Monday, November 15, 2021
Thursday, November 11, 2021
On Veterans Day
by Gregg Chadwick
(First Published November 11, 2010)
Winslow Homer
The Veteran in a New Field
24 1/8" x 38 1/8" oil on canvas 1865
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Veterans Day is more than just a day off. Instead it is a time to reflect on duty, honor, service, and life. Winslow Homer's The Veteran in a New Field portrays a Union veteran of the American Civil War back at work on the farm. But the painting is not instantly celebratory. There are no angels and there is no parade. Instead a psychic weight seems to be guiding the veteran's scythe as it cuts the stand of grain, much like the volleys of shot and shell mowed down troops, on both sides of that brutal war.
There is hope though in the warm, life giving color of the wheat, a Northern crop, and the cerulean sky. All wars must eventually come to an end. Uniforms are cast off. Homer paints the ex-soldier's jacket and canteen tossed onto the newly cut field. Life does go on.
The soldier will inevitably struggle to find his place in the mundane world of civilian work. And the civilian world struggles to understand these warriors bereft of armor and weapons plopped back into society. Wounds need time and care to heal.
Art can help bridge this gap.
Stories need to be told.
Art can help bridge this gap.
Stories need to be told.
Friday, November 05, 2021
Rising Seas and Oil Spills (Thoughts Behind Ocean, Otters, Oil)
by Gregg Chadwick
"Every child put down your toys
And come inside to sleep
We have to look you in the eye and say we sold you cheap
Let’s confess we did not act
With serious urgency
So open up the floodgates
To the rising seas"
- Rising Seas
Written by Jim Moginie (Midnight Oil)
On walks along California's Central Coast, I often stop and peer into the swirling mix of seaweed and surf looking for the telltale bob of a sea otter as it breaks to the surface. The tap, tap, tap of otters cracking shells across rocks carried on their chests as they float on their backs in the kelp filled water also gives away their location. Sea otters are voracious eaters, clearing coastal seabeds of purple sea urchins that would otherwise decimate the growing kelp forests.
By keeping the purple urchin population down, sea otters remove kelp's major nemesis. Sea urchins feed on the holdfasts that keep kelp anchored to the bottom of the ocean. Sea otters feed on the purple sea urchins that devour kelp forests. When the sea otter population collapsed after centuries of being hunted for their furs, the entire ecosystem of the Monterey Bay shifted.
The bay's giant kelp forests disappeared and along with it most of the sea life that they supported and protected. Matt Simon in Wired's November 4, 2021 article on sea otters explains that, "Keeping the urchin population in check preserves the kelp, which is vital for the ecosystem in two main ways. First, the forest is a habitat for fish, which are the food source for birds and other marine mammals, like sea lions. Second, the seaweed is part of what scientists call a blue carbon ecosystem, meaning a coastal or marine area that sequesters carbon."
To get even closer to sea otters, I love to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium and their sea otter information and exhibition space. The Monterey Bay Aquarium describes sea otters as aquatic environmentalists: "By munching on urchins, they help kelp forests flourish, and by crunching on crabs, they promote eelgrass in estuaries. But this marine mammal is endangered — and needs our help." The sea otter population along the Central California Coast has rebounded after being feared extinct early in the 20th Century. But a family of resilient sea otters were found near Bixby Bridge in 1938. Due to strong conservation efforts, California's sea otter population has slowly grown to the current number of around 3,000. A combination of legal protection — in 1977 sea otters became protected under the Endangered Species Act — and the efforts of nongovernmental organizations have prompted the sea otter resurgence. But the sea otter's future is still at great risk. Oil spreading south from a single tanker spill near San Francisco or off the pristine Central Coast would threaten the entire California sea otter population. With the recent oil spill in Southern California off Huntington Beach in October 2021, I was reminded how vulnerable our coastal ecosystem is to oil spills and climate change. Coast Guard officials determined that the spill came from a leak in a pipeline owned by Houston-based Amplify Energy that shuttles crude from offshore platforms to the shore. In response to this latest environmental emergency, I created my painting Ocean, Otters, Oil.
Gregg Chadwick
Ocean, Otters, Oil (detail)
(Oil Platforms Ellen and Elly Offshore near Long Beach, California)
40"x40"oil on linen 2021
As I painted Ocean, Otters, Oil and other artworks in my Fragile Earth series, I have been listening to the environmentally and socially conscious Australian band Midnight Oil. In 1990 Midnight Oil created a guerilla performance in front of Exxon headquarters in New York City with a banner reading, "Midnight Oil Makes You Dance, Exxon Oil Makes Us Sick," as they played in protest of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. This week Midnight Oil has released a new song about our global climate crisis that illuminates the peril in which we find our fragile earth. This new Midnight Oil song Rising Seas has found its way to the top of my studio playlist and inspires me to keep speaking out, to keep creating, to keep caring about the future of our planet.
