Speed of Life

Gregg Chadwick The Painter of the World (   Seol-min)   12"x9"oil on panel 2021 At the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco a few years ago, I watched the Korean Buddhist Nun artist Seol-min paint a gorgeous artwork of the Water Moon Avalokiteshvara, also known as Guanyin. Her canvas was laid flat on the floor and she painted on top of it as if she was bodysurfing a gentle wave with brushes in hand. The large hall where Seol-min painted was quiet. The gentle sound of her brushes created a kind of music that echoed off the marble walls. My oil on panel painting "The Painter of the World" is my latest artwork inspired by this experience with the artist Seol-min. The Asian Art Museum has created a video of Seol-min at the museum. I am in the background, off camera, watching the events. Video Below. Link at: https://education.asianart.org/resources/korean-buddhist-art/ Featured at Saatchi Art's The Other Art Fair Los Angeles at Barker Hangar from September 23-26, 2021....

Gregg Chadwick The Monk's Road 36"x36" oil on panel 2018 I’m very pleased to let you know that my painting  The Monk's Road  has been chosen to be featured in the New This Week Collection on Saatchi Art's homepage.   The Monk's Road  is part of an ongoing series of artworks about seeking peace and justice in a world in need of harmony. In the mountains of Northern Thailand, rising above the city of Chiang Mai, peaks are often caught in an early morning sea of fog. Written as ทะเลหมอก in Thai, this mist often covers the summit of Doi Inthanon, Thailand’s highest peak. On the mountain slope- two Buddhist stupas, often referred to as chedis in Thailand, sit to honor the monarchs of Thailand. Known as Phra Mahathat Naphamethanidon and -Nophamethanidon, the chedis were named to reflect the power of the sky and the grace of the land.  My painting "The Monk's Road" is set in this mist shrouded landscape. Three Buddhist monks in...

Gregg Chadwick  Buddha of Roseburg 8"x6" oil on panel 2015 Tonight! Art & Home: An Evening with LA Family Housing to benefit LA Family Housing. October 21, 2015 7-9pm Room & Board, Helm's Bakery Building, 8707 Washington Boulevard, Culver City CA 90232 More at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1023426074375780/ https://www.facebook.com/lafhonline

Spring Buddha   GreggChadwick   40"x28" oil on linen 2012

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...

Lift up your faces, you have a piercing need For this bright morning dawning for you. History, despite its wrenching pain, Cannot be unlived, and if faced with courage, Need not be lived again. Lift up your eyes upon The day breaking for you. Give birth again To the dream. -Maya Angelou Twenty years ago on December 1, 1989 the first Day Without Art was held to spark dialogue and create a day of action concerning the AIDS crisis. At least 800 museums and galleries across the United States closed their doors, shrouded artworks or removed them from view as symbols of mourning and loss. The goal was to show that AIDS can touch everyone. And it worked. Today on December 1, 2009 museums are again engaged in remembrance for those lost to AIDS and are actively marking the gains that have been made so far. In 1997 the day became known as A Day With(out) Art to reflect the force art can bring to the cause. Today, A Day With(out) Art has grown into a international collaborative project in wh...

As the Beijing Olympics nears its finale, I can't help but think about the conflict between the Olympic ideal and the Chinese state sponsored attempts to make China appear good and powerful at all costs. It seems that at least one of the star Chinese gymnasts has not yet reached the needed Olympic competition age of sixteen and has submitted a state-forged passport with an inaccurate date of birth to the International Olympic Committee. And most of all, the question of Tibet hangs over Beijing like the smog that chokes the athletes lungs. It appears that the Chinese government has blocked the Apple i-tunes site for the past week to keep the Chinese people from hearing and purchasing the benefit album Songs for Tibet. It seems that many of the athletes from around the world had downloaded the album in the Olympic village and were listening to what has become a top rated i-tunes download around the world. The album is a benefit for the Art of Peace Foundation. Gregg Chadwick Throug...

  Gregg Chadwick Either/Or 36"x29" oil on linen 2004 Private Collection, San Francisco I find I need to look deeply into this painting to provide an antidote to the images flooding my way as I walk down the avenue. rack after newsrack, each with a front page heralding destruction. Years ago I was in Perth, Australia reading an art review concerning an exhibition about peace. Most of the images in in the show were anti-war but few if any were really about the idea of peace. The title of the review was "how do you paint peace". I have been trying to do that ever since. I think this painting is close. I ask you: how would you paint peace? How would you create the idea of peace in your music? In your writing? In your life? Please send thoughts. ideas and images my way- greggchadwick@icloud.com I will post your dreams...