kayak photo

I went kayaking in Northport Long Island today. I took some photos: here is a photo of an old boat engine on a floating dock. I like this as a possible painting subject but It would have to be a photo realist piece and be f0ur foot square otherwise there is no point in painting it--unless you made it smaller and then it would have less impact...I have a million ideas and never enough time. I think this photo gives a sense that it is almost 100 degrees outside. it has occurred to me that this things has a wheel on it which was probably used for moving it or it is in fact not a marine vessel at all. Any mechanics out there know what she is?

think

http://www.denisdutton.com/cooling_world.htm

think once, think twice, think three times---then act

pigeons,sculpture, god and man

I walked through central park today and made some observations about art and life. One thing I noticed is the affinity that pigeons have for sculpture. Alex watched as they hovered around bronze figures like Bowery drunks around a bottle. One may question why do they not prefer painting which is a higher art than sculpture? Maybe God looked down and saw man's sculpture and said that he can make them better by adding his little grey, flying, final touches. If a true genius artist wished to "one up" god, he could start by adding bronze or marble pigeons to his sculpture, thus beating god to the punch, so to speak, and so on...

glass forest

It looks like my sample was approved to etch a sixty foot wall to resemble a birch forest. This is one of my larger installations. I look forward to the challenge. I used to get a bit if fear before such a large job but after 20 years in the game of glass I can pretty much visualize the whole thing in my head without all the technical worries I used to get when I was young. My client is a famous nyc nightlife/ club owner/ designer. I will document the whole process--I promise... it should take one and a half months to complete

framed

One of my biggest collectors lives in Colorado----she is a famous attorney. Never believe what they say about attorneys---she is an angel. I hope she is a better attorney than photographer. I am not sure how many pieces she owns but she owns some major glass pieces and many paintings...She has a great framer and that makes me happy.

update

long day--- 4AM to 5pm....finished my sample but I was too pressed for time to photograph it. hopefully it cuts the mustard and I get the commission. Load some art after a nap.

glass trees

I will be making glass tree samples all day...photograph when done...

wild turkey in central park

I often walk though central park to the art store on 57th street. Today I brought my camera and got lucky. Can you see the creature at the top of the waterfall?

study for glass wall

Here is a study I am working on of a etched glass wall that is going to be 60 foot long by 8 foot high (three walls of twenty) It is going to be a stylized birch forest and it should be an interesting challenge.

organ

I can imagine there are some interesting sounds that come out of these pipes.

glass art---by gardega

I made this piece a few years ago for a hedge fund in NYC. It is an etching of a mountain in South Africa called The Sentinel. It is very hard to etch landscapes in glass because you do not have color as an option, only white and and black (etched or non-etched) It was very difficult to get installed and is still not lit correctly.....such is life..some jobs leave me feeling less than 100%. this job needs to be lit correctly to breath life into the glass.

photo of the day---by gardega

new york city--land of characters

stained glass

Here is another window from St. Michaels many of the windows are Tiffany and this one is most likely I cant remember which ones were which but this is an amazing piece of art--There is nothing in the MOMA that even comes close to this piece of art.

Tiffany Mural

Here is a mural in St. Michaels church done by Louis comfort Tiffany. It is a glass mosaic and the picture doesn't do it justice. This mural has got to be insured for an incredible amount of money as it is one of the largest Tiffany murals still in existence. I am doing a few glass panels with mostly text and one image for the church but I will be in good company.

update

I was in the most amazing church yesterday. It was designed largely by Tiffany and the stained glass and murals were out of this world. I took photos and will upload tonight.

photo of the day

found this on the vast sea of the net...

church commision

I have a meeting today with a church in NYC. we are discussing working together (like the pope and Michelangelo...)

mural card

I make a lot of mailer cards and promo material. Here one I am thinking about making soon...

quote of the day

language holds all the memories of the human race----anonymous

sacred crab---by gardega

here is a study I made today for a glass carving. I like the image and may even sell prints of it.

update

I have just bid on two jobs, both are glass commissions. On is to create a faux forest in glass for a restaurant hotel. The other is a church commission for a NYC church. I like church commissions as they remind me of the renaissance. It would be nice to land both jobs as I would be busy for many months.

update

I have internet!...time to start rolling again

oil sketch--bethesda fountain (on ebay)

Here is an oil sketch of bethesda fountain in central park. I am adding a few more elements and working out some issues.


8 x 10 masonite




click link to purchase: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290232837928

article of the day

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,356850,00.html

gardega manifesto

1) Modernism is a lifeless and empty dinner


2) all great art lives in the past


3) Art deco, art nouveau (they matter)


4) abstraction is symbolic of a society who seeks beauty without effort.


5) The greatest rebel today is a classicist


6) There is more beauty in a single NC Wyeth painting than in the entire collection of the MOMA

7) art is empty and meaningless and it is empty and meaningless that it is empty and meaningless.

8) craft is a five letter word (not a four letter word)

9) Irony has had her day.

10) art should transcend class and education, it should be accessible to a plumber. Elitism is the enemy of true art.


11) looking backwards is looking forward.

12) art is like a river, when art is sick the people are sick.

13) without philosophy and the geometry of spirit ,there can be no art.

14) Don't be afraid to be hated.

15) Greatness in art and life requires unnatural courage and the loss of the affections of the mediocre.

16) It is far better to be known than unknown.

17) Courage is knowing what not to fear.

18) Artist, sell thyself!!!

william faulkner

Writing

In an interview with The Paris Review in 1956, Faulkner remarked, "Let the writer take up surgery or bricklaying if he is interested in technique. There is no mechanical way to get the writing done, no shortcut. The young writer would be a fool to follow a theory. Teach yourself by your own mistakes; people learn only by error. The good artist believes that nobody is good enough to give him advice. He has supreme vanity. No matter how much he admires the old writer, he wants to beat him". Another esteemed Southern writer, Flannery O'Connor, stated that, "The presence alone of Faulkner in our midst makes a great difference in what the writer can and cannot permit himself to do. Nobody wants his mule and wagon stalled on the same track the Dixie Limited is roaring down."

the eyes of texas--update

Here is my painting that I am about 1/3 the way through on. It has promise, the trick is not to lose the reins and fall into the mud. I photographed on a bit of an angle by accident...the background will be bricks when finished. I bought this cow skull off of ebay many years ago. I always hang her over my art table because her horns are good to hang my clip-on lights to.

24 x 24

update

I have been working since three AM on various projects. There is never enough time to get my work done. I will load updates today on "eyes of texas" painting and my mcsorleys watercolor battle (if I can salvage it.) I also did a small oil painting of the bethesda fountain in central park photograph it if I am satisfied.

a quicky

I am fairly apolitical but I dont like the government wasting people's money and spending our money like a wretched drunken sailor. It is real easy to spend and waste money you took from people and never actually earned. This is why I do free illustrations for Citizens Against Government Waste. They are a non-partisan group that acts as a watch dog on the over bloated and corrupt US government. I have done free illustrations for them for about three years now. I usually put off until last minute because I am lazy and I dont get paid. I usually dread sitting down and doing them but they turn out to be fun. Why does are brain make every task out to be so much harder than it really when you just sit down and "do it."

color of the day--explained

Day	Color of the day	Planet	God of the day
Sunday	red	Sun	Surya
Monday	yellow	Moon	Chandra
Tuesday	pink	Mars	Mangala
Wednesday	green	Mercury	Budha
Thursday	orange	Jupiter	Brihaspati
Friday	blue	Venus	Shukra
Saturday	purple	Saturn	Shani

In Thai tradition, there is an astrological rule (which has influence from Hindu mythology) that assigns color for each day of the week. The color is assigned based on the color of the God who protecting the day or Navagraha. For example, the God of Sunday is Surya which has red color. These colors of the day are the traditional Thai birthday colors. For example, King Bhumipol was born on Monday, so on his birthday throughout Thailand will be decorated with yellow color.

painting vs. glass

It is easy to paint a face or an eye. one need only practice everyday for ten years. Carving a face in glass is harder--- it took me twenty years to get an expression of a face in glass.

