Quite a bit of time has passed since my last post, depending on what kind of time you go by. I have changed my website name to haltsart.com which has been long overdue. Life changes and new developments have led to new directions and flow. It is a honour to be here and I look forward to this new path. Thank you for your patience, and I hope you are doing well wherever you may be. A reminder, take the time to be with Nature, if that means a small park in the cityscape, that will do. Take care of your being and in doing so life will reflect this back to you. And now Hälts presents an original new short ‘the DEER’ with soundscape ‘winter soul’. See you soon.
the DEER Produced, Directed, Scored and Filmed by Hälts Copyright Hälts 2022
Life in constant flux, moments flavoured by emotion and thought. It is in these moments I look to Nature. It is Nature that reminds me that there is nothing to hold onto, let feelings come and go, let thoughts come and go, natural mind. The sky does not hold onto clouds, they appear and disappear. When I look for the eagle I do not see the eagle. When I search for the answer I do not discover the truth. There is the fear that comes with LETTING GO, this is just a thought. I will see a different cloud than you, and yet we share the same experience of seeing a cloud, knowing it is a cloud, that comes, and goes.
on a side note Diane, the trees here are starting to wake up…
And now a minimotion short documentary style with dramatic accents titled, ‘inside out’.
I do not distinguish dream from reality, the only difference is time.
Short Film by hälts
As I continue to work on motion picture, I play around with some ideas that come to mind. Usually they come following meditation, in a daydream, or when I am experiencing a difficulty in life. This is when the veil that ‘I am alone’ is lifted. The original title for this short was ‘I had something to say but no words came out’
And now a word from our sponsors.
small town
the raventhe trickster
Somedays you see a mountain for what it is, and somedays you don’t.
Hello, how are you? I find myself here in the East Koots, Canada, in the year 2021. I have been away from my desk, and from most activities I had been absorbed in prior to 2020. My writing and art time replaced by care giving. I am at this very moment a care giver, during a global pandemic, and heightened social uncertainty. Life has been chaotic in a way, similar to the weather, moving, changing, far from normal, whatever normal may be. Being away from my home, I find myself here, somewhat isolated form the busy city life I once knew. When I find free time, I immerse in solitude, and spend time with Nature. It gives me a chance to defrag, shed layers, and reboot self. It is a time of self discovery, and inward reflection. I have been on many journeys in my life, a watershed of experience fed by many tributaries. In essence I have found my way back to the ocean, swished and swirled, upwelled and submerged along the way. The light and the dark coming in waves, with varying intervals and speed. Time has been moving in circles, things change only to return to what they were. Recently my father was admitted to hospital, which led to some abrupt changes to my routine. I will make a simple analogy, I am sailing in the ocean, it is calm and peaceful. I decide to paint. There is no wind and the scene is beautiful. Later I see clouds on the horizon, they seem to be getting closer, and the wind picks up, a storm looms. What do I do? Well I stop painting, and I batten the hatches, get into sailing position and try to get back to shore. This is my life right now. I am back on shore and giving my attention to my care giving duties. In my spare time I work on ideas, and study new crafts. When the storm passes, and peace returns to the land, I will be prepared to resume activities such as picture making, and writing. Thank you for your patience.
And now time for a hälts special feature….
