does humor belong in art?

Frank Zappa asked this profound question many moons ago...As I am usually a pretty serious artiste I thought I would share something with you that made me laugh so hard I cried...I cannot understand why I laughed so hard, maybe I am crazy...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0eINGyJHz8&feature=related

damn good lyrics

He went to paris lookin for answers
To questions that bothered him so
He was impressive, young and aggressive
Savin the world on his own

But the warm summer breezes
The french wines and cheeses
Put his ambition at bay
The summers and winters
Scattered like splinters
And four or five years slipped away

Then he went to england, played the piano
And married an actress named kim
They had a fine life, she was a good wife
And bore him a young son named jim

And all of the answers and all of the questions
Locked in his attic one day
cause he liked the quiet clean country livin
And twenty more years slipped away

Well the war took his baby, the bombs killed his lady
And left him with only one eye
His body was battered, his whole world was shattered
And all he could do was just cry

While the tears were a-fallin he was recallin
Answers he never found
So he hopped on a freighter, skidded the ocean
And left england without a sound

Now he lives in the islands, fishes the pilins
And drinks his green label each day
Writing his memoirs, losin his hearin
But he dont care what most people say

Through eighty-six years of perpetual motion
If he likes you hell smile and hell say
Jimmy, some of its magic, some of its tragic
But I had a good life all the way


And he went to paris lookin for answers
To questions that bothered him so


J.Buffet

quote of the day

Be good and you will be lonesome
Be lonesome and you will be free
Live a lie and you will live to regret it
That's what livin' is to me
That's what livin' is to me

J.B.

degas sketches

I found an old degas sketchbook page today...I have no idea when I made this I assume I was 19...

here comes the flood

I was painting my mural today and I heard a blood curling scream from the maid. I ran into the master bedroom and saw that the floor and carpet was an inch deep in water. The tub had overflowed after being left on. I searched in the garage and found a shop vacuum and jumped into the pond hoping I didnt electrocute myself. I spent an hour in the soup doing my best to dry the carpet. I went downstairs and then I noticed that the water had seeped through the ceiling and onto the steinway piano. I feel bad for the maid and to let her choose if she would tell the homeowner...one of those days...

1,000

I have officially passed the 1,000 entry mark on this here thing and I would be more excited if I could find my damn paintbrushes!!

good morning

I promise I am only two more days on mural and then I will pay more attention to this thing. I intend to show my progress on my statue of liberty cover and then my painting of st. sebastian for NYC. Sorry for my laziness as I try to keep this thing interesting and generally pretty snappy. I cannot find my paintbrushes and will probably have a stroke this morning as I stress and look for them.

pancho

This was one of the best pets I ever owned. He was an exotic chicken that used to come up to my feet just to be picked up everyday. We gave him away when my family moved and I still miss the little bugger. I hate to say it but I never really truly named him but I would call him pancho sometimes for fun. I wonder if he is in chicken heaven or does he still walk among the earth chickens. When he would come up to me he would feign that he wanted to run away and let himself get caught. Its the little things in life that make it worth pecking around.

quote of the day

Paul Tournier - "Sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can."

good morning

alex is going to try to work at home today and catch up on pressing matters and blog work. I still have two days more on a mural but I will paint wed and thursday. Keep an eye out today as I will try to put up some new art as well.

alex

fine art

watch a man achieve his dream in front of your eyes!


click below


viva!

howdy folks!

I had a great day--- had to add touches to my mural before the floor is put into wine cellar. I have two more days on a second mural that will be done wed. I don't mind the mural work as it gets me out of my studio and into the air of different realities. Today, Gardega was painting and thinking about the vast Texas skies of my youth and the effect they had on the landscape of the internal majesty of my soul. As a child I chased fossils and grasshoppers and as an adult I chase the elusive lizard of excellence in my craft and seek divine perfection in my paints. Along the ill-mowed and rocky path I have stumbled and bruised my knees and even had the mossy-green rocks of jealousy thrown from friends and strangers (as I am not following a path of painting such slop as portraits of children and waterfalls and.. ) Instead Gardega raises his brush against the cruel sky of commercial flimsy and weak art and seeks to help my readers and collectors grow skyward with intellect and hope and belief that art is worth something and not something to be plucked cherry- like from the wilted branches of the Kmart tree. The parade of life marches ever onward into the unknown and it is with much gratitude to the watchers and to the collectors and even the revelers of this strange parade that I am able to continue onward and upward into the slippery street of destiny.

