Speed of Life

  Changes/ David Bowie 41" x 25.5" pastel on paper 2017 by Gregg Chadwick 75th Anniversary of his birth - David Bowie was born on this day in 1947. His decades of groundbreaking music and his shape shifting persona, inspired so many of us little aliens in suburbia to fight against conformity and become our true selves. My artwork looks back on Bowie when he released his haunting song "Where Are We Now?" , which is as much a painting in soft greys as it is a song. A quiet rhythm of drums and synth warp and weft with minor key piano chords and Bowie's plaintive, elegiac voice. Set in a Berlin of memory and dream, Bowie's voice and lyrics question the themes of human bondage, release, freedom, doubt, ageing, and death. Bowie lived in West Berlin between 1976 and 1979 in the Schöneberg district in a house with Iggy Pop while Brian Eno and Tony Visconti were helping record Bowie's Berlin trilogy of albums Low, Heroes, and Lodger in the now legendary Hansa St...

One year ago, our democracy was attacked and our Constitution faced the gravest of threats. But We the People prevailed. Now, it’s up to us to choose what kind of nation we’re going to be. pic.twitter.com/gqg3BT3vw1 — President Biden (@POTUS) January 6, 2022 "One year ago today in this sacred place, democracy was attacked -- simply attacked. The will of the people was under assault, the Constitution -- our Constitution -- faced the gravest of threats. Outnumbered in the face of a brutal attack, the Capitol police, the DC Metropolitan Police Department, the National Guard and other brave law enforcement officials saved the rule of law. Our democracy held. We the people endured. We the people prevailed."- President Biden   ‘I will allow no one to place a dagger at the throat of democracy,’ - @POTUS pic.twitter.com/Fu2fbYP2mR — Gregg Chadwick (@greggchadwick) January 6, 2022 You can’t love your country only when you win. You can't obey the law only when it's con...

  In Japan the first dreams of the New Year, hatsu-yume 初夢, traditionally provide markers for the dreamer's upcoming year. In that spirit, perhaps the first artwork sold in a new year provides inspiration for the months to come. My painting Monk Station is the first sale of 2022.   I was honored that Saatchi Art included an artwork of mine in their new Seeds of Optimism collection. "Manifest a happy and bright new year with a joyous artwork by one of our top artists from around the globe." Curated by Bethany Fincher - Assistant Curator at Saatchi Art  In my new interview with Art Squat Magazine , I discuss my Saffron Road series: "Twenty years ago in Thailand, I woke up at dawn and spent the morning quietly and carefully observing the saffron robed monks on their morning pilgrimages. On my return to the U.S. later that week, I began to paint Buddhist monks, privately at first - as a form of meditation. Only later did I grasp the dharmic sense of responsibility inhe...

Happy Birthday Hayao Miyazaki! https://t.co/UOHEpcCKo3 — Gregg Chadwick (@greggchadwick) January 5, 2022 Each year I am pleased to wish Happy Birthday to the amazing Hayao Miyazaki! My first birthday post to Miyazaki from 2011 (reposted below with updates) says it all: Taking Flight: Thoughts on the Art of Hayao Miyazaki on His 81st Birthday by Gregg Chadwick Celluloid Dreams at the Ghibli Museum, Mitaka, Japan I woke up from a dream this morning that seemed to have been pulled from a Hayao Miyazaki film. In my dream a tender sapling reached towards the light as it sprouted from my wrist. Above, russet clouds moved in a cerulean sky. I look to my dreams as openings rather than fortunes. Yet, since I recently returned from Tokyo, I should remember that in Japan the first dreams of the New Year, hatsu-yume 初夢, traditionally provide markers for the dreamer's upcoming year. Hayao Miyazaki Sketch for Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi) pencil and watercolor on paper 2001 (Ghib...

“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” – Bob Marley pic.twitter.com/9UjV8UJIXQ — Artists & Fans (@MySocialPoint) January 4, 2022

 by Gregg Chadwick Gregg Chadwick Wings of Desire 30"x24"oil on linen 2019 Theresa Brown Collection, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania As 2021 shifts to 2022, I think of years passing like film titles shifting on theater marquees. With that thought, on the day we lost Betty White at 99, I am posting my painting "Wings of Desire". In the spirit of writers Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Salman Rushdie, a bit of magical realism often finds its way into my paintings. In memory of Bruno Ganz and in homage to one of my favorite films by Wim Wenders, my oil on linen painting "Wings of Desire" depicts one of my favorite angels hovering by the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica. Deep thanks  @theresabrownrn2021  for loving the film and my painting so much that you had to purchase it! Happy New Year Folks! The painting is featured in  @art_squat  magazine's new interview with me in their 3rd Issue http://www.art-squat.com/articles3/Gregg_Chadwick/index.php #art   #WimWenders   #Au...

