Art Gallery: Alexandre Nodopaka

The Crow by Alexandre Nodopaka

Before my friend Alex died last year, he entrusted me with the legacy of his artwork. He did not say those words exactly. He lived those words in my presence. 

Alex collaborated with me on his biography, a gallery in literary form, He gave me permission to continue to use his artwork in my publications, knowing that I am a kind and gentle soul, a teacher, a fellow artist and art lover, a nature lover, an explorer forever wandering and wondering. 

Alex and I were peas in a pod, birds of a feather...he was a mentor and a treasured friend whose gravitational influence in my tiny piece of Earth forever altered the trajectory of my soul. Simply put, I learned to appreciate Art through Alex's passion for it and his mind-blowing prolific creativity. 

He was many things. A Renaissance man, for sure. A mechanical engineer, photography virtuoso, digital magician, sculptor and poetic wordsmith. 

In the years before he died, he would forward me the links to his latest publication. Alex was a retired gentleman, husband, pet fish keeper and gardener, who created artwork daily. DAILY. He played with his food. He took a picture of it. He transformed the picture into a masterpiece. He submitted the artwork to magazines. He got published. Over and over and over and over again. The list of his publications is here: https://alexandrenodopaka.blogspot.com/p/many-publications-have-featured.html

The above artwork by Alex was featured on the cover of Sunspot Literary Journal Volume 5 Issue #1, Sun Dog Creations, in April 2023. A free PDF of the issue can be downloaded by navigating to THE JOURNAL > Editions: 2023, scroll down to April, below the artwork is a DOWNLOAD button. 

Watching Alex grow old taught me how to survive, how to tolerate the effects of aging, how to enjoy life no matter what. 

It was only at the bitter end... when age robbed him of the ability to make art... 

...to be artistic...

to express innermost thoughts creatively, in ways that communicate

...

the otherworldly, 

the inexplicable experiences

... 

of fully alive minds
of very old
and most wise
Humans

.

That is when Alex died inside. It took his body about nine months to accept the fact that Elvis had left the building. Alex was done. 

Today, coming across the need to utilize his artwork to teach concepts in a children's picture book about artificial intelligence and internet safety, I got the itch to blog about Alex, share his artwork, and remind the world that there is a biography about him, and that encountering this artist's mind through his body of artwork is life-changing. 

❤