‘Winter’ c.2020 A short film by halts that reveals the magic of the Columbia valley, the East Koots. This film was made possible by my parents who brought me to this valley as a young boy. It has shaped me and it’s blood runs in my veins. No day goes by that I am not in awe, even when the chips are down, it reminds me of the beauty that is here on this earthly plane. Shot in multiple locations and elevations, and over a period of 2 months, it documents the rhythm of the changing seasons. This the land of the eagle, a symbol of power and a source of inspiration. The music I composed started out on my mom’s piano. She often goes to her piano and plays soft melodies that fill the silent air. I sat down one day in her spot and something from an unknown place came through my fingers. As the process went on I expanded on this by adding other instruments and sounds, such as an accordion, that I found tucked away in a closet. With the help of Garageband it evolved into the different sections that you will hear. It is a song of hope and reflects the spirit of Nature, intertwined with every living soul who calls this place home, and to those drawn here by it’s call. This short was made using an iphone for a camera, run and gun. I incurred shin splints in order to get a shot of the valley from near the top of Mount Swansea. This prticualr shot is an homage to the legend Doug Anakin, who graced this valley for many years. I happened to see Doug walk up the same path I took close to his last day on Earth. When I got near to the top I encountered a large ram, and knew I was in the right place. Totally worth it. This is a magical kingdom, and I hope that it remains so for all generations to come. Thank you very much for taking the time to be here and I hope you enjoyed my presentation. Run time 15:16.00
Does art create the landscape, or does the landscape create the art? I woke up to this thought after a dream that was more real than real. Maybe it was the day before and seeing a loved one go into a completely vulnerable and helpless state. Maybe it is the confusion of the world, and the deterioration of humanity looming overhead as a giant mass of grey and gloom. However I remain aware that the behind the grey, the sky is blue, and the sun is shining. Life moves in ripples, waves travelling from far off places, some predictable, while others catching me by surprise. I know that I can’t always get the words right, to describe what’s happening, to make sense of a landscape that vanishes under a thick veil of fog. A kingfisher creates loud short shrieking sounds that wake me up to the moment, no mind, nothing; halfway. The fog lifts and the landscape appears, the same as what I remember, but different from the last moment it was visible. Resembling a loved one, the same person I have known my whole life, yet different from the day before, and the the day before that. Seasons change. People change, same spirit, life goes on. I look far into distance, the more I see the more I don’t see. I imagine all the people who are seeing what I am seeing, feeling what I am feeling. Do they see the same clouds, and the crack of light that breaks the horizon? I say to myself, the sun will shine again, the creation of the landscape of what’s to come. Mother Earth shows me the way, the fog dissipates, the child within smiles bright, the shadows in my head disappear, half way.
Thank for reading, it has been a bit since getting the chance to sit and write. Perhaps this is a new chapter, new ideas, new thoughts, and opening up of the vault kept private and protected. I may not have all the right words, they’ll come, slowly, and patiently.
And now a minicine (mini cinema, which is longer versions of my minimotions, which are one minute in length) It is titled ‘water bombers’ with soundscape ‘hälts first day on the accordian’. I am happy to say I will be increasing my production value, which includes sound, creating title sequences and so on, this gets my fire going, winter will not bee boring. Ands now, water bombers…
There was a man who was a restless spirit. A Nomad travelling in sync with the landscape’s song.
fotoMahaloness
fog dissipatingsoaringwindsurfer
In the garden…
the last roseat nightthe last queen
In the garage make shift art studio.
winter prepa collaboration between myself and my momrecently I picked up my painting SLO, back to work I will go….
Outside explarations…
landscape creating in landscape, but who makes who?
Let’s set the tone with a hälts minimotion, motion picture experiments and quirky soundscapes, this one I did play on the accordion that I found buried in a closet, resurrected and definitely not perfected.
The end is near, it is always near, omnipresent although never quite certain exactly where it is, or when it will be. It cannot be denied, nor can be it be undone. Perhaps I have been on its precipice without knowing, however I have always thought it is not my time. Time is precious. the end has an ally, for time cannot be regained, once past, it is gone. Still though there is a lingering feeling, a feeling of loss, and sentimentality. Like a ghost it is there yet unseen. Can one even see a feeling? I have heard from wise ones that there are certain memories that never go away, but perhaps they get more bearable with time.
nirodha (cessation, ending) of this dukkha can be attained by eliminating all “craving, desire, and attachment” [7][8] -Wikipedia guru
Now a lot of pictures of flowers taken in my moms garden, hard work is her secret weapon. I do believe a garden painting is highly probable. Currently I am still trying to make sense of the confusion, and where to go from here. I don’t believe in moving forward, it solves nothing, and is nothing more than another form of ignorance. There is only the present moment, the rest is a game, a theatre, a web of confusion. I am curious what would happen if we averaged out all the opinions on Earth, what would the outcome be? And really random, but perhaps still fitting, I wonder if a computer or AI took over, or has it already….would it have a preference for a certain philosophy, religion, movement, or would it find an average of all and create some kind of super power philosophy/religion that no human could debunk, or argue with, and opinions would just slip off its surface. Where do opinions originate from? So may questions so little time left, for the end is nigh, but is it? Even the thought of writing an ending is tough task…an ending to someone is a beginning to someone else. And as the Kurt Vonnegut epitaph goes, ‘So it goes’. (Slaughterhouse-Five)
Currently I don’t have a whole lot of words. I am working on a variety of moving visual content and practicing mindfulness in the elders garden. Been reading a lot, mostly about peregrine falcons and a book on fear. There seems to be a bounty of fear, as if it was in vogue. Fear not, let the the river flow. Fear not, let the blame drift away with the current. Do stop and smell the flowers, observe nature, listen, don’t correct, let it flow, let life be life. I really don’t know the secret to life. I understand that there is suffering in the world. This comes in a variety of forms and shapes. There is an origin of the attachment to suffering. By letting go to attachment, ie. old ways of doing things, flowers that are in the decline, we can end the suffering. And we also have art and a phenomenal ability to overcome even the most difficult of times.