MUCHO THANKSO

video of Miami

I will be uploading some video of miami tonight...

happy monday

Today it is a bit of a cold a wet day in new york. I will be finishing my mural work today and then I will be starting a painting of the statue of liberty for the NYC Yellow Page cover. I may show the process of the book cover. I was invited to a Christmas party at the home where I painted my Da Vinci ceiling so I will be there on the 20th. After the Statue of liberty alex will begin his painting of st. Sebastian for an upcoming theme show in a NYC Gallery. I am not sure if St. Sebastian will be a glass carving or an oil painting. I received in the mail yesterday my copy of the dali novel titled "hidden faces." I am thinking of reading the entire novel aloud and recording for youtube as I am sure no one else has done that yet. I am waiting for my letter from the clinton's thanking me for my glass rendered portrait of hillary. I never vote because my split personality would vote against itself thereby canceling the purpose of voting and taking time away from my artwork.

quote of the day

"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -
-- Mahatma Gandhi

miami watercolor

Here is a better scan of the watercolor I made on my trip.

watercolor

I will try to rescan my watercolor that was on ebay so you can see it is better than the hatchet job scan that was done on it in miami..

whomever bought it --I will mail it this week...

Dali in south beach

The strange play and pattern of life never ceases to amaze me. At the opening of the gallery where I am showing in miami I met someone who used to work as Dali's assistant. I tried to get as much info from him as I could but I didnt want to be pushy. Most of the stories I cannot print on this site but i will try to edit what I can remember...

back in New York

I just returned from miami. It was my intention to meet a few of the people who collect my work in from my website but I got so buried I will try to return in feb. when art basel is not whirring around like a top. (I am sorry, I just got spread very thin by the whole thing.) I am exhausted and have to work on mural tomorrow to be finished before the new floor is put in. I need to start drawing and painting again as that is the real reason I started this whole thing, not to type tripe and gibberish. On my return flight I sat next to a Vietnam vet who was slowly losing his vision due to long term effects of agent orange. He told me he was trying to see as much art as he can in life before his vision is totally gone. It really got me thinking about how I take my vision for granted and what a great and profound gift thing the two little round things we call eyeballs really are.

miami update

I woke up this morning and went to the beach at 8: 30. I took the miami herald with me and read about the great sangria shortage that was created by a strange and fidgety artist on espana road last night. I hear they are going to ship in a tanker of sangria tonight to help avert the crises created by the great gardega. I felt like Hemingway as I sat in what looked like the middle of Madrid and imbibed myself with the drink of the gods. I once read that it was best to take off both shoes before one goes to sleep but I am not one to prescribe to such maxims. I was in my gallery last night talking to owner and met a man who used to be dali's assistant. It was not able to understand his accent for the most part but gained some nuggets of information I never knew about dali. I stopped by miami ink to visit my old classmate chris garver and to see how he was doing, He seemed a bit jaded on the whole fame thing. I have done much networking here but decided to take the path of hunter s thompson and not actually attend the fight I flew to africa to write about....

update

it was a nice day today. I looked for a "do not disturb" sign to tell no one to clean my hotel room and could not find one. (I cannot handle other people cleaning or touching my stuff.) I found the cleaning lady and told her not to clean 7g...she did clean anyways and was nice enough to take my passport as a memento for her collection. I am thankful because she did not steal my socks, Imagine flying back to NYC with no socks! I am happy she left my horsehoe crab behind because that has real value...

good morning

I met my first celebrity yesterday. I must admit he was the smartest celebrity I have ever met. You can view his website here.


www.mrclucky.com

Someone told me that I cannot even spell the word modistee. I dont even need spell check for that one...

watercolor---miami

I am not used to this scanner and have little control over the image but I made this watercolor today over a few heinekens at an outdoor cafe. The scan is terrible, the watercolor has much more life....

