Speed of Life

“All art has a political stance whether it’s on the surface or boiling underneath.” -Gregg Chadwick, Santa Monica- … https://t.co/Px2mJZJ4Kl pic.twitter.com/nSCiBi0Qr2 — Clark Hulings Fund (@clarkhulingsorg) July 4, 2017

by Gregg Chadwick Ed Catmull's " Creativity, Inc. " is much like the films of Pixar itself: a balanced mix of sheer enthusiasm and careful planning. Catmull writes,"The thesis of this book is that there are many blocks to creativity, but there are active steps we can take to protect the creative process." Catmull writes about the history and vision of Pixar as well as the strategies and mechanisms that have kept the creativity flowing for an amazing run of great animated films - second only in my mind to the stunning work of the Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki and his Ghibli film studios. Cattmull's book is a must read for anyone involved in the arts. From painters, to writers, to actors, to musicians, to film-makers, to game designers - all will benefit immensely from Catmull's encouragement to embrace the unknown while learning to communicate creatively. Link here: Creativity, Inc 

WEEKEND OF DECEMBER 12-14, 2014 Gregg Chadwick The Painter ( il  miglior fabbro) 24"x30" oil on linen 2013 What role does creativity play in our lives? Is it an inner imperative that helps us forge the well-lived life? This workshop at Esalen, situated along California's rugged Big Sur coastline, engages with the notion that creativity is a “battle with the gods” in light of its Latin origins in the word  creare , the natural urge “to grow or make order of chaos." Our point of departure is that creativity is an archetypal journey with recognizable stages, which are especially helpful when we are stuck or lost in our work. For the last thirty years, Phil Cousineau has used his three-stage model — Inspiration, Perspiration, and Realization — as a guide to help writers, artists, and filmmakers to deepen and complete their work. The artist Gregg Chadwick uses his own artwork and anecdotes from his lifelong study of painters to provide an inside look at...

The Courage to Create WEEKEND OF DECEMBER 6-8, 2013 Gregg Chadwick The Painter ( il miglior fabbro ) 24"x30" oil on linen 2013 What role does creativity play in our lives? Is it an inner imperative that helps us forge the well-lived life? This workshop at Esalen, situated along California's rugged Big Sur coastline, engages with the notion that creativity is a “battle with the gods” in light of its Latin origins in the word  creare , the natural urge “to grow or make order of chaos." Our point of departure is that creativity is an archetypal journey with recognizable stages, which are especially helpful when we are stuck or lost in our work. For the last thirty years, Phil Cousineau has used his three-stage model — Inspiration, Perspiration, and Realization — as a guide to help writers, artists, and filmmakers to deepen and complete their work. The artist Gregg Chadwick uses his own artwork and anecdotes from his lifelong study of painters to prov...

Gregg Chadwick Beauty and Sadness ( 美しさと哀しみと) Often cocooned in our metal boxes as we speed through our days, modern life can seem barren and uncreative. How do we find joy in our lives? Where is that creative spark found? Join Gregg Chadwick and Phil Cousineau as we explore the nature of beauty in our art and being. Coming up at Esalen during the weekend of September 30 through October 2nd 2011, we will venture into the realms of artistic creation and personal discovery with exercises in visual art and discussions around the mythic importance of beauty. I hope you can join us at Esalen as we use the arts to get back to life. For info and reservations: Who Stole the Arms of the Venus de Milo? The Myth of Beauty from Aphrodite to Ansel Adams Feel free to email me directly with questions or ideas at speedoflife@mac.com .

Gregg Chadwick Jordaan Window 25cmx25cm oil on wood 2010 Coming up on December 3-5, 2010, I am honored to lead a workshop on creativity with writer Phil Cousineau entitled Stoking the Creative Fires: Nine Ways to Rekindle Passion and Imagination Phil Cousineau's book "Stoking the Creative Fires" is an impassioned volume on creativity that combines myth, story and personal pilgrimages in a primer on the creative life. My painting "Fire Dream" graces the cover. We will use this book as a stepping off point for the upcoming workshop on creativity. It will be a rich journey through myth and art at Esalen. Sign up here: Reserve this workshop We hope to see you there! The Esalen Institute is a non-profit organization founded in 1962 by Stanford alums Michael Murphy and Richard Price as an alternative educational center devoted to the exploration of what Aldous Huxley called the "human potential." This world of unrealized human capacities that lies beyond t...

Gregg Chadwick A Delphic Dream 36"x18" oil on linen 2009 "As I entered the still bowl, bathed now in marble light, I came to that spot in the dead center where the faintest whisper rises like a glad bird and vanishes over the shoulder of the low hill, as the light of a clear day recedes before the black of night...." - Henry Miller, The Colossus of Marousi "For the initiated, there is unabashed wonder and humbleness before the sacred. It's as if you've surprised the secret lurking at the heart of the world." - Phil Cousineau, The Art of Pilgrimage

Phil Cousineau Reading from Stoking the Creative Fires at Bird & Beckett Books , San Francisco Gregg Chadwick will be leading a weekend workshop at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California with author Phil Cousineau and poet/musician R.B. Morris on August 22-24, 2008 On the Bus: A Multimedia Performance Workshop—Mythmaking in the Movies, Music, Art, and Poetry "Together as a group, we will become modern mythmakers by creating and performing a new multimedia work over the course of the weekend. Our spark will be musician R. B. Morris's song, ‘On the Bus,' which will serve as a template for a one-act play. Writer Phil Cousineau will help to stoke the creative fire of the group by bringing the mythic dimension into the story; painter Gregg Chadwick will take the lead in helping us visualize the story and the set; and Morris will help us write and arrange the score. On Sunday morning we will stage and perform the piece together." RB Morris To reserve a space: On th...