Side Note: I am no different than anyone else, yet different. I fear that we and our planet would not do well if we were to return to the way of doing things pre pandemic. So I train my mind to see through the fear. What will the effects of the pandemic have on our psyche? Our spirit? Our hearts? Our way of being? I do wonder…Do we have the patience and resiliency to try and fix it. We have hope. We have dreams. We have ambition. We have Love. If we let fear and hate take over we already know where that will be going, and do we truly as a species, as brothers, sisters, and kin…. do we really want to go there? I don’t know the answers but I do know I will be spending time in the garden with the plants, listening and observing the planet, and with my brothers and sister in my heart and mind.
flora
the world has hard edges, the plant world one of softness
last stand of the poppy
enter bee
we hardly appreciate the underside, perhaps that why it frightens us so
bee to a flower
I planted a tree in my mom’s garden, she surrounded it with alpine flowers and the circle of life
the orb
underneath there is beauty
purple is a mighty represented well by these lovely flowers.
red sky
the red comet of columbine, a flower is more than just a flower, it is Easth’s art, Earth’s song, and respite from the human tragedy.
there is no light without dark, anon dark without light.
the floraverse
art
the art path is lifelong
howdy studio
the masked ones stand in unity while the screw heads hide behind barbed wire afraid that they will lose their hierarchy.
the 7 stages of grief
the healer painting detail, the world needs more systemic healing
there tara is the mother, she watches over us, reminding us to stay calm in the chaos
a portrait of my mom….she was a nurse for many years, a care giver to many, a saint, and green thumb wizard, plants her second nature.
minimotion time
footage gathered in BC, in my own backyard, while care giving for the elders, and as it turns out, the birds. I went a little experimental with the soundscape which features an accordion I dug out of the wood work, along with my mom telling me a story.
At night, I can hear Earth’s voice clearly, free from the sounds of engines roaring, and considerably less airplanes soaring. I look up at the stars and wonder if there will be a day when the robots take over. I have been meaning to get this book called ‘Novocene’ by James Lovelock. Lovelock introduced the hypothesis known as Gaia Theory, co-developed with Lynn Margulis. His new book goes into length about AI and the future of our planet. As the virus has spread across nearly all places on Earth we are in what can perhaps be described as a holding pattern. It is a time to be present, and given the new protocol, or optimisation, we now live in a new paradigm, even if unwilling. I am slowly letting go of the negative thoughts, and yes I have experienced periodic dark clouds roll through my head. Moments of doubt and frustration, and even anger. I try to be silent, let them pass. I think about my elders, and pray for them. I appreciate the lessons they have passed on to me. I am learning that I am adaptable, and the includes living in quarantine. I am independent while also dependant. I receive many things from life, and also give back in return. I am a free spirit, boundless. I have no problems with solitude, it is essential to my existence and growth. My thoughts and my prayers are with you, all my fellow beings, friend or not, no matter, we are one and we will always be one.
detail from a 2007 hälts original painting
All Life matters.
blue heron tree lookout
flight of the blue heron
hello Osprey, how are you?
sanctuary to preserve for your future generations
eagle that sister knows
lookout
wood bird
Art WIPs
paradigm shift WIP acrylic on canvas
mountain lion WIP acrylic on canvas
mas Art! Includes present and past artworks, all copyright protected by hälts, some political, some cosmic, some spiritual, some imaginative, and I wouldn’t want to rule out magic, if not little miracles, because isn’t that what life is, a miracle?
‘wavering unwavering’ hälts hybrid art
‘deep blue’ hälts original painting c.2010
‘Radiant Child’ acrylic and watercolour
Are you a Believer? hälts paintamnetary of the Obama years
Remember him? Quite the artist…
‘which way?’ hälts hybrid art featuring a painting from 2005 called ‘city man’
and now a poem inspired by Pablo Neruda, as reflected in the first line…
Today I can write the saddest lines. I can write about a heart that was crushed as the ice I walk on along the rivers edge. I can write about the loneliness that filled the void, and of the ghostly calls I hear at night. Inside a vision, a fire rages, thought to be out of control. Isn’t it interesting that a forest can be seen as a majestic thing of beauty and also be fuel to a fire. A call from the wild pulls my attention into the present moment. I appreciate the stillness. Nature heals, cleansing my soul.