Click here to buy

good morning

I have found all the important things I needed (including return info.) I found an art store, an internet store and the gallery I am showing at. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. I am the only person in the internet store and the lady is mopping under my chair and banging into me but I am happy because it is almost seventy outside. I really like miami more than I thought I would and cannot wait to get a sketchbook and start drawing. The people are very friendly here and take the time too talk to you. Thanks for sending me info, teal...I will hit the sketchbook today and scan new work.

miami

I have arrived after four hour flight delay. It is almost 80 degrees alex is mucho happy. I am exhausted and realized that I booked a return flight on the 8th on an airline I cant remember. I had no directions to my hotel, no res number and almost didnt get my reservation. My hotel isn't too sketchy and will suffice to rest my head. I thought that my luggage would be taken by customs because it was full of electronics, a dremel tool and a remote control horsehoe crab.

random alex facts

I have a phobia---I have never tasted iced tea, coffee or tea. I was offered one hundred dollars to have a sip of iced tea and wouldnt even think about it.

I have never worn a piece of red clothing. I am afraid of certain shades of red and I made my kayak store search for twenty minutes to get me the same kayak in orange because I wouldn't buy a red kayak.

I have to clean my sink with ammonia everyday.

I never tasted kraft macaroni and cheese because I was afraid of it as a kid.

I have had more serious head concussions than the average NFL quarter back so this probably explains the whole thing.

enjoy...

genius

I realized this morning that alex is a true genius. I was able to prove this when I realized this morning that I have no idea when my flight is and cant find my itinerary. I forgot to wash my clothes so I am in a panic to do it at 7 AM. I forgot to tell my landlord that the heat is out for some reason so I have to take a cold shower. My apartment is a mess, filled with horseshoe crabs and paintings that dont even fit in it, spilled india ink and the only thing in my fridge is pepsi and takeout chicken wings I forgot to eat. I just remembered I probably need my passport for extra ID. My ego would prefer to call this the art of genius as opposed to a simple mess of a person. I am most excited to get away!

miami

I leave tomorrow for miami. I will try to go each day to kinkos to upload info and sketches. I am not a laptop kind of person who sits in starbucks so I will never own a laptop. I prefer a sketchbook in a dark bar to a laptop.

note

please allow for the fact they I don't always mean everything I say on this blog. Please consider that there may actually be some humor behind my statements...Please understand I don't actually think I am as good as dali. Please understand that my ego is not the size of a house and that I am having fun....If its not fun it aint worth doing.

monday

today is my last day to get my act together before I leave for miami on tues. I will be working on a mural today and then tonight I have to handle many loose ends.

hong kong

hello hong kong and welcome to my surreal estate.

mother ocean

I woke up at one AM last night and drove to the ocean at robert moses beach. I did my usual jump into the drink and drove home in the pouring rain. The water was like getting hit with a sledge hammer.

moonlight ride

I decided to that I want to jump into the ocean tonight. I usually jump in the drink every February as a ritual (but usually during day.) If you ever want to feel alive jump into the ocean on a dark and cold winters night--- but be sure you jump right back out as your shelf life really starts to diminish after the first ten seconds...over and out.

seattle fan

Hi Alex,

Its been ages since I've emailed you. But I have been checking your blog twice a week or so. I wonder if it means anything that you share a birthday with Keith Richards. I just adore Keith. I'm a huge stones fans too, but mostly I'm in awe of the fact that Keith is still alive.

Are you getting excited for your show in Miami?! I really wish I could go to Basel this year. I just bought a house today and am crazy busy (aren't we all?!). I will definetly email you later on in the week. Just wanted to say how beautiful your mural turned out. I had a piece of your work framed. I will take a picture and send it to you! One from the dancers series. I bought it right after you started the art for $10 site.

