artist of the day---ralph steadman

In the elite art world there is a bit of a stigma against an artist who is known for their illustrative work. By this I mean work for hire as in book cover art and other commercial work. One of my favorite artists on any level (fine or illustrative) is the british artist Ralph Steadman. Ralph is most famous for the"gonzo" illustrations he did for hunter s thompson's fear and loathing book. He is a groundbreaking and influential genius and a real interesting person to boot. ( I met him twice in NYC.) You can view his website at this link...

click here

wine glasses

you will be impressed

my early works

I drew this at age seven. Needless to say, my Texas elementary teachers did not understand me or my art. They could not identify the faint wiff of genius that emanated from the ever-flowing pencil of gardega.

Do as much as possible, and talk of yourself as little as possible.
Sallust

I guess I have failed! (at least on one front)

coney Island

I painted this for a book cover years ago. It is a fall scene of Coney Island. I have been to Coney Island twice and it is a great place to visit. Finding this painting makes me want to return. If anyone wants to buy this I am selling it for $150.00. Painting in a circle was required by the company but I really enjoyed working in a circle as I often run in circles.

peter gabriel.

I paint to peter gabriel's music 90 % of the time and I always have since I first found his music in 1985. It doesn't take you out of the space of your work but instead helps me to focus on my work and supplies much needed inspiration when it gets rough at the old easel. I swear I would be a lesser artist if not for his music---maybe I would drive a milk truck.

anyone who could scribble out the following words cant be all bad...

I woke up and the world outside was dark
All so quiet before the dawn
Opened up the door and walked outside
The ground was cold

I walked until I couldnt walk anymore
To a place Id never been
There was something stirring in the air
In front of me, I could see

More than this
More than this
So much more than this
There is something else there
When all that you had has all gone
And more than this
I stand
Feeling so connected
And Im all there
Right next to you

It started when I saw the ship go down
I saw them struggle in the sea
And suddenly the picture disappears
In front of me

Now were busy making all our busy plans
On foundations built to last
But nothing fades as fast as the future
And nothing clings like the past, until we can see

More than this
More than this
So much more than this
There is something out there
More than this
Its coming through
And more than this
I stand alone and so connected
And Im all there
Right next to you

Oh then its alright
When with every day another bit falls away
Oh but its still alright, alright, alright
And like words together we can make some sense

Much more than this
Way beyond imagination
Much more than this
Beyond the stars
With my head so full
So full of fractured pictures
And Im all there
Right next to you
So much more than this
There is something else there
When all that you had has all gone
And more than this
Im alone
Feeling so connected
And Im all there right next to you

More than this
More than this
More than this

my friend's book

A long time friend of mine by the name of Mark Gehrke wrote a great book about kayaking Long Island harbors. I bought the book from my local kayak shop and keep it in my kayak with me. It is a great read and offers a zen approach to paddling. (A great escape and guide book as well.) The more you read it your realize it transcends a mere paddling guide and offers a lot of spiritual incite into the psyche and one man's attempt to arc weld his soul seamlessly with nature. I will post a link to website soon as well. If anyone wants the book you can get it at many kayak shops on long island or email me and I will get you more exact info. As we grow older we increasingly spin in our own orbits so it is nice to touch base with old friends.

deadline

I made my deadline and the client loved the pieces. I will upload photos today. I really care about my clients opinion of the work and I am really happy when they seem to like or get the art I gave them. I am not handing off wallpaper but rather something I take very personally. I learned a lot from this stamp job, the main thing I learned is that I have been making art for so long that it is impossible to make exact copies of anything, they always become a gardega. My client made a note that he really liked that I put my own twist on the stamps to some degree, It was not intentional but rather unconscious action. I added a very slight surrealism to each piece that kind of just crept out of me. The fact that my client "got that" made up for three days of no sleep. On the drive home I enjoyed long island traffic for three hours but I was too tired to stress about it. I will post pictures today. I cant believe I survived that week. It is six AM on saturday and time to get back to my last supper painting.

work space

This is my desk after two days of no sleep. I finished the layout on final piece at 8 Am this morning. I will now drive into brooklyn to carve the final three pieces by five pm. My client saw my photos and is very pleased. I am planning a trip on Saturday to Met to see Rembrandt show so I can decompress. Anyone want to get three or thirty drinks after?

tracing

the first email I get can have this tracing if you wish..I aways like to see who is reading my gibberish. You can tell your friends that the glass piece I drew this for is proudly displayed in the Pennsylvania philatelic society...philatelic is code word for stamp collectors... I am tired and going out for a drink before I start my second all nighter.

sketches

I f anyone wants my original (tracings) of my stamp designs just email me and send me a sase. I usually throw away my tracings but these are very cool and I wont charge for them...NO SASE-- NO TRACINGS..I will post them up on saturday..

