alex's obsessions

The brain of Gardega is obsessed and preoccupied with the following:


Dali

Horseshoe crabs

Leonardo

Sacred Geometry (especially the flower of life)

Religious art and iconography

Ammonia

Carl Jung

Gnomic spirals

the quantum concept of a holographic universe

angels

early Americana (coins and stamps)

mailboxes (especially rusted ones)

sacred crab

today alex made a horseshoe crab breakthrough which is pure Dalinian in its brilliance! Alex may speak to patent attorney first before posting!

puzzle of the day

This is a bit more difficult! If you are the first to email an answer you get a free sketch! The only catch is you have to mail me a self- addressed- stamped- envelope!

Ebay Today

I will try to get my ebay store going again today. I shared a bottle of wine with my framer yesterday evening and somehow wound up buying two hundred dollars worth of frames...

Time Lapse Camera

I prepped entire ceiling today. I will work on design this weekend and and resume work on Monday. I am very excited to share that the entire process of my Da Vinci mural will be filmed on time lapse video! I will either have a set up that enables you to view the process from a website or have a link direct to my blog. On the way home from mural I realized that I put my sketchpad and drawings in the back of my pick up so half of my Da Vinci studies took flight on the expressway and stuck to the grill of Mack truck behind me. I wonder what he thought we he stopped and pulled the drawings out of his grill and found that they were very detailed drawings of Leonardo....

update

Ceiling is all prepped for my Da Vinci mural...I will upload photos when I return in the early evening...Okay, time for a puzzle that will require some thought...

todays puzzle

Here is todays puzzle. I will be off painting my Da Vinci ceiling today. I will be making every effort to set up a time lapse video as well. I will be back this evening. This puzzle is another easy one, I do have some harder ones coming soon but I want you to get used to it first.

update

I have emailed my Brooklyn cover off for review. Tomorrow I start my Da Vinci ceiling mural that will soon be set up for Time lapse photography that can be viewed online. Tonight I will work most the night on my own work and maybe even upload some of it for viewing. I have sent a package/ letter today to a very important scientist regarding my next masterpiece. (I hope he accepts my proposal!

Brooklyn Bridge Book Cover

Here is the Brooklyn Bridge cover. I am sure there will be some changes to it as art directors enjoy making me change stuff! Anyone have any comments?

alexgardega@gmail.com

Brooklyn Progress

Here is my "in progress" Brooklyn bridge illustration..it is a combination of acrylic paint and photoshop. I think it a good start but it needs work....I will finish tonight...

another puzzle...

I decided the last one was too easy---here is one that is a few clicks harder...what is this word/phrase/ or saying?

todays puzzle

Here is todays puzzle!!

It is much easier than yesterdays! Can you figure out the meaning, word or phrase I am getting at here? (This one is a four on a ten scale of difficulty.)

email me if you get it!
alexgardega@gmail.com

brooklyn bridge --sneak peak

Here is a gimpse at my brooklyn bridge book cover I am painting. I do not want to reveal too much until it is closer to being something worthy of gardega!

thursday

Today is a brooklyn bridge day. I must finish the cover by today---hopefully. Will upload progress..

Today's Puzzle Answer!

CLOCKWISE!

the shadow of death

Death walks a lonely shore followed by a long and timeless shadow. I made this watercolor today as I was thinking about life and death. I think one true sin in life is not living while one is alive. Death is the yin to the yang of life, it is what gives life its flavor and its color and its meaning because you cannot have life without its compliment, death. There is no light without shadow and there is no cold without hot etc.. etc.. Life often seems like a long ride to a beach you'll never arrive at and when you finally arrive you realize you should have spent more time looking out the car windows enjoying the ride. Not the greatest metaphor but the point is made. The strange thing about this watercolor is if you closely at the top left you will see the sign for infinity which is marked into the watercolor paper by the maker of the paper...

"there are no accidents round here" peter gabriel

Answer to the puzzle will be posted at 5pm

in case you were stumped...you can email me for clues as well.

strange world---alone with the sky

lost my time lost my place in
sky blue
those two blue eyes light your face in
sky blue
i know how to fly, i know how to drown in
sky blue

warm wind blowing over the earth
sky blue
i sing through the land, the land sings through me
sky blue
reaching into the deepest shade of
sky blue

sky blue
so tired of all this traveling
so many miles away from home
i keep moving to be stable
free to wander, free to roam

train pulled out said my goodbyes
sky blue
back on the road alone with the sky
sky blue
theres a presence here no one denies
sky blue

sky blue

sky blue
so tired of all this traveling
so many miles away from home
i keep moving to be stable
free to wander, free to roam

i can hear the same voice calling
crying out, from my heart
and that cry, what a cry
what a cry, its going to be
if i can stop to let it out, oh

www.gardega.com

tonight I will be working on my main website and uploading new art and pulling out the old...

strange world---solstice

A quiet peace before departure.

Strange World----western dream

Some call it heavenly in it's brilliance
Others, mean and ruthful of the Western dream
I love the friends I have gathered together on this thin raft
We have constructed pyramids in honor of our escaping
This is the land where the Pharaoh died


jim morrison

Mural update

I start my Da Vinci mural on Friday and I am looking forward to painting a ceiling...We are trying to set up a time lapse video of entire mural process which will be a first for me....

change

I will not be in brooklyn today, I will be in tomorrow. Today I will paint the Brooklyn bridge and and upload progess..

einstein

Albert Einstein - "Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."

ebay store

I will set up my ebay store again tomorrow...let it go for so long...