On to the next holiday


feedback means the world to me...

artist of the day---descartes

When I was fourteen I became a huge devotee of Renee Descartes. He is often called the father of modern Philosophy and he deserves that title in my opinion. He was the founder of analytic geometry (which is how I initially discovered him.) He is the creator of the time-honored quote-- Je pense, donc je suis----"I think, therefore I am" I knew I liked him when he set about to write a treatise on emotions and he promised to write it "as if no one had ever written on the subject before." .He is a big influence on me to this day as I promise to live my life as if no one had lived this life before. He was also a father of the scientific revolution just as gardega is the father of the social surrealism movement.

hillary

uber-ultra hyper realistic glass portrait of Hillary. I am inspired by the genius of Steuben and the ambition of picasso.


Collection of the Clinton's

gardega

the secret service gave my glass carving of Hillary Clinton to Bill Clinton today. They were a bit nervous with my camouflage pants and I was even told initially to keep my hands where they can see them but then when they saw my art piece it was escorted directly to bill. Alex is apolitical but it is good to have my art in the hands of former presidents and heads of state.

silent sitting

music by peter gabriel

geese by god.

train whistle by mankind.

last supper by gardega

hannity egg

there is still a full day to bid on and win my Hannity egg in my ebay store. Right now trend spotting guru is in the lead on the bidding but they are far from my minimum required bid...

NLP

The mind of Alex has spent hundreds of hours reading and studying Neuro- linguistic programming...

Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) is an interpersonal communication model and an alternative approach to psychotherapy^[1] based on the subjective study of language, communication and personal change.^[2]

remember folks! words mean nothing until you give them meaning. The map is not the territory as Descartes used to say! You give words their meaning. Color does not even exist, it is a vibration, a quantum possibility. A bee does not see color and lives in a very real and different world than you and I. Which world is the "real" world? Chew on this with your waffles! Your reaction to my blog is your own creation, your own painting that has very little to do with the landscape.

good snowy morning

I looked out my window this morning at a "freshly fallen silent shroud of snow." If it is going to be cold there might as well be some snow on the ground! I will probably brave the roads and paint on my mural today. My best friend told me last night that he hates that I call myself a genius on my blog and that I should be like and be humble. He asked me whether he was supposed to believe my malarkey and I told him it is not important whether he believes my malarkey just as it is not important whether or not I believe it. He did mention that he reads my blog often and finds it interesting. I promised to humble myself to down a bit and to make my blog a bit less interesting. He did mention that there was a small green vein of jealousy running through the leaf of his thoughts. I was tempted to shout "viva gardega." but wished not to disturb the sushi bar.

VIVA GARDEGA!

art with alex---yellow pages video

dec 1

happy Dec! this is my favorite month because it contains my birthday and Christmas! I share a birthday with keith richards....

mural

I am working on a second mural now. It is nice not painting on a ceiling. (It feels like a walk in the park comparatively.) Gearing up for my flight on Tuesday---- it is going to be so nice to get out of my studio and breathe a bit. I am really looking at my trip as a working vacation as I have a lot to get done but I will take a beach break to make some watercolors.

good evening

I worked on a second mural today and I shipped a piece of glass art to Miami. Painting on a wall is like a walk in the park compared to painting a ceiling mural. I will load up new stuff soon.

alex

Gaudi's Cube

The mind of gardega was never comfortable in the square cubicle of corporate life. I tried as a youth but my brain would sabotage me back to the street with my paintbrushes. I decided the problem was that my brain needs to be surrounded by the soft and smooth and not hard edged right- angle corners of the grid. I think if they made cubicles in organic- art nouveau inspired shapes I would sit in them without panic attacks. I respect people who can do it and there is art in everything including banking and real estate----But there is no art in Kmart.

premontion of civil war

I bought this picture/poster from the Philadelphia Museum when I went to see the Dali retrospective there. It was a life changing show and I just got my picture framed so I am most happy. I will try to give a discussion on video about this masterwork soon. The blues in it are amazing in person...