Paintings I have been working on during quarantine, quarantine art, which is still ongoing… My main duty at the moment is to take care of my elders. In being here I sense that my heart is indeed just fine.
My family, the people who made me, raised me, and cared for me. Now I return the deeds, full circle, reciprocity.
‘dreamer’ acrylic on canvas board
‘purple haze’ acrylic on canvas board
‘humming bird whispers’ acrylic on canvas
‘divided and one’ hälts hybrid art
gnome artsky
Howdy to my current WIP ‘the lioness’
Nature calls… hälts minomotion featuring the call to the wild, I do a lot of research yes, both with technology and the internet/books, etc. as well as going to the natural world for lessons. It is important to get a feel of the subject matter I am working on.
Someone said to me that we live in strange times. Funny though, when weren’t the times strange? It is easy to romanticise about the good old days. When you really look at the past there has been strangeness all along. We have fought in many many wars. We have experienced pandemics and plagues that wiped out large numbers of the population. There have been brutal dictators who took the lives of millions, all in the name of power and fame, or is it infamy. Humans as a lot have been particularly brutal to our Mother Earth, putting themselves above that which provide life for them. This is not just at the hands of the industrialists, it’s you and I, it’s everyone. We drive cars everyday. We jet set to get away form our lives, only finding we have to return to them. We consume goods like no ones business for pleasure; the insatiable need to taste the riches of our own individual successes. None of this is good or bad, it is just what we have done collectively, and collectively we have been swayed by our own arrogance, an ego shell in the form of the roles we play. But wait. There is human qualities that also have allowed us to endure even the hardest and darkest hours on this tiny blue and green dot. We are a resilient bunch, we have overcome so many obstacles and celebrated life when time permits. We praise thee God, the gods, the Creator, the thing that makes this this. We have weathered storms since the beginning of time and before time was time. Now time has stood on its head, by a virus, an obstacle, a messenger, perhaps even a prophet. Days that flew by now take a little longer, things slowing down, this translating into boredom for some. No doubt it would appear that our lives before the pandemic became intertwined with the global economy, codependent on each other to sustain. The desire to always be driven forward, never time to think about, let alone be in the present moment. The present moment an eternity, unchanging, true being, the I house. Nothingness that everything, all this stuff, passes through, coming and going, yet here the I am remains. It is a time to celebrate this life, rediscover our true self, put down our judgements, our guards, a rebirth of cool. Soon calm will follow after the storm. Now let the mind be free.
Note: These are my thoughts and shared thoughts of fellow humans that I have been resonating with during the last few weeks, I have experienced intermittent moments of anger and rage over the things outside of me, outside of my control. Perhaps we all have. We all have our way of dealing or not dealing with that which we face. I have found the hardship and the suffering have opened my heart up. Similar to the lake ice melting, I can hear the cracks, the booms, slowly opening up again after many years of struggle. Thank you Earth, Thank you family, and thank you friends. Thank you. We will be ok. Breathe.
fotoMAhaloness
The sky is full of miracles.
3 herons
hälts minimotion ‘millions of dreams’ with soundscape ‘sky bound’
a bee I did for a buddhy, bee like bee, let it bee…
This group of paintings is representative of the thoughts and feelings that have come and go during this pandemic, moments of anger and emotions, moments of primal instincts, joy, and future visions. Ideas that come and go through this house, inner outer spirit remains true, no change.
one of my roles is care giver for my elderly parents.
Side Note: I am no different than anyone else, yet different. I fear that we and our planet would not do well if we were to return to the way of doing things pre pandemic. So I train my mind to see through the fear. What will the effects of the pandemic have on our psyche? Our spirit? Our hearts? Our way of being? I do wonder…Do we have the patience and resiliency to try and fix it. We have hope. We have dreams. We have ambition. We have Love. If we let fear and hate take over we already know where that will be going, and do we truly as a species, as brothers, sisters, and kin…. do we really want to go there? I don’t know the answers but I do know I will be spending time in the garden with the plants, listening and observing the planet, and with my brothers and sister in my heart and mind.
Mahaloness 