The Saffron Road

Between the Mountains and the Clouds Triptych (Center Panel)
40"x120"oil on linen 2016
Part of an ongoing series of artworks about seeking peace and justice in a world in need of harmony. The mountain peaks of Northern Thailand, rising above the city of Chiang Mai, are often caught in an early morning sea of fog. My painting is set in this mist shrouded landscape. A group of Buddhist monks in saffron robes appear and then seem to merge with the air. The color of their robes is considered the color of illumination or satori — the highest wisdom.

Gregg Chadwick
Monk Station (Montréal)
30"x30"oil on linen 2021
Private Collection, San Diego, California

Gregg Chadwick
Buddha of Roseburg
8"x6" oil on panel 2015
Exhibited and Sold at Art & Home: An Evening with LA Family Housing to benefit LA Family Housing.
October 21, 2015 7-9pm

Gregg Chadwick
Buddha of the Adriatic
24"x18" oil on linen 2014
Adey Nyamathi Collection, Irvine, California
"Gregg Chadwick paints scenes from the life of Asia that reminds us of the monastic life of pilgrimage which has been all but lost in the West."
-Ratnagarbha and Thomas Jones
from "Urthona: Journal of Buddhism and the Arts" Issue 20
"What we do know at heart—and in our most honest moments—is that what we humans cling to in our pursuit of security and reassurance is at best provisional, ephemeral, insubstantial. What Chadwick paints for us is a disturbing, but somehow profoundly comforting vision of ourselves. The comfort part, I would suggest, lies in our recognition of its truth." - Peter Clothier, Time and Again
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 inherent in this new body of work. I needed to paint these paintings. And I found that the audience I had developed over the years felt the need to see them also. They have given me their trust that I will create paintings that speak of our times but also provide clues to a future path into the unknown.
Available online at Saatchi Art, Singulart. Featured in Inquiring Mind.