criticism

"criticism just means you are doing something right..."

I read this in wine spectator magazine today.

"IN VINO VERITAS!"

today

today my mind had been occupied with thoughts of a Dali drawing in which he drew one of his infamous melting clocks actually floating (balloon like),inflated with the hot air of envy..I think the drawing was titled inflata...I am not sure why this has been on my mind all day as I went from an oil change to buying luggage to shipping artwork. inflata, inflata, inflata...I actually know why I am preoccupied with this image but I cannot explain it just yet as the ideas of gardega are often swiped away like a salt shaker from a stranger's table. Soon I will unveil "the inflata."

Here is a quick snap I took from y own video camera after I finished the mural yesterday. On the top is the "endcap" that frames the mural with the latin Phrase "in vino veritas" (in wine is truth) on both ends and then I incorporated Da Vinci sketches from his infamous sketchbooks as well..

mural is done.

I finished my mural today after about 12 hours of painting. It took me almost two weeks to get my neck adjusted to painting the ceiling and towards the end I felt pretty comfortable "painting up." I will be working with the home owner on more projects as he is a very nice person and and his creative input was actually beneficial as not always the case on mural projects. I feel pretty worn out but I am satisfied with the work. No one sent me screen grabs today but I bought a video camera to take my own visuals.

ebay store

I have put some new works for sale in my ebay store. (link is below my photo) Today I will finish the ceiling mural and I am looking forward to move on to new projects. The homeowner may have more mural work for me in a different room but I have to finish some glass art for miami first.

Artist of the day---daumier

One of the great draftsmen of all time was the artist Honore Daumier! He was a french artist who spent his entire life making lithographs for periodicals of the day for very little money. His work was pretty scathing towards the bourgeoisie and he took the corner of the "little guy" and the peasant. The problem was he was relegated to being an "illustrator" or a mere "caricature artist" in the mind of his contemporary art critics. He was hugely influential and picasso stole a lot of his look from him as did many other "fine artists." He did not begin to get recognition until the last year of his over- worked life when he was already blind and ill. He had a way with line that no other artist has had before or after (not even lautrec!) Gardega is a huge fan of him and his work and his battle. Another great artist, the writer Baudelaire summed him up best...


(One of the most important men, I will not say only of caricature, but further of modern art.)

viva Daumier!

mural study (ceiling)

Here is a drawing I made today in preparation for tomorrow. I am adding some final touches to the mural that include Da Vinci sketches from his notebooks on the very ends of the ceiling to frame the main painting. This has always been one of my favorite sketches of Leonardo's. I realized that he added one strand of hair that falls over her right eye. (You learn something everyday.) The original Leonardo was drawn in silverpoint (I will explain that process later.) I drew this with a paintbrush on watercolor paper. It is for sale in my ebay store (the link is below my photo)

artificial heart

I found out a strange fact today. The creator of the artificial heart was not actually the man name Jarvick you hear about. It was first patented by paul winchell, the man who voiced Tigger from walt disney's winnie the pooh. He donated his patent for free to a university. Jarvicks heart was based on this patent...This is a true story. He also invented the disposable razor but didnt think that idea worth patenting.

leaf study---watercolor

I went for a walk through the woods today and found this leaf and decided to paint it. I decided today is a good to to paint and a leaf was a good warm up exercise for the eye. This is for sale on my ebay store (below my photo.)

quote of the day

Music in the soul can be heard by the universe.
Lao Tzu

my ebay store

I have started a new ebay store...art by gardega....the link is directly below my picture. I will load up new work soon.

Happy Thanksgiving

Enjoy your family gatherings and be sure to thank the great artist of the universe and inventor of the turkey for your blessings.

For Susy

I will be in Miami Dec. 4th until the 9th. I will have an opening at Avant gallery o n the 5th. I will post the address and date by friday...Please be patient I am very busy and have no time to search my records for address before then.

wine cellar

Here is a view into my home of the last two weeks. Towards the end of two weeks I pretty much gave up on shaving or combing of the hair. I basically became a creature of the cellar with a bad neck, covered in oil paint and muttering about Da Vinci...

photo of mural

Here is a photo from an Iphone by Martin. Martin is a multi- talented person who did all the wood working in the wine cellar and does tech work and photography as well. (He also tells a good story that kept me going often when I was running out of steam on the ceiling.) He is the man with the devious grin and the beard if you watched the mural cam at all.... I think the Iphone did a nice job considering its not a digicam for the most part. Later in the day a photographer took photos but she has not emailed them yet. I will post those when they arrive... I decided to work on Friday as well as we made some last minute changes...

Almost done...

No one sent me screengrab photos from the mural cam! So I cannot post an update. Someone asked me for the address of Avant Gallery in miami. I will double check and post that info. tomorrow or friday. The mural only needs another 8 hours of love and I can return my neck to the upright postion. I will finish tomorrow (unless I obsess and decide to paint friday as well. (My assistant would tell you probable answer to whether or not I work friday). I am not even home but decided to log in from a library computer. That is some dedication to my three fans who actually read this dribble. Actually my readership of dribble has grown a lot so I get to look at stupid little flags all over america and the world and see where you are loggin in from. I have a new zealand fan which makes me happy and I am waiting for some hobbit mail soon. For dinner I had red wine and peanut butter. I am really happy to put the mural to rest and move on to the next project but painting Leonardo for two weeks and getting paid well for it is something I consider a privelege. I wil load my mural studies and sketches on friday...


take care...

color of the day

my ex girlfriend requested her favorite color as the color of the day so now I will honor her and talk about PRUSSIAN BLUE! Prussian blue was discovered by accident in the 1700's in berlin by a painter. The artist was trying to create a red lake color but something was contaminated and he created PB. Prussian blue is very strong--- it is like not unlike the drunk at the dinner party whose presence you cannot ignore! It leans towards black and dark purple and is (unlike the drunk) a very stable dinner guest. There are some very unusual properties associated with PB that scientists are very curious about that I wont go into here. (This text is not prussian blue) I personally never invite prussian blue to my dinner parties, I prefer the majesty of of ultramarine blue.

miami

my glass pieces have arrived safely in miami for my show down there. I always fret when shipping glass so I over do it with the bubble wrap etc. The gallery owner was laughing at my extreme packing job. I think it took him two days to unwrap...

mural monday

I spent a nice evening with Bacchus in NYC last night, got home at 5 and got up at 8 to paint on mural. I didn't feel great today and didn't have a full day of painting in me but I did some of my best work on faces and details. I am very happy (finally) with the mural and I am on schedule so I am not stressed. I will take a professional photo when I am all done and also will have the time lapse video to show as well. I need to sleep for a few hours and then will hit the easel tonight. thank you mary for the video screengrab...

mural update

I will be on the mural cam for the next three days. If you want to see the mural progress on camera scroll down and you will find it. I am almost done and will be finished completely by/ on Wednesday.

sunday's quote

Robert Frost - "Freedom lies in being bold."