getting real
fotoMahaloness
spending time with a horse friend
</a 
Monthly Archives: September 2014
lost time
When ‘in it’ time ceases.
fotoMahalonessrecent creative explorations.
nothing is lost -W.Blake (Paia protective hidden wall mural)
fades to white.
808 soultime
It is in silence that the soul speaks.
-Vera Stanley Alder
During the summer of 2012 a spirit called me to the 808 State. I was going through some tough times and I decided to go on an adeventure, get out of the bubble I had made myself and go do some serious soul searching in the middle of the Pacific. I felt it was time to reboot my hard drive and build some new memories, new ones to replace the old ones that had ran their course. The trip lasted much longer than anticipated, one month turned into three, Maui has a way of doing that. I was given a real crash course on island life and discovered that when one is travelling alone there is plenty of silence for the soul to speak.
fotoMahaloness
This so happens to be my 808 th post, so here are a few gems from my island adventure, these aren’t your typical tourist shots of beautiful waterfalls or turquoise waves lapping ever so gently on a white sand beach, no my friends these are real shots of my full immersion into island life, behind the scenes, and in between. Where it all started, Mahaloness that is.
the backyard, looking towards Haleakala
There is nothing quite like a cup of coffee in a canoe….morning ritual
the studio(s) outdoor styles, scorpions, centipedes and all.
the gallery, ohana styles, featuring a Mahaloness protective wall mural, welcomes the good ones and dispels the negative ones. The rest of the art was made on found objects and building scraps my friend Jim gave me. The work came out so raw and I really channeled the island vibrations.
when you work outside in the elements you have to expect guests, this little guy was one of my favorites, there were many…
my Hawaiian name
Akoni St. guest ohana outside wall dream maker mural installation
to be cont….
To my Hawaiian family I miss you and love you always. Thank you for letting me into your world I can never thank you enough, Mahaloness!
The Tara painting part 4
This is part 4 of my ‘painting a tara’ timelapse series, featuring me in the studio working my magic on my latest Tibetan inspired White Tara painting. Following my university days I began to explore Eastern Philosophy and meditation. It has been a lifelong interest of mine. Many of the breathing practices I apply to my meditation also make their way into my painting sesshins, as I like to call them. Each brush stroke becomes a breath and that way I am putting my full energy into each mark I make, while allowing my body to feel loose and limber. Although this may not be the fastest way to make art, it does translate into beautiful healing paintings. Please enjoy part 4, simply go to the link. The music in the video is a recording of me playing my moms electric piano and further developed in Garageband. It also features my own sampled recordings and a few basic synth sounds just to give it a nice blanket effect. Enjoy.
Link: Painting a Tara Part 4
fotorama
…but first a ‘modern’ artist insight moment…
My artwork is truly my own making, even though I have been categorized by many I try not to pay too much attention to that. When I am painting life is good, all my worries, thoughts, and self disappear and I am able to freely channel my creativity. What comes out can both recognizable or completely new based on what is coming through me. One of the challenges of my art process is distractions that life brings and keeping personal emotions out of the work itself. My objective has been to make art that heals, teaches and inspires. When I am experiencing upsets in my life, those times when in the valley of fog, I have to really dig deep to find my focus and not be led astray by thought patterns. I work at my art everyday, it keeps me sane and I love it. I have noticed of myself over the years a bit of a lag period with respect to recognizing what I have created. This is dependent on the complexity of the art and also the conditions under which the art is made, the more difficult it was the longer it takes to process, sometimes months or even years in the case of the bus art. The bus art you see was made in a lonely giant warehouse in the middle of no where under very difficult conditions, it has taken me three years just to be able to see it, ironic when so many people see it daily and appreciate it when they do. Whereas the smaller paintings tend to be made in my studio or in a comfortable environment suitable to painting. When I paint small I usually work on multiple items and these days that includes digital art as well. The favourite part of art is being ‘in it’. This is when spacetime disappears and the only thing that remains is a force (Spirit, more on this in upcoming blogs) driving me to create, and a strong will to work never hurts. I do believe in craftmanship, technique and beauty. I think the world is a dynamic place, and there are serious matters that concern me such ocean acidification and our ability to adapt to both climate and environmental changes. I also see a lot of beautiful, some is awfully beautiful, some of it is extraordinarily beautiful, when the world is no longer beautiful my work will be done.
fotoMahaloness
my art from the last few years
Thank you for all of it, the good, the bad, the ugly, the beautiful, thank you.
blue highway
one withe road
fotoMahaloness
blue highway moment no. 236799
blue birds
bear animal medicine
Throughout my short life I have experienced many animal encounters, most recently a black bear, k’a, or Ursus americanus, who reminds me to ready myself for the winter season ahead.
fotoMahaloness
Bear visitation experiences tend to inform my artwork, I will happily share the messages these beautiful beings bring me.
Buddhabear c.2012 (painted following a face to face visit with a Grizzly bear in BC
recent black bear visit post doodle
Much like a a bear’s den my studio is a place I like to hibernate into creativity during the long cold winter.
crystal vision
there is a wealth of wisdom contained within a crystal.
fotoMahaloness
INT. Gaia Rising. Crystal POV. Daytime.
The quest continues…
redeemed
my purpose is to make beautiful art
To say I put my all into this magic bus would be an understatement. The way I painted the bus remains a mystery to most as most do not even know who I am nor do they know that I painted it, in yet I did. I painted the bus as beautiful as was possible for one man, and like all of my art it is meant to be contemplated and not possessed. This lucky bus has been redeemed.
fotoMahaloness
This is where I will sit and write my book about my experience painting a magic bus called ‘Big Ha’.
the school bus I painted (from concept to completion)
putting sacredness back into art since 2012.
Painting a Tara: Part 3
This is the third instalment of, ‘Painting a Tara’. It is accompanied with a musical score I arranged with garageband using a bunch of my own samples, including a piano sample I recorded while jamming on my mom’s electric piano this past summer. Enjoy.
fotoMahaloness
William Blake once wrote…
Mahaloness 