Midnight Oil – Rising Seas (Official Video)
‘Rising Seas’ Available Now: https://MidnightOil.lnk.to/RisingSeas
Join Mailing list - https://eepurl.com/cBpcov
Website - https://www.midnightoil.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/midnightoilo...
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/midnightoil...
Twitter - https://twitter.com/midnightoilband
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/artist/72Kyo...
Apple - https://music.apple.com/au/artist/mid...
Production Company: Hype Republic
Director: Cameron March
Executive Producer: Macario De Souza
Producers: Michaela Le / Macario De Souza
DOP: Sean Ryan
1st AD: Murray Robertson
1st AC: Nicholas Jackson
2nd AC: Rebecca Wilson
Gaffer: Steve Schofield
Grip: Damian Heckendorf
Production Assistant/Assistant Editor: Jarred Lammiman
Production Assistant: James Elliott
Best Boy: Alan Fraser
Wardrobe: Simone Turnbull
HMU: Lisa Fulginiti
Featuring footage courtesy of Greenpeace https://www.greenpeace.org.au/
Full Lyrics
Rising Seas
(Written by Jim Moginie)
Every child put down your toys
And come inside to sleep
We have to look you in the eye and say we sold you cheap
Let’s confess we did not act
With serious urgency
So open up the floodgates
To the rising seas
Temperature rising
Climate denying
Fever is gripping
Nobody’s listening
Lustre is fading
Because nobody’s trading
Wall Street is jumping
Still the music keeps pumping
If you can’t decide
Between wrong and right
If you can’t see through
All that you hold true
Queen of the firmament
Lord of all beneath
Masters of the universe
We’re all refugees
And in many countries they adore celebrities
Open up the floodgates
To the rising seas
Dinosaur stories
Reliving past glories
Lusting for gold
F-f-fishing for souls
They said it was coming
We knew it was a-coming
If you lift your game
Put your toys away
Well it looks like rain
On that western plain
Queen of the firmament
Lord of all beneath
Masters of the universe
We’re all refugees
And in many countries they adore celebrities
Open up the floodgates
To the rising seas
#midnightoil #midnightoilband #risingseas
Gregg Chadwick's Ocean, Otters, Oil is on exhibit at Laguna Art in Mission Viejo, California through November 2021 in the group exhibition SOS Save Our Seas. There will be an opening on Saturday, November 6, 2021 from 3-6pm.
SOS Save Our Seas
Laguna Art
November 6, 2021
3–6pm Opening Reception
3–6pm Opening Reception
Featuring special musical guest
Bobby Grey and Friends
Bobby Grey and Friends
555 THE SHOPS AT MISSION VIEJO, MV, CA 92691 suite 928A
TF. 1-888-9-FINEART | Gallery 949-257-9008
info@lagunaart.com
Gallery Hours:
MON - SAT 11AM - 7PM
SUN 12PM - 6PM
Sea otters: Back by pawpular demand! Once hunted to almost extinction, these ecosystem engineers are slowly making a comeback in California and transforming the coast along the way. pic.twitter.com/zOwCfMs5cp
— Monterey Bay Aquarium (@MontereyAq) September 23, 2022
Thursday, November 04, 2021
Ocean, Otters, Oil
Gregg Chadwick
40"x40"oil on linen 2021
My oil on linen painting "Ocean, Otters, Oil" was painted as a celebration of nature and as a warning of the dangers of oil spills and environmental destruction. The artwork will be displayed through the month of November 2021 in my latest group exhibition
"SOS - Save Our Seas"at @lagunaartgallery in Mission Viejo, California.
Please join me at the opening on November 6, 2021 from 3-6 pm.
555 THE SHOPS AT MISSION VIEJO, MV, CA 92691 suite 928A
TF. 1-888-9-FINEART | Gallery 949-257-9008
info@lagunaart.com
Gallery Hours:
MON - SAT 11AM - 7PM
SUN 12PM - 6PM
This artwork is part of a new series of paintings that considers the threats to our planet from Climate Change, greed, hate, and war. There is a mysterious beauty to life itself that I am constantly inspired by.