annie nomous

Dear annie,

please give me a link yo your blog so that I will be able to give you some true Dalinian feedback on your intellectual genius or inhehrent lack thereof! I am sure it is a ground breaking intellectual stew of the highest order that rises above the average commercial rif raf that litter the information super-highway. I am sure there is much risk taking and putting of ones self into your work and that it not some bland and souless commercial tripe. now back to the gardega show...

friday

I was able to pick up all my original yellow page cover paintings yesterday. There were some missing but I got back most of them. I will put up for sale this weekend. Today I start a new mural and somehow I have to find a way to finish one more glass piece before I leave for miami. I am really down to the wire. I will try to put up a bunch of work for sale before I head south.

art with alex--- horseshoe crab video

here is a link to me discussing my favorite creature..there is some audio drop off in the end----I will try to fix.


click here

In Japan, the horseshoe crab (Kabutogani) has long been legendary. In ages past brave warriors who honorably sacrificed their lives in battle were said to be reborn as horseshoe crabs, their shells samurai helmets, eternally crossing the bottom of the sea. On brush-painted rice paper screens, through calligraphic versions of haiku, their attributes were succinctly sung. Yet here, where the Delaware Bay and its 140 miles of uninterrupted beaches remain the horseshoe crab's central habitat and breeding grounds, Limulus polyphemus, the species that lives in Atlantic coastal waters, rarely appears in literature or art.

for your consideration

Velásquez

Goya

Picasso

Dali

Gardega!!

gardega

VIVA GARDEGA!

photo credit

eggs photographed by chris appoldt

greenish blue?

stumped.

video journal november 29th

here is a video update for today.

click here

schedule

I have to make 0ne more glass piece today and ship it tomorrow (last minute) to Miami...I have to paint another mural before I leave on Dec. fourth and that will require me to work Friday, Saturday and Sunday and Monday. Today I will etch a new glass woman and then I have to visit the yellow pages to talk about painting the Statue of liberty for the NYC cover. I have a few watercolors to upload to ebay tonight.

bowery ballroom

On dec 20th I will have a piece of surrealist animation displayed behind the band "the knockout drops" at the bowery ballroom. The animation was already featured in their off-broadway show that ran for an extended run at the Paradise theater in NYC. They are a great band and we recorded some voice work for the new animation last night. I will put a link to the animation up when it is done... Anyone who wants to go that night please email me!

more eggs of genius!

eggs of genius

A Fabergé egg just sold for 18.5 million. A Gardega "Hannity Egg" is for sale on ebay for considerably less! Eggs were symbolic of the resurrection in the Renaissance--- The Fabergé has a 24k golden yolk, the Gardega egg has the golden yolk of innovative genius. The gardega egg was featured in Page Six ,the Fabergé, NYET!


ebay link!

ebay store

art was shipped out this morning to all bidders who won artwork.

good morning america

I woke up at 5am today as I have to get a lot done. I have to go back to the mural job to talk about new work and later I have to layout a new glass piece for miami show. Thanks to the winning bidders on my ebay store--- I will ship those pieces today as well. I will post more of my mural studies later and some new video as well.

quote of the day

my friend Rebecca sent me this wisdom today. I sometimes worry that I have lost the plot but I like the plot I have found in its place...

Eccentricity is not, as dull people would have us
believe, a form of madness. It is often a kind of
innocent pride, and the man of genius and the
aristocrat are frequently regarded as eccentrics
because genius and aristocrat are entirely unafraid of
and uninfluenced by the opinions and vagaries of the
crowd.
- Edith Sitwell (1887 - 1964)

last supper photograph

my brother took this photo for me recently.

comments

I made it easy to leave comments on right side of page. I always appreciate feedback as it helps me to keep on keeping on. please leave your home state with comment.

big brother

ebay store auction

there is still one hour to bid on this watercolor in my ebay store ( link is below my photo to the right...)

