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1027509,00.html?promoid=googlep

Landscape age 15---by gardega

I painted this when I was 14 or 15. I made it up out of my head as I was, and am, apt to do. It is the eternal, internal landscape that matters to me. Notice the lovely flowing water in this painting...Notice how it is fluoride free and pure. It is essentially wrong to add fluoride to our drinking water as I have mentioned before and will again. Fluoride is a toxin and and I would rather have bad teeth than have the government add toxins to my water. Someone left a comment on the previous entry regarding fluoride and a petition to stop the fluoridation of drinking water. I awoke at 4am to start my day and as usual I went to 7-11 to get my Pepsi Big Gulp. While there, I noticed The Post had not arrived yet. You know you are up early when you beat the paper to 7-11.