spirits of the park

I am working on a painting in which two spirits are standing by a lake in central park. I tend to think that if there are ghosts or spirits that they would haunt places they used to go to when they were alive. This will be for sale soon--- oil paint on an 18 x 24 canvas.

Orwell Diaries---August 9 , 1938

As you may know I am a big fan of George Orwell. They have begun to release his daily journal from the thirties. I will post it here, daily...

August 9, 1938

9 August, 2008 by orwelldiaries

Caught a large snake in the herbaceous border beside the drive. About 2’ 6” long, grey colour, black markings on belly but none on back except, on the neck, a mark resembling an arrow head (ñ) all down the back. Did not care to handle it too recklessly, so only picked it up by extreme tip of tail. Held thus it could nearly turn far enough to bite my hand, but not quite. Marx¹ interested at first, but after smelling it was frightened & ran away. The people here normally kill all snakes. As usual, the tongue referred to as “fangs”².

Notes by Peter Davison, from the Complete Works:

¹The Orwells’ dog.

²It was an ancient belief that a poisonous snake injects its poison by means of a forked tongue and not, as is the case, through two fangs. So Shakespeare in Richard II, 3.20 – 22.

Guard it, I pray thee, with a lurking adder

Whose double tongue may with a mortal touch

Throw death upon thy sovereign’s enemies.

See also 11.8.38.

ebay store

I am loading a few ideas up for sale t0oday in my ebay store. link is to the right.

TV

Haven't had a TV in months and I dont miss it. I get more work done than I ever have in my life and that makes me feel good. Better than a sharp stick in the eye. I do miss the History Channel but that is life...It is better to try and make history.

etched glass nyc---by gardega

Here is my glass website: www.bluelineglass.com

found art

I was walking home from the art store today and I found this napkin on the street. I was so interested in the shape of it that I picked it up and took it home. yes, I washed my hands after...I still think it is pretty amazing, I will let you comment on what you think you see. I have my own ideas as to what it looks like. I did not change it or photoshop it. It went right from my art store bag to my scanner.

nassau cover

Here is my Nassau Book Cover...it was emailed to me with some color saturation issues...It is an illustration, not a fine art painting so I have to make a lot of adjustments to that end..dali and picasso did illustration so I have no problem with it. Things I wont do--- draw super heroes, paint your poodle, work for the evil mouse company. This original is for sale, I would like to replace the happy couple with a spirit or ghost or skeleton--take her back into Gardega land

Blueline Glass---gardega

for those interested, I have another website for my glass art....

www.bluelineglass.com

update for gardega 8/7/08

I should have a copy of my nassau county westbury gardens painting emailed to me today..I will post it...Also I Have to paint a picture of Nassau Countie's Jones Beach today. I really like painting the beach even though I haven't set foot on it all summer. I have decided to start posting some art world news ( even art world news that doesn't include me.)

Ten Most Expensive Paintings Ever Sold

I am very interested in the value of art and why art is valuable and why people pay millions for good art and bad art. Here is a link to the ten most expensive paintings and I am upset that mine are not listed yet, especially the ones I sold for ten dollars as I was becoming "famous."

http://timesbusiness.typepad.com/money_weblog/2008/08/the-10-most-exp.html

spotted pig watercolor

I find art in the oddest places. I lose it and then find it again..This was found in a notebook I use only for business. I will sell or trade depending on my mood and the weather. this was sketched out in The Spotted Pig and refined back in my studio.

update

finished nassau county cover and delivered it..will post picture today after they scan it. I have to paint a second cover today which is nassau south. I will post when finished. I have had my first request for someone to advertise and sponsor my website which is nice. I usually shy away from advertising etc but they are good people and I believe in the cause---me...