art with alex

Here I give a small video discourse on one of my older works I painted in 1999. "the sad-eyed priest of the lowlands."


click here to view

ophelia video

Here is a video of my latest glass piece from my Ophelia Suite. This piece is going to be one of two Ophelia glass pieces in my miami show.


click here for video:

happy tuesday

I may be in brooklyn later today. This morning I will be in the UPS store shipping art to miami. I am very happy with the prospect of using video to show the process of art and I am getting better at understanding the techy process of the whole thing. Soon I may become a modern artiste and spend my time videotaping buttered toast for four hours as it is easier than actually painting or drawing.

mural

finally got a professional shot done of mural.

alex


photo by nanci nigro

live painting--family and the fishing net

Here is a video of me painting a test painting to check the video set up etc. The painting is not my best but it works.... I had a guest on the way over and I was painting with the intention of this merely being a practice run. It will take some getting used to have the camera eye watching me paint. (You think we would be used to big brother at this point...)

memories crash on tireless waves....

music by peter gabriel

watch here!

new photos

FINALLY, SOME GOOD PHOTOS!

click here

for ebay store click link below.


ebay store:

you tube video

I uploaded a video sweep of the mural I painted on the ceiling of a wine cellar. It is pretty low res and I will redo it soon but I am learning, at least you can see the scale etc...

click here

happy monday

I woke up this morning and I looked up and my ceiling was all white and I had a split second of panic thinking I wasn't finished with my mural yet, It was a strange fear. I bought a video camera and have been practicing filming the process of making art. I am learning to edit the videos as well so I will put some online soon after I am comfortable with the technology. I will be in brooklyn today making glass art for miami in a last minute effort to get more work down there in time for show. I have picked up more mural work that will not require ceiling work. I am really excited about the possibility of filming some technique and art process and should have some videos up by friday. I was painting watercolors yesterday to this peter gabriel song and filming the process. I am not happy with the results yet but I will get the hang of it all soon.


"The Family And The Fishing Net"

Suffocated by mirrors, stained by dreams
Her honey belly pulls the seams
Curves are still upon the hinge
Pale zeros tinge the tiger skin

Moist as grass, ripe and heavy as the night
The sponge is full, well out of sight
All around the conversations
Icing on the warm flesh cake

Light creeps through her secret tunnels
Sucked into the open spaces
Burning out in sudden flashes
Draining blood from well-fed faces

Desires form in subtle whispers
Flex the muscles in denial
Up and down its pristine cage
So the music, so the trial

Vows of sacrifice, headless chickens
Dance in circles, they the blessed
Man and wife, undressed by all
Their grafted trunks in heat possessed

Even as the soft skins tingle
They mingle with the homeless mother
Who loves the day but lives another
That once was hers

The worried father, long lost lover
Brushes ashes with his broom
Rehearses jokes to fly and hover
Bursting over the bride and groom

And the talk goes on

Memories crash on tireless waves
The lifeguards whom the winter saves

Silence falls the guillotine
All the doors are shut
Nervous hands grip tight the knife
In the darkness, till the cake is cut
Passed around, in little pieces
The body and the flesh
The family and the fishing-net
And another in the mesh

The body and the flesh

ebay store

just a reminder that my ebay store is open again I will add more work later today. There is a link to it below my photo.

happy sunday

I will try to get about 8 hrs with the sketchbook today. I will post work as I go.

alex

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."

secret paint ingredient

Today, I found out a great, secret paint ingredient that helps murals flow magically across ceilings...

Bengay

mural update

Brigette from Bucks County, Pa. sent me this screen grab today from the mural. ...I flipped it because technically the camera shows the mural "upside down". Above is my mural in progress and below is my reference art--- Leonardo's "Battle of Anghiari" I am adding color as per request of the homeowner and the original Leonardo (destroyed in the 16th century) was painted with color as well...This is my greatest technical challenge to date because of the difficulty involved with painting on a ceiling...I will be done on wed. and I am on schedule...I thin k tonight I will stay in and watercolor all night long.