Speed of Life

Gregg Chadwick The Wound-Dresser (Walt Whitman, Washington D.C., US Civil War, 1865) 30” X 24” oil on linen 2011 "The eyes transcend the medium." -R.B. Morris (Poet, Musician, Songwriter)    Walt Whitman's poetry is a continual source of inspiration for me. Whitman's life story is also deeply moving. In December 1862 Walt Whitman saw the name of his brother George, a Union soldier in the 51st New York Infantry, listed among the wounded from the battle of Fredericksburg. Whitman rushed from Brooklyn to the Washington D.C. area to search the hospitals and encampments for his brother. During this time Walt Whitman gave witness to the wounds of warfare by listening gently to the injured soldiers as they told their tales of battle.   Whitman often spent time with soldiers recovering from their injuries in the Patent Office Building (now home to the National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian American Art Museum), which had been converted into a hospital for...

We were not meant to survive. We were meant to live. - W.S. Merwin Gregg Chadwick A Balance of Shadows 72”x96” oil on linen A Balance of Shadows was begun in 2004 as a visual poem reflecting the tensions of our era. Today, May 24, 2012, I laid a thin transparent layer of lapis lazuli across a section of the sky. Sourced in Afghanistan, this precious stone, when ground into pigment, creates a radiant blue that has been considered auspicious in both east and west. The word depicted in Japanese script in the upper left section of the painting is satori .  The word satori is a Japanese Buddhist term for enlightenment or "understanding". In the Zen Buddhist tradition, satori refers to the experience of kensho . Kensho when used in Zen traditions refers to "seeing into one's true nature." Ken means "seeing," sho means "nature" or "essence." Satori and kensho are commonly translated as enlightenment, a word...

Dear Friends, I am honored to invite you to register for the next  One Hour/One Painting Art Meditation Session  which will be led by the  distinguished art writer Peter Clothier  at 6:30pm on May 24th, 2012 in my studio at the Santa Monica Airport.  Peter has recently hosted One Hour/ One Painting sessions at the Diebenkorn: The Ocean Park Series exhibit at the Orange County Museum of Art and at the LA Louver Gallery.  When describing Peter Clothier's sessions, I am often asked what to expect. In short, Peter will guide a small group of people through an exercise in 'concentrated looking' over the course of one hour's time. He will do this by taking us, as individuals in a group, on a visual and contemplative tour of my large, six by eight foot, painting  A Balance of Shadows . We will experience color, shape, space and image in a concentrated yet calm and meditative manner using our eyes and minds.  I see this as an 'exercise i...

by Gregg Chadwick "Nice people can be strong. And happy people can be smart." Lori Compas in the  Wisconsin State Journal  Lori Compas As the June 5, 2012 recall elections creep closer in Wisconsin, important political realities are becoming evident. Governor Walker, his Wisconsin loves me bluster nevertheless, will most likely be recalled.  And Scott Fitzgerald, one of Governor Walker's key supporters in the Wisconsin State Senate, is scared for his political future and could be on the road to political irrelevance. Shockingly,  in the June 5 recall election race for Wisconsin's 13th District,  Fitzgerald is afraid to debate his opponent Lori Compas. Not only is Fitzgerald scared of Compas, he revealed himself to be an out of touch and misogynist candidate by saying that he is sure that  Lori Compas is a puppet for her svengali husband as well as unions and protest groups. "I don't for one minute believe she is the organizing force behind t...

by Gregg Chadwick Must watch video from 1964 of a young David Bowie standing up for the rights of all. The recent news stories about Mitt Romney's extreme bullying and cruelty during his high school years comes to mind.: "A high school classmate of presidential candidate Mitt Romney told ABC News today that he considers a particular prank the two pulled at Michigan’s Cranbrook School to be “assault and battery” and that he witnessed Romney hold the scissors to cut the hair of a student who was being physically pinned to the ground by several others. 'It’s a haunting memory.  I think it was for everybody that spoke up about it …  because when you see somebody who is simply different taken down that way and is terrified and you see that look in their eye you never forget it.  And that was what we all walked away with,' said Phillip Maxwell, who is now an attorney and still considers Romney an old friend." Romney's actions show an almost pathologica...