Ophelia

I just picked up one of my last remaining Ophelia glass pieces and I think I will put her up for sale today on Ebay---I am photographing her now. I do believe my Ophelia glass piece to be one of my best pieces in the glass medium. I think I have made about five versions of her, each with a different necklace or expression. This one is pre-framed and lit internally.

Email to purchase this piece. alexgardega@gmail.com

quote of the day

Peter Drucker - "The best way to predict the future is to create it."

series of dreams--bob dylan

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

southern expression of the day---bolliwog

meaning:

Nonsense, belly wash, hog wash...

mcsorleys seven

Here is a photo (of a photo) that hangs on the wall of Mcsorleys pub in NYC. It has a strange dreamlike quality. I think these guys are the mcsorley's seven baseball team. They have all long since left this world.

in progress

I started this piece today. She is "the eyes of texas" There is a fine line to straddle between kitsch and genius. It is all about nailing the right energy to the wall of reality. I like images that can be misconstrued or have a lot of weight and pre-conceived baggage. Painting such images is like starting a race with your shoes untied.

new studio

This is a view of my new studio. Art comes first, everything else takes a back seat.

update

later today I will upload my mcsorleys study and I have started a new masterwork called "Fooling the Eyes of Texas..."

trompe loiel (fooling the eye) is an artistic term for fooling the Eye through precise. realistic, naturalistic painting.

words of the day

freedom at all costs---gardega

Bread Of Eden

I am almost done with my still life. I was initially going to title this piece the bread of genius but I decided on the "Bread of Eden." I swiped this title from a Peter Gabriel song "blood of eden." On the Bread of Eden feed the woman and the man.." Genius is concealing your sources (or not)...as the say...


Methinks bread should have the glow of life, an aura of hope.

oil on canvas 16 x 20

one year ago

http://www.nypost.com/seven/05172007/gossip/pagesix/bargain_images_pagesix_.htm

to all my collectors and fans and readers---thanks for all your support!

one year---1,625 entries.

Please vote!

If you like my site or simply read it everyday because you hate it, please vote to the right! it is my one year anniversary today and I would appreciate all my readers and detractors to vote. It is "annie nomus" so dont worry---just vote!

happy anniversary

Today is the one year anniversary of this website! (Good thing I have people to remind me of such things.) I will celebrate in my usual fashion--- painting alone all night in my apt with my gabriel albums on random and some red vino. I guess I will upload a whole bunch of memories and images from the last year as it seems that so much transpired and so much more is to be done. Time has a cruel and callous eye and it is best to work hard and to leave the past behind you with scarecly an occasional glance up through the fog of what "was." I get a chuckle when I look back at all the mayhem and madness of trying to fill the thousands of letters and requests and thank god for my former assistant Jacqueline who saved me as I am barely capable of stuffing envelopes.

hyperthymestic syndrome

great article on memory:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/05/07/miraculous.memory/index.html

mcsorleys

went to mcsorleys yesterday to work on a watercolor. will upload later. finishing some touch ups and unrelated ma.ttters.

tomorrows painting--

I am painting McSorley's ale house tomorrow. It is one of the oldest pubs in NYC and Abe lincoln drank there after giving a speech at cooper union.

watercolor of the day--spotted pig

For sale


9 x 12

email me to purchase

PICASSO VS DALI

instead of voting for three different heads of a globalist- political hydra you can vote for art! Vote dali or picasso today is final day!

photo by gardega

I am not a photographer as I do not generally respect photography as an art. I am a painter who takes snapshots. This is the wall above my art table in my new apt.

bethesda fountain photo

the center of the universe--by gardega