alexgardega@gmail.com

Avant Gallery

I will have some glass pieces for sale at the opening of Avant Gallery in miami beach in the first week of dec. I will be down there for the entire week, so any florida collectors can join me for drinks and I can get you on the list. Miami galleries have their own special styles so I think my classical surrealism and oil paintings will stay in my New York galleries. I will be carving some new glass pieces for the opening and look forward to my first break away from NY in a long time. I am sure it will be a truly surreal miami affair. I am looking forward to art basel as well.

car window

Here is a snapshot out of my car window near my brooklyn studio. In my life I have had so many studios in so many areas but many were in gritty urban areas and in warehouses etc. I think a feel for the streets and the urban side of life really seeps into your soul and eventually into your art. My art is not urbane in nature but you get a feel for people from spending time in such places and it affects you. I have spent much time on the streets of brooklyn and I have a lot of affinity for the place. Now back to art.

brooklyn woman

I don't think it is fair to over- manipulate your photos after you take them. I like my photos like the street, raw and real. In my fine art I am drawn to the classical but in photos I like raw humanity. I guess if someone comments that it is blurry then the point is missed.

brooklyn folks

I like to take a break from art sometimes and grab my trusty digital camera and point it around. I really get a kick out of the characters I see in brooklyn. I took this in color and changed it to black and white..I liked the color of the cotton candy but I decided to change it to black and white and I am not sure why...I usually get loopy after about 15 hours of work so I need to goof around and upload some snapshots.

to annie nomus

Being literate will not do anyone any good if what you write does not have soul to it...I would rather read illiterate scribblings on a brooklyn bathroom wall (as I did today) than well crafted and grammatically correct prose that has no life behind it . Grammar can be taught, soul cannot. It is the message that matters in the end. Young artists and inexperienced artists often hide in technique because they haven't figured out their own artistic soul. Technique without life is a tree that blocks the view of a greater forest. You should start your own blog and show people that you are good at technical things like grammar! Dali mixed three languages into a jumbled mess and I wouldn't mind reading his daily dribble. I am glad you find my work worthy of your daily comments, thanks.

twenty four cent stamp...

This project has helped me realize how much I like old American design and Americana, Alex will start using (stealing) inspiration from Americana for his next works...

more soon

Blogger is having problems uploading images add more in a few...

eagle stamp

Here is another stamp--these are very small--- they all fall on a piece of glass that is ten by ten inches so the images are around eight inches or so...detail is really tough to deal with at that size so you do all you can to make it work.

update on stamps

grammar

I am aware my that grammar and punctuation is often weak as I give it the least amount of thought.. . I often find that blogs/sites that read with all the excitement of cereal ingredients are well punctuated and have good grammar. Good punctuation and boring content is like toast without butter-- dry and crusty. back to work.

seven AM

I have etched three pieces and have laid out three more overnight that I will etch today...I think I may have saved myself by working all night in order to make friday's deadline...If I have equipment issues that will be another matter.

5 AM

Here is my desk and the glass carving layouts that I am working on..the complexity is beyond anything I have ever dealt with. It is causing my stomach to churn.

stamps

I am buried in glass stamps and will emerge soon. Up at two AM and then I drive to Brooklyn each day. I pray the god's of equipment will not fail me as my deadline is 5pm friday...This is my hardest deadline in 15 years without even having to really look back and think about it....I may not even be able to photograph the pieces..will try my best to do so.

artist of the day

I always will believe that charles schulz, the creator of the peanuts comic is one of the great geniuses of our time. Peanuts was / is a very complex strip that has so many levels to it. It is so popular because there is something to it you can never quite figure out but you know it really addresses and touches on the human condition. I think charles schulz is as an important artistic figure as warhol and more important than most of the abstract expressionists whose paintings are now mostly relegated to closets in museums.I will never accept that peanuts was anything but high art and that it's creator was an artist who deserves to have a piece in the Louvre. (he does have a piece in the Louvre FYI)

methodology

Michelangelo always started his projects by working on the easiest aspects first and slowly building up to the more difficult. I do the same thing but only out of laziness and avoidance of the more difficult parts of any art commission.

stamp 2

Here is another stamp I converted to glass. I love this design. The original stamp was very roughly rendered so that is why my image is not a precise and perfect image but a piece that is close to original stamp.

stamp etching

Here is one stamp I etched today....The writing here is true to the original stamp as it has a slightly hand drawn feel to it. I like when things have a hand drawn feel and not a cold computer digital rendered look. I started with the easy stamps first to build up to the harder ones. Bad photo of the piece, sorry...

stamps

finished two stamps today...photograph in a few and upload....

stamps

I have to etch eight stamps onto glass by friday...I will try to get photos before I hand them off....this deadline is beyond words. Here is just one of the stamps....

song for a sunday

play the song.

sunday update

I painted a lot yesterday so I did not have to think about this coming week and the horrid deadline I am facing regarding my glass stamp project. Dali once said an artist must be able to paint a pear in the midst of rape and pillage. (tune out the world around you.)I look at painting in much the same way a child builds a furniture tent indoors when It is storming outside. I hope I am not the only person who did that as a child, but for me art is a place to hide from the world outside. My goal is to be done by 100% by Halloween. After that I will prepare for art Basel in Miami.