The Existentialist (Portrait of Cassiel Chadwick) 30"x22" monotype on paper Happy 18th Birthday to my University of California Berkeley bound Cassiel Chadwick!

by Gregg Chadwick “Often these sectors of the labor force become invisible—we’re used to them attending our gardens, taking care of our kids, cleaning our homes and they almost become invisible.”       -Lizette Guerra, archivist and librarian at the  UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center   " Happy Hills is my body of work documenting the predominantly hispanic workforce, who work tirelessly behind the scenes to present the beautiful images of the ideal Hollywood Hills homes." - Ramiro Gomez Ramiro Gomez Outside the Beverly Hills Hotel During an Artistic Intervention from a video by Jorge Rivas The artwork of the young Los Angeles based artist Ramiro Gomez reveals the unseen hands and faces of the often underpaid and under appreciated laborers who keep the more affluent areas of the Los Angeles basin manicured and green. Using the simple materials of cardboard and paint, Gomez creates labor portraits of the hispanic workers that work behind the...

by Gregg Chadwick “Dear Mr. Sendak,  How much does it cost to get to where the wild things are? If it is not expensive, my sister and I would like to spend the summer there.”  -From a letter sent by an eight year old reader to Maurice Sendak Maurice Sendak   Where the Wild Things Are Pen and ink and watercolor on paper  1963 Maurice Sendak was an artist in love with the world and with things that go bump in the night. Sendak looked deeply at the world around him. His vision included the visible nature of  our existence and the invisible, but no less real, world of dreams. Sendak's beautifully crafted artworks for his books began with simple pencil sketches that were then enlarged and fleshed out with pen and ink which was then layered with glowing watercolor washes.  The finished paintings on paper reflect what Dave Eggers described in a Vanity Fair article on Sendak as the "unhinged and chiaroscuro subconscious of a child." Sendak's...

For my friends and family in Wisconsin and across the United States. Please support Lori Compas in her May 8, 2012 election for Wisconsin State Senate in Wisconsin's 13th Senate District!  Find out how Lori plans to restore honesty and integrity to Wisconsin's political system. Much more info here: Lori Compas  for Wisconsin! A message from Lori about the upcoming primary election on May: Lori Compas for State Senate Don't fall for Scott Fitzgerald's tricks: The person running against me in the primary is a FAKE DEMOCRAT. His name is Gary Ellerman and he's a Fitzgerald supporter. This photo of him with Scott Fitzgerald is all over the internet -- it was taken at the 2012 Jefferson County Republicans' Lincoln Day Dinner. As you can see he has the GOP elephants on his nametag. And yet his name will be on the primary ballot with a D after it -- this is a lie, plain and simple. Please tell your friends.

by Gregg Chadwick I am always on the lookout for passionate new artists. I remember when I first heard a demo tape from a band called the Himalayans which morphed into Counting Crows. I almost wore out that cassette as I drove around San Francisco just to hear those songs. I got a similar feeling when I first heard Ishmael Herring, singer-songwriter of William Pilgrim & the All Grows Up. This is a band to watch! Loving the song " Water When the Well Is Dry ". More at: William Pilgrim & the All Grows Up

Edvard Munch The Scream 23.5" x 32" pastel on board 1895  This pastel, one of four versions of Edvard Munch's The Scream, sold tonight at Sotheby's for a new world record for any work of art at auction - $119.9 million. In blood red paint on the front of the original frame that holds this pastel version of The Scream , Munch wrote the words to his poem that inspired the image: I was walking along the road with two friends. The Sun was setting —  The Sky turned a bloody red And I felt a whiff of Melancholy — I stood  Still, deathly tired — over the blue-black Fjord and City hung Blood and Tongues of Fire  My Friends walked on — I remained behind — shivering with Anxiety. I felt the great Scream in Nature. Carol Vogel in the New York Times writes: "Munch made four versions of The Scream , three of which are now in Norwegian museums; the one that sold on Wednesday, a pastel on board from 1895, was the only one still in private hands. It was sol...

The remarks of President Barack Obama on the war in Afghanistan, as prepared for delivery at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, on May 1, 2012 (U.S. time): Good evening from Bagram Air Base. This outpost is more than seven thousand miles from home, but for over a decade it has been close to our hearts. Because  here, in Afghanistan, more than half a million of our sons and daughters have sacrificed to protect our country. Today, I signed an historic agreement between the United States and Afghanistan that defines a new kind of relationship between our countries -  a future in which Afghans are responsible for the security of their nation , and we build  an equal partnership  between two sovereign states;  a future in which the war ends, and a new chapter begins. Tonight, I’d like to speak to you about this transition.  But first, let us remember why we came here. It was here, in Afghanistan, where Osama bin Laden established a safe-haven ...