On that particular day Joel had told me that Jamie who was the Curator of the show would also be having a pig roast, and as I remembered only slightly where the gallery was, as I walked along the sidewalk I looked for the familiar plume of smoke. When I was near the gallery I saw it, and also an even larger group of people than before, because as I soon found out when I walked inside, some of the group of Artists showing that day had traveled long distances to be there. I began looking at the work and started talking with some of the Artists, and then at one point after taking photographs of Joel and his pieces that were on a wall close to the entrance, I turned around and saw the paintings of another Artist diagonally across the room. I don't remember if I walked toward it first or if Joel was leading the way, but I do remember him saying, "Now this guy is amazing." And he was right because in front of me was a wonderland of color and imagery, very intricately created designs that were painted with broad strokes and powerful colors that also showed an intensely focused attention to detail. It was astonishing work, like nothing I'd ever seen but reminiscent of some of the most beautiful figurative work imaginable. It was also playful and it had a dreamlike quality, with the kind of images that I remembered from some of my brother's lavishly illustrated comic books and his own drawings that told stories from his own inspiration. There was also a sense of graffiti art and mural art, but this was something altogether different and unique because the art that I was looking at was painted on surf boards, worlds within worlds on a very specifically shaped non-traditional canvas.
That afternoon I stayed quite a while to talk to the Artist who had created these masterpieces, CW Waddell. I had been planning on staying only a short time and leaving with my friend Joel, but when I found out that CW was not from Jersey City and that he'd be going back home to Virginia Beach after the opening, I didn't want to miss the opportunity to find out more about him. His work was so beautiful and the vision so authentically his own, and as we talked and I told him that I worked with Artists and that I'd like to try to help him find a space to come back for another show, we exchanged information through Instagram, and continued to keep in touch.
CW told me that he had started painting to focus on something positive after a breakup. In his own words he explained, "I've been around art/tattoos my whole life. Just got into doing it myself a few years back. One of my first tattoos my buddy did and I tried to create it as a painting! I started on surfboards because I liked how smooth the fiberglass was. I had a lot of trial and error, other artist friends saying my procedure probably wouldn't work!! I had a vision and made it work. I'm a firm believer in karma, faith and everything happens for a reason!! And here I am."
When he sent me a message a few weeks ago that he was going to be back at 313 Gallery, I scheduled myself to make sure to be there for his opening. In the time since we met, his work has grown, and though I'm still partial to the surfboards there were other newly inspiring pieces that were created from other shapes of wood that he cuts and designs himself before painting. CW Waddell is one of those rare people who continues to astonish. While we spoke he described how he is always learning new things from other Artists and that for him one of the most exciting and enjoyable experiences is to be able to share time with Artists and learn and be inspired. As I've written in these pages before, there is so much beautiful and inspiring public art in Jersey City, and visiting with CW was a reminder of how much of an adventure it is to walk and see the beautiful murals that are part of the fabric of the walls all around because of his own excitement at describing what he had been seeing. And CW himself is a part of it, though he calls another city his home. It's as if the dreams that he dreams have woven themselves into the fabric and have made dreams that are larger than life come alive.
CW Waddell
At 313 Gallery
313 Third Street
Jersey City, New Jersey
Blessings,
Jannie Susan
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