I first became aware of the fragile nature of our planet as an elementary school student at Linda Vista Elementary School in Mission Viejo, California. For Christmas one year, I asked my parents for the book “Wildlife in Danger” published by the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature). They are still an important organization providing information, plans, and hope for our endangered earth. Worried about the environment as a kid, I drew pictures of animals constantly. Now I am bringing out a series of paintings that shed light on climate change, the beauty of the natural world, and our place with other species.
Also I was pleased to read today's new article in @wired - The Cutest Way to Fight Climate Change? Send in the Otters
Saving California's adorable (and very hungry) sea otters helps control other species, leading to the growth of more carbon-sequestering vegetation.
#art #SeaOtters #MarineLife #MissionViejo #Irvine #OrangeCounty #OCCulture #climatechange #environment #SaveOurSeas
People of the First Light: The Wampanoags Tell Their Story on the 400th Anniversary of the First Pilgrim Thanksgiving in 1621
Wampum Exhibition at Sea City Museum, Southhampton, UK
In today's New York Times, Dana Hedgpeth explains that "for the Wampanoags and many other American Indians, the fourth Thursday in November is considered a day of mourning, not a day of celebration." The Wampanoags helped the Pilgrims survive only to enable "a slow, unfolding genocide of their people and the taking of their land."
As we reach the 400th anniversary of the first Pilgrim Thanksgiving in 1621, the Wampanoags tell their story at the Mashpee Wampanoag Museum. On their website the Museum explains that it is located at "the geographic core of the Mashpee Wampanoag people. Eighty-five percent of Wampanoag people live within 20 miles of the Museum." The history and culture of the Wampanoag from the Stone Age to the present are presented in a range of exhibits. Established under the guidance of the Mashpee Historical Commission, the Museum is the only one devoted exclusively to Wampanoag history.
Dana Hedgpeth writes that "the Wampanoags, whose name means People of the First Light in their native language, trace their ancestors back at least 10,000 years to southeastern Massachusetts, a land they called Patuxet.
In the 1600s, they lived in 69 villages, each with a chief, or sachem, and a medicine man. They had “messenger runners,” members of the tribe with good memories and the endurance to run to neighboring villages to deliver messages.
They occupied a land of plenty, hunting deer, elk and bear in the forests, fishing for herring and trout, and harvesting quahogs in the rivers and bays. They planted corn and used fish remains as fertilizer. In the winter, they moved inland from the harsh weather, and in the spring they moved to the coastlines."
Paula Peters, who runs the SmokeSygnals creative agency said to Dana Hedgpeth that "when she was 8 years old a schoolteacher explained the Thanksgiving tale. After the story, another child asked, 'What happened to the Indians?'
The teacher answered, ‘Sadly, they’re all dead.’
'No, they’re not,” Paula Peters said she replied. 'I’m still here.'"
Paula Peters and other Wampanoags are keeping their culture and traditions alive through education and advocacy.
(Courtesy of SmokeSygnals/Plymouth 400)
(Courtesy of SmokeSygnals/Plymouth 400)
(Courtesy of SmokeSygnals/Plymouth 400)
Good News! Wampanoag, who helped Pilgrims survive, win rights to tribal lands https://t.co/Muf70Jfzm2
— Gregg Chadwick (@greggchadwick) December 31, 2021
On Robert Mapplethorpe's Birthday
From Maria Popova at Brainpicker: Patti Smith Reads Letter to Robert Mapplethorpe About How He Taught Her What It Means to Be an Artist
“You drew me from the darkest period of my young life, sharing with me the sacred mystery of what it is to be an artist.”
Patti Smith by Robert Mapplethorpe (Courtesy of Tate Museum)
Wednesday, November 03, 2021
Miss Alma Thomas - A Life In Color
Miss Alma Thomas: A Life in Color from Reel Plan/Jon Gann on Vimeo.
For beloved D.C. artist Alma Thomas, beauty wasn’t just about art. It was essential to life, too. Full article by Philip Kennicott here.
Alma Thomas’s “Red Azaleas Singing and Dancing Rock and Roll Music,” 1976.
(Smithsonian American Art Museum)
Tuesday, November 02, 2021
Monday, November 01, 2021
The Book of Boba Fett | Official Trailer | Disney+
Looking forward to this. Love Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen!
Friday, October 29, 2021
Wednesday, October 27, 2021
The War On Drugs - I Don't Live Here Anymore
The War On Drugs' fifth studio album, I Don’t Live Here Anymore, is an uncommon rock album about one of our most common but daunting processes—resilience in the face of despair.