by Gregg Chadwick "At the heart of Wayne Thiebaud's greatness was his love of art's history and his ability to translate art's standards into his own language for our present.." - Tyler Green "My favorite Wayne Thiebaud painting is Cup of Coffee. Look at this coloring, what a miracle. What he called being able to 'see the edges of the edges'” -  Max Lakin I was fortunate to meet Wayne Thiebaud a few times when I lived in San Francisco. He was always engaging and always present. The first time I met Thiebaud he was walking out of  the Washington Square Bar and Grill in North Beach on a Fall afternoon in 1991. The Washbag, as the restaurant was affectionately known thanks to San Francisco columnist Herb Caen, was the ultimate place to schmooze with Bay Area politicians and power brokers in the 1980s and 1990s.  Thiebaud was by himself and didn't seem to be in a hurry after his lunch, so I ventured up to Wayne Thiebaud and thanked him for his artwork...

  Gregg Chadwick Carpe Librum (Maastricht) 48"x36"oil on linen 2021 It is so wonderful when a collector shares their reactions and photos of new artworks in their home. Today  @danialexlune  was surprised by her amazing husband Dave with my painting "Carpe Librum (Maastricht)" The painting is featured in  @art_squat  magazine's new interview with me in their 3rd Issue released today - December 25, 2021.  Link at  http://www.art-squat.com/articles3/Gregg_Chadwick/index.php In the interview I explain that "in the past few years, a magnificent bookstore in Maastricht, The Netherlands  ( @boekhandel_dominicanen ) has inspired a group of my oil paintings and works on paper. I exhibited my latest painting in this series, "Carpe Librum (Maastricht)", at The Other Art Fair at Barker Hangar in September 2021. I find that writers in particular are intrigued by this homage to the world of books and learning." #art   #HappyHolidays   #merrychristmas...

Dall'Auditorium della Conciliazione di Roma il Concerto di Natale a scopo benefico giunto alla 21.ma edizione. Quest'anno dedicato al progetto "Una goccia per la vita - Fondazione Don Bosco nel Mondo". Gregg Chadwick Litanies à la Vierge Noire (Litany to the Black Virgin) 40"x30"oil on linen 2019 Private Collection, Central City, Colorado My oil on linen painting "Litanies à la Vierge Noire (Litany to the Black Virgin)" was commissioned by the Central City Opera as an image for their production of Francis Poulenc's choral work Litanies à la Vierge Noire. Poulenc describes the inspiration behind his sacred piece: "A few days earlier I'd just heard of the tragic death of my colleague ... As I meditated on the fragility of our human frame, I was drawn once more to the life of the spirit. Rocamadour had the effect of restoring me to the faith of my childhood. This sanctuary, undoubtedly the oldest in France ... had everything to captiva...

DC Third grade teacher 'Ms Fitz' has Steph Curry range!  Award-winning WBB player Kathleen Fitzpatrick aka Ms Fitz made basket from across the court later awarding her third graders hot chocolate.   A moment those kids will never forget 🥰 Third grade teacher Ms. Fitz promised her class hot chocolate if she made this shot ☕️ Way to go, Ms. Fitz! 🎥: htsgeorgetown/IG pic.twitter.com/wqnc22vNEZ — CBC Sports (@cbcsports) December 23, 2021   DC Third grade teacher 'Ms Fitz' has Steph Curry range! Award-winning WBB player Kathleen Fitzpatrick aka Ms Fitz made basket from across the court later awarding her third graders to hot chocolate. https://t.co/JY2ZKiD9fn — Gregg Chadwick (@greggchadwick) December 23, 2021  

Thanks to DeJoy, your presents from Santa Are stuck in a warehouse in downtown Atlanta So call your senators and demand that they act The post office must be saved and DeJoy must be sacked Watch More: Your Guide to Dealing with Uncle Bob ►► https://youtu.be/ByhKM8NBK2E

Hope all of you are having a wonderful holiday season!

I am posting this song for Peter Clothier in response to his recent post on his blog Dear Harry. Link at  https://revharryc.blogspot.com/. 

by Gregg Chadwick  For the Metro project "We Are…Portraits of Metro Riders by Local Artists", I painted a portrait of artist, writer, and curator Frida Cano.  Like a steel river, Metro’s E Line connects arts institutions across Los Angeles County. Running from 7th Street in Downtown L.A. to Santa Monica, the E train begins just down Bunker Hill from LA MOCA and the Broad Museum and passes by numerous art cultural centers from the California African-American Museum, to the art gallery districts in West Adams and Culver City, to the Sawtelle Corridor, to Bergamot Station, to the 18th Street Arts Center, ending a few miles from the Ocean Park neighborhood in Santa Monica that inspired artists from Richard Diebenkorn to John Baldessari.  Frida Cano lives in Echo Park and often travels on the E Line to her art curatorial position in Santa Monica. Frida lives and breathes the concerns of our times. She writes,” As an emerging Mexican artist and curator, focused on the reevaluat...