DAILY DALI

When Dali was a child in Spain he was deathly afraid of grasshoppers! Anyone aware of his work will notice the use of grasshoppers in many of his paintings. He eventual went on to name himself "The Grasshopper Child." This is my surrealist Dali fact of the day...

Brooklyn

I am going to stop painting my brooklyn bridge and drive to the real thing as I have to do some glass art today! It felt odd not to have the Last supper looming over me in my living room yesterday, I felt lost...

alex

Gardega's Game

Here is a little game for my faithful followers. There are two images (symbols) that form a word or phrase I have made a lot of these and this one is a bit difficult, I should have started with a simpler one but I have faith in my readers! You will know when you have the right word trust me... email me right answer at alexgardega@gmail.com. Maybe I will send a free gift. IT IS NOT NIGHT OWL!

Here is the final photo! I may do some slight touch-ups but at some point you have to put a painting into a coffin or a bed and move on. Gardega gives himself an A for concept, an A for effort and a B- for execution. Gardega would have preferred three months of uninterrupted work on this piece but he is on many projects and he is happy with 32 square foot work of Genius.

The oldest living animal

Scientists recently found a living clam that is estimated to be over four hundred years old. They are certain that there are clams alive that are well over 600 years old , This means there were clams alive when Leonardo drew his first breath that are still alive today.

Great Website

I found a great website that lets you zoom around the original last supper mural (and it is high resolution so you can really get a nice view.)


click here

Tuesday

Woke up at 2:30 Am to go running and then finish my painting before daybreak. I need to start my brooklyn book cover which I have been avoiding...The good thing about running at 3 AM is that the high school track is pretty empty and the stars are pretty bright...

last supper...

I have only to add some detailing tonight and I can call this work finished! I estimate I spent 200 hours on this work. I find the final details and oil glazes to be the most fun, the cherry on the sundae, so to speak. I will work on the table top a bit and add few glazes on the face- shadows etc. ,then I can have my window back and let light in my place again. It has been a journey and as best I can tell will end/ begin with news coverage. I may add some oysters to table tonight as well...

clouds over a mall

I would rather have a root canal drilled than go to a shopping mall. Recently, I had to visit a mall to buy some clothes that don't have paint all over them. As I was leaving the mall I turned to see the these clouds rising majestically over the suburban sprawl. Photography is occasional good for something.

Happy Monday

Heading into Brooklyn to make glass art today. Update when I return....

Growing up (looking for a place to live)

watercolor 10" X 10". click to here to buy.

folded in your fleshy purse
i am floating once again
while the muted sounds are pumping rhythm
all the walls close in on me
pressure's building wave on wave
till the water breaks - and outside i go, oh

one dot, that's on or off, defines what is and what is not, one dot
two dot, a pair of eyes, a voice, a touch, complete surprise, two dot
growing up, growing up,
looking for a place to live
growing up, growing up,
gooking for a place to live
growing up, growing up,
looking for a place to live

my ghost likes to travel so far in the unknown
my ghost likes to travel so deep into your space

three dot, a trinity, a way to map the universe,
three dot
four dot, is what will make a square, a bed to build on, it's all there,
four dot

my ghost likes to travel so far in the unknown
my ghost likes to travel so deep into your space

all the slow clouds pass us by

make the Empire State look high
as you take me in your sea-stained sweetness
it spills, it tingles and it stings
all the pleasure that it brings
till the door has let the outside inside here

well on the floor there's a long wooden table
on the table there's an open book
on the page there's a detailed drawing
and on the drawing is the name i took

my ghost likes to travel so far in the unknown
my ghost likes to travel so deep into your space

growing up, growing up,
looking for a place to live
growing up, growing up,
looking for a place to live
growing up, growing up,
looking for a place to live
growing up, growing up,
looking for a place to live

my ghost likes to travel
my ghost likes to travel
moving inside of your space
my ghost likes to travel
my ghost likes to travel
moving inside of your space
my ghost likes to travel
moving inside
my ghost likes to travel
moving Inside of your space
my ghost likes to travel
moving inside
my ghost likes to travel
moving inside of your space

the breathing stops, i don't know when
in transition once again
such a struggle getting through these changes
and it all seems so absurd
to be flying like a bird
when i do not feel i've really landed here.

Vonnegut Prints

I made this months before Mr. Vonnegut died, I have a weird habit of getting into certain images right before something happens regarding the subject matter. I started painting American flags the year before Sept 11th happened then I threw them away because all I saw everywhere were flags post 911. Anyways, this is an image I like a lot. I gave my brother the original for his birthday an I am sure it is unframed and has macaroni on it. I am selling signed original prints of this in a limited edition of 100. I will link to ebay later...

The Sacred Crab

Here is print of my sacred crab painting. I will sell a limited edition of 50 of these these on Ebay for $25.00 each. I will link later..

sunday update

Today Alex will finish the last supper!!! It was a long and difficult meal to prepare and now the intellectual feast will be done by nightfall! After I finish the painting I will begin the first step on my Brooklyn Book cover which will entail my fifth painting of the glorious Brooklyn Bridge. I am going to load up some high quality, fairly affordable, prints today for sale of some of my choicest pieces..