RIP----grandma Gardega

My grandma passed away recently--she was a great lady and a huge fan of my artwork and used to send me money for art supplies when she had no money to spare. Anna J. Gardega
CONWAY | Anna Julia ''Nannie'' Gardega, 84, widow of the late Capt. Alexander Gardega, passed away peacefully at her home Thursday, July 24, 2008. Anna was born April 9, 1924 in Astoria, New York, a daughter of the late George and Anna Allmon. Anna spent her younger years on Long Island where her parents owned a local service station. After her three children were grown, she and her husband moved to Cleburne, Texas. They spent 10 years on a small ranch before making their final home Conway. She was preceded in death by two brothers, George Allmon and Thomas Allmon. She is survived by her two sisters, Vera Fox and husband, Al, of Chatanooga, Tenn., and Thelma Petrone and husband, Jimmy, of Highlands, N.C.; two sons, Alexander Walter Gardega and wife, Edwina, and Thomas Gardega, both of Long Island, N.Y.; one daughter, Mary Ann O'Brien and husband, Timothy, of Conway, a sister-in-law, Annie Travers of Fort Lauderdale, Fla; eight grandchildren, Jennifer Dulieu, Alexander Gardega Jr., Rachel McInnes, Marcus Gardega, Jonathan Gardega, Melissa O'Brien - Holt, T.J. O'Brien, and Lacey McQuigg; and three great-grandchildren, O'Brien Holt, Ryan McInnes and Meghan McInnes. Anna was the beloved wife of a sailor for 56 years, a loving mother, grandmother, and a woman very passionate about nature. The family would like to extend their heart-felt gratitude to the care givers of Agape Hospice and the Kingdom Hall witnesses for their wonderful care and love over the last year and half. Funeral arrangements and services will be announced by Goldfinch Funeral Home, Conway Chapel. Goldfinch Funeral Home, Conway Chapel, is in charge of arrangements.

today

I am painting a Nassau county book cover today. I decided to paint this one on canvas as opposed to illustration board or as a computer piece. I will photograph tomorrow as my camera is not here now. I will post the original for sale as well. It is an impressionistic view of Westbury Gardens in Nassau County.

alex in Daily News

(Page 2 of 2)

So Aldrin is trying to set up a lottery that would allow even nonmillionaires to propel themselves out of this world.

As for space sex - a freaky fantasy for some space tourists - the 78-year-old says they should go for it.

"You could do it for four minutes maybe," he estimates. How, we don't want to know. "I trained for spacewalking under water, so yeah, I think it is possible," he said with a wink.

Guests ready to tie one on

Why are the bobble-heads in L.A. so easily confused? When Lauren Conrad, Brittny Gastineau and Lance Bass heard they had been invited to a performance by Epic Records' White Tie Affair in the lobby of the Roosevelt Hotel last week, they were in a tizzy.

"What does 'White Tie' mean?" they twittered. "Is it like Diddy's white party? Do I wear a tie?"

Sure enough, all three showed up in white so as not to offend their host's nonexistent dress code.

Michelle O's no Jackie O, says Janice D

Vanity Fair's Best Dressed List lurves Michelle Obama's style, but judgey-judgey Janice Dickinson sure doesn't.

"Oooh, she made a best-dressed list; whoop-ti-doo. Michelle should stop trying to emulate Jackie O and choose an American designer to establish her own way of dressing," the ex-model snarled to us. "Since her husband is talking about change, she should change the way she dresses."

And she'll put her money where her pouty potty mouth is.

"I'd be happy to assist if they had the balls to call me."

A high-gloss Dem convention

It was nasty for John McCain to compare Barack Obama to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, but the upcoming Democratic National Convention is getting Britney-like attention from the celeb weeklies.

OK! mag and Us Weekly are sending about twice as many staffers to the DNC as to its Republican counterpart, we've been told.

So if the number of gossip-mag hounds covering your party is any indication, Obama is beating out McCain for the most popular kid in school, 2 to 1.

Just Sayin'

Halle Berry's ex Eric Benet has found himself a new woman, Manuela Testolini, who's otherwise known as Prince's ex-wife. The two stepped out as a couple for the first time last week to see "Xanadu."

Maroon 5's Adam Levine was spotted at Waverly Inn getting his cheese on, holding court at a table with two sleazy blonds all over him.

Artist Alex Gardega, who is represented by the New York Artist Series, has been commissioned to build a 30-by-8-foot high etched-glass birch tree forest for Greg Briar's new Aspen restaurant at the 212 Hotel.

Is porn star Heather Hunter going mainstream? She was overheard telling the Plumm's Noel Ashman that in addition to her book "Insatiable," she and Treach - from "Naughty by Nature" - are producing a new all-girl doo-wop group.

Which fashionable couple is trying to quash rumors of his infidelities and their possible separation by fleeing NYC to California for the summer?