“Second Chance”
acrylic on canvas, 36 × 36″, 2016, inquire about price, by Ruth Chase
This painting is part of the West of Lincoln Project. The content of this painting came from working closely with Eddie for several months on the phone and through texts, making sure the details reflected his valuable life wisdom.
Eddie Hadvina
b. 1961 | Skating the streets of Venice
At the age of 31, I discovered myself learning from my mistakes, and was given a second chance! It turned my regrets into passionate achievements. Hope is never too late!
Both my parents emigrated from Hungary in 1956. They went on their Honeymoon to Venice Beach and fell in love with Venice! I was born 1961, and when I was one year old, we moved to Venice.
I joined Boy Scouts Troupe 34 in Venice when I was 11 years old. Boy Scouts taught me about discipline, respect and camaraderie, and being a part of a team. I met all my Venice friends in Boy Scouts. My friends introduced me to surfing and to skateboarding, and I fell in love with both of them.
When I was a kid, I remember a lot of people being hungry, poverty, and broken families. Growing up in that era I remember summer vacation and my mom would tell me, “Go get lost and don’t come back ‘til night!” We’d take our bikes and ride to the beach or whatever. With few resources, all we had to fall back on were drugs and alcohol. My mom even put me in Catholic schools to get me away from “the bad influence of Venice”, but I still ended up at Venice High School hanging out with the same people. Back then, I held the Venice Hoodlums to a high degree. I followed their path and made some VERY ugly choices as a teenager. The hardest part was that I was friends with the Dog Town guys, and could have been a pro skater, but all my partying side tracked me from that.
I got clean and sober at 31 years old, and went back to college. It gave me a second chance, turning big regrets into passionate achievements. Now I work in a construction career and have found happiness. It’s never too late. I even got skateboarding back and went on to win several awards including first place 4 years in a row in the OG jam series.
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