Gardy Art

The Inspiring Work of Edgardo "Gardy" Rodriguez

Lorri and Rincon Artist, Edgardo "Gardy" Rodriguez

One of the things we love about Puerto Rico, and especially the Rincon area, is the proliferation of the arts here. There are likely more artisans and artists per capita tucked away in the hills and neighborhoods here than anywhere else we have ever been. 

Thursday night Rincon Art Walk. Rincon, Puerto Rico.

Many of them can be found Thursday nights at the Art Walk in the plaza in Rincon, or at the same location on Sunday mornings at the farmer's market. These weekly events are an incredible proving ground for artists and artisans and their work. 

Some artists have moved on from the Art Walk scene however, as their work sells as quickly as it is created, or they become backlogged with commission pieces. These are the artists you mostly only hear talked about by locals in the know, and are rarely fortunate enough to encounter as they are tucked away in workshops creating. Edgardo "Gardy" Rodriguez is such an artist.

Our Gardy Art piece.

Driving around Rincon, you will see beautiful mosaics adorning many of the residences. If you ask about them, the locals will say it is "Gardy Art." 

We weren't sure what that even meant until we discovered that "Gardy" was actually a local man named Edgardo Rodriguez, affectionately known as "Gardy."

Gardy spends most of his time working on commissioned mosaic pieces he designs and creates from customer concepts. To get a break form the larger works, he creates one-of-a-kind original pieces using a variety of media. Lately, he has turned to utilizing primarily PVC, as he can shape it, form it, sculpt it, and paint it to most closely match the vision is his mind's eye. 

His multi-dimensional pieces sell almost as quickly as he makes them nowadays. And he does not deliver. To score an original piece of Gardy Art that is not a commissioned mosaic, you need to friend him on facebook and follow his page closely. When he completes a piece, he will post a picture of it, and the race is on to be the first to show up at his home with cash and claim the prize. And people come from all over the island to get their hands on one too.

Luckily for us, we happen to live about a kilometer away, so when he posted the piece above, we were able to hurry down the road and pick it up before his growing fanbase in the San Juan area could plan the trip. 

We had the piece for about ten minutes before our sister, Tena, expressed a desire to have one for her and another for her daughter. While it took some doing, together we managed to convince Gardy to create two more as he does not always create multiple versions of the same style piece. 

Tena's Gardy Art pieces, made to order. The pictures really do not do them justice. No two are remotely alike. 

Photo courtesy of Gardy Art.

 

During our time collecting art, one of our favorite parts is meeting the artists and hearing their stories. Gardy is definitely among the coolest artists we have encountered. Meeting him is worth the trip to Rincon, and going home with one of his pieces is just sort of like icing on the cake. 

At his home outdoor studio you can smell the ocean in the near distance and almost hear the waves as he talks about the inspiration for a piece. He will tell you about the power of the place, where the Atlantic meets the Caribbean, and the forces of the water and the wind and the sun that combine to make this such a magical and inspiring place beneath the heavens. 

Through words and art, he seeks to harness a tiny bit of the magic of the natural beauty and power of the place, and more than most, his work does exactly that. 

I didn't ask him why he doesn't ship his art. Maybe it is cost prohibitive or just a pain, or perhaps it is because his work is valued and demanded enough that he simply doesn't need to. But I am glad that he doesn't, because being here and talking to him and listening to what goes into each piece there in his workspace, makes you understand and value the art all the more. 

Getting your Gardy Art is an experience to remember. 

Edgardo "Gardy" Rodriguez can be found on Facebook through his personal page here:

https://www.facebook.com/edgardogardy.rodriguez

Or his Gardydarttt facebook page here:

https://www.facebook.com/Gardydarttt/

The following photos are sourced from his facebook pages: