Exploring the Garden of Earthly Delights will introduce the practice of drawing and painting in Santa Monica’s hidden green spaces.
Soon to be a Great Park, the asphalt and concrete of the Santa Monica Airport will in the not-too-distant future give way to green fields, flowers, and foliage. Even now, magical places exist at the airport where nature expresses itself alongside hangars and workspaces. During the workshop, we will venture into the garden area behind the City of Santa Monica Airport Arts Center Studios and engage with the natural forms that fill the space. In this urban oasis of lush green foliage and blooming flowers, workshop participants can draw or paint living botanicals on the spot, or draw or paint portraits of two costumed models. We will step out of our homes and workspaces, and bathed in Southern California light, will be inspired by the works of Hieronymus Bosch, Frida Kahlo, and John Singer Sargent. We will respond to this intimate garden by making direct paintings or drawings on the spot. Two clothed models will pose and move about the space to provide inspiration and inspiring subject matter. A classical guitarist will play on site, to amplify the sense of an enchanted garden.
No experience is necessary and workshop participants are not limited to a particular medium or artistic style.
FREE. Space is limited. Please RSVP to reserve your spot!
Participants are encouraged to bring their preferred materials to create with. All painting and drawing media are accepted and table space will be available. Feel free to bring your own easel if needed. Introductory level art supplies will be available: water-based paints, brushes, and paper.
Dealing with unpredictable weather is one of the challenges of creating art outside. Please be prepared for sun, fog, or rain. Suitable for all levels of art experience.
About the Artist:
Gregg Chadwick is a contemporary American artist known for his evocative oil paintings and works on paper that explore themes of memory, movement, and the interplay between the past and present. His studio is situated in an old airplane hangar at the Santa Monica Airport, where the sounds of aircraft take-offs and landings serve as a constant reminder of his own history of travel and the transient nature of life.
Chadwick holds a Bachelor’s degree from UCLA and a Master’s degree from NYU, both in Fine Art. He has exhibited his work in over 100 group exhibitions and has had solo shows at notable venues such as the Manifesta Maastricht Gallery in the Netherlands, Space AD 2000 in Tokyo, and the Lisa Coscino Gallery in Pacific Grove, California. His art is included in several prominent collections, including those of Adobe Corporation, the National Museum of the Marine Corps, and the UCLA School of Nursing. Chadwick is frequently invited to teach on the arts; twice a year he delivers a key lecture on art and social justice at UCLA in an interdisciplinary form with the UCLA School of Nursing, and has spoken at Monterey Peninsula College, the Esalen Institute, and at the World Views forum in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. In Winter 2020, Chadwick was a working artist in residence at the Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles leading students at Culver City High School in an exploration of Dael Orlandersmith’s “Until the Flood.”
Chadwick is the proud father of his transgender daughter Cassiel Chadwick.
Artist Website: http://www.greggchadwick.com/
Instagram: @greggchadwick
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/greggchadwick.bsky.social
Image: Gregg Chadwick, Through Tibetan Eyes, 72” x 96” oil on linen 2024