Set for release on October 29, 2021. I'll be painting on Friday with I Don’t Live Here Anymore filling my headphones as I put brush to canvas. Can't wait...
Tuesday, October 26, 2021
Bruce Springsteen "The River" on Colbert
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and author of the new book, "Renegades: Born in the USA,"
Bruce Springsteen, wraps his full-episode Late Show takeover with this
haunting solo performance of "The River."
TONIGHT! The Boss @springsteen is here and he brought a very special instrument for show & tell. #SpringsteenOnLSSC pic.twitter.com/zWPJmFCSPC
— The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) October 26, 2021
"Renegades: Born in the USA," available now!
In their new book, Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen envision a more unified America.
Monday, October 25, 2021
Happy Birthday Picasso!
So -- at which great Older Master was Picasso (born OTD 1881) looking when he painted Guernica in 1937? Of course you know this! pic.twitter.com/PiRttosVFr
— Dr. Peter Paul Rubens (@PP_Rubens) October 25, 2021
Pablo Picasso Reads About Pablo Picasso.
Born on this day, in 1881
Sunday, October 24, 2021
Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen talk "Renegades"
Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen sit down with correspondent Anthony Mason to discuss the influence of their fathers on their life's work, and the shared narratives that drive the surprisingly similar fields of popular music and politics.
Friday, October 15, 2021
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - "Driver 8" - Live from Athens, GA
Gregg Chadwick
Coast Daylight
40"x40"oil on linen 2019
Pre-order 'Georgia Blue,' the new covers album from Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit: https://ffm.to/georgiablue
All proceeds will benefit Black Voters Matter, Georgia Stand-Up, and Fair Fight.
Produced and Directed by Chispa House: https://chispahouse.com/
Director: Andrew Levy
Editor: Jason Gaona
Camera Op: Jackson Smith
Camera Op: Kiki Griffin
Camera Op: Alex Smith
EP: Sam Birdsong
EP: Carter Fontaine
EP: Andrew Levy
Production: Chispa House
Thursday, October 14, 2021
Adele - Easy On Me (Official Video)
Official Video for "Easy On Me" by Adele.
Shop the "Adele" collection here: http://shop.adele.com
Listen to "Easy On Me" here: http://Adele.lnk.to/EOM
Amazon Music: http://Adele.lnk.to/EOM/AmazonMusic
Apple Music: http://Adele.lnk.to/EOM/AppleMusic
Deezer: http://Adele.lnk.to/EOM/Deezer
iTunes: http://Adele.lnk.to/EOM/iTunes
Pandora: http://Adele.lnk.to/EOM/Pandora
Spotify: http://Adele.lnk.to/EOM/Spotify
YouTube Music: http://Adele.lnk.to/EOM/YouTubeMusic
Follow Adele:
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Adele
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Adele
Instagram - http://instagram.com/Adele
https://www.adele.com
Lyrics:
There ain’t no gold
In this river
That I’ve been washing my hands in forever
I know there is hope
In these waters
But I can’t bring myself to swim
When I am drowning
In this silence baby let me in
Go easy on me baby
I was still a child
Didn’t get the chance to
Feel the world around me
I had no time to choose
What I chose to do
So go easy on me
There ain’t no room
For things to change
When we are both so deeply
Stuck in our ways
You can’t deny how hard I have tried
I changed who I was
To put you both first
But now I give up
I had good intentions
And the highest hopes
But I know right now
It probably doesn’t even show
Credits:
Directed by: Xavier Dolan @xavierdolan
Video commissioner - Phil Lee @phillee at Untold Studios @untold_studios
Executive Producer - Nkem Egbuchiri at Untold Studios @Nkem__nkem
Executive Producer - Bryan Younce at Columbia Records
Production Company: Sons of Manual/Scheme Engine @schemeengine
Executive Producer: Jannie McInnes @janniemcinnes
Producers: Nancy Grant, Xavier Dolan @nancygrantbonjour; @xavierdolan
Cinematographer: André Turpin @andreturpin
Camera Operator: Jean-Sébastien Caron @jeans_caron
Production design: Élise de Blois @elisedeblois23
Supervising art director: Carolyne De Bellefeuille @carolynedebellefeuille
Stylist: Jamie Mizrahi @sweetbabyjamie
Hair: Sami Knight @samiknighthair
Make-up: Anthony Nguyen @anthonyhnguyenmakeup
Nails: Kimberly Kyees @kimmiekyees
Editor: Xavier Dolan @xavierdolan
Post: MELS Studio @melsstudios /Flawless Post @flawlesspostproduction
#Adele #EasyOnMe
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