Mahaloness

Contemporary artist specializing in full spectrum painting, mural, animation and digital hybrid art.


by Leave a comment

life lately 

In the city I walk on sidewalks and streets, looking up at glass structures, a symbol of human progress though lacking the wisdom of the natural world that provides it’s materials, and the ground to build on. I am of two worlds one the urban life, that which I have lived in for most of my life and the other the kingdom. The kingdom is the the natural world, it is the roots of a civilization, the provider of resources, life, and beauty. When I walk in grasslands and see the natural landscape I try to imagine how this all came to be. I wonder whether my imagination is anywhere near the truth.  

fotoMahaloness

The following is a series of fotos of an ongoing painting WIP called ‘therianthropica’. It shows you some of the stages and decisions whilst in process. This painting is an an intuitive process, a venture into the imagination in other words. It draws from mythology, dreams, and life. Underneath is buried treasures that give it depth and in some wways is a new myth in the making. Following this segment I jump into some fotos gathered recently from my adventures into the prairies of Alberta, the soul of this province. I work in film as well as being an artist. I am fortunate to work and travel to stunningly beautiful locations in Western Canada, and this is something I bring back with me into the studio. It gives me great pleasure to share these with you and provides a window into the worlds I see. 

therianthropica sits peacefully and in solitude amongst the chaos of life that surrounds, there is a metaphor in there somewhere

I get a charge out of this place.

the observatory

sunrise

painted sky country

2 worlds hälts hybrid art

The ancient Badlands of Alberta

open prairie

in the next post I will share some city elements to juxtapose this post along with some minimotions


by Leave a comment

moose sign 

I went to the mountains recently for some film work, my other passion, and found myself amidst the wild ones. In this case a juvenile moose presumably wondering what we were doing in his home. I try to imagine this animal watching us, observing the director and the DOP, wondering why the AD is always calling action and cut, and why these humans are moving around lights and bounces. The mountain air is always fresh unless of course there is forest fires, thankfully this time of year most of the fires have gone out. I am fortunate to work in this space fairly regularly either on a mountain top or in its valleys. I have come to realize the importance of stepping outside the studio so as to get some fresh perspective. Whether it is for work or pleasure being in the mountains raises my stoke and gives me strength. I also learn to appreciate life more, and not take any of it for granted, it is truly a gift to be here. Slowly and patiently, I am getting my magnificence back, each breath, each step, that much closer. There is beauty everywhere, you just have to look for it, and when you find it a lightness and a sense of belonging prevails. 

Presently, I am back in the studio and thinking of an animal painting to make. I am torn between a bear and a moose, and I have tiger on the mind, funny enough. Perhaps all three in one… at any rate running into a moose was a good sign. So now please enjoy my images and minimotion, sharing some of the magic of the good ol Rocky Mountains. 

hälts minimotion 

‘moose’ with soundscape ‘where the wild ones roam’ featuring some scenes from a recent film job I was on. 

​​fotoMahaloness

moments of bliss 

onwards…
back to the studio 

Its been high activity in the studio, working on my newest painting ‘sacred place’ which received some decent inspiration from my mountain time, priceless, thank you Earth. 

hälts hybrid art featuring a detail from ‘sacred place’


faded past 

an old public art space I worked in, I made the mural first it’s called ‘creator’ and the painting on the lower left was a live art piece called ‘the helaer’ which I worked on over a few months, it was a great room, lovely people and the experience remains a deep part of my being. 



by Leave a comment

Solitude 

I have heard the desert is a place of stillness. It is somewhere one can go to find solitude, and once there even loneliness fades away as memories lose their reference. Here the imagination can be whatever it wants to be, unhinged, it floods the desert with a magical whim. Perhaps this is why I am a painter, the need for solitude and stillness.

When I sit and paint it is a requiem, an act of rememberance to honour those who painted before me, the brave souls who sacrificed all sorts of life comforts, guided only by their voice, their craft, their art. When I paint I am in a place of stillness, peace, and contemplation. In this place I can breathe how I want to breathe, which is slow, and long. Sometimes it takes a whole day to find that zone and by night I go for as long as I can before exhaustion sets in. There are days when I don’t want to work and it can be a fight to work through it. As soon as my hands get to work the idea of not working fades away into oblivion. Everyone has their way of doing things, and I suppose I am no different. My art has been my own invention, albeit I have borrowed and taught myself techniques that are far from new. I have managed to put them together uniquely in my own way. Painting is an experience, a process, some trials, some errors, frustration, anguish, joy, peace, zen, and without a doubt there will more paint required. One can learn techniques and process, however the subject of the art and what I’d call the fuel is something one has to discover for themselves. I have discovered that art is a bridge, so whether or not I am making a surreal painting, or I am making something realistic, my focus is in how to establish a connection with the viewer. I am not entirely sure whether these insights interest you or not, I am not the best at talking about myself.

 I do find it fascinating that I am in the eyes of science very close to being a chimpanzee, a matter of a few different strands in my DNA, isn’t that something, and yet I am also close to something beyond the physical world that which I cannot see, yet sense and feel as being everywhere, omnipresent, and sacred. I honour the sacred in every painting sesshin, that is perhaps why I love painting, it is a slow process that makes me aware of subtle rhythms and movements, even though I am in my solitude, I do not feel alone when I am in the zone. 

hälts minimotion 

‘new adventure’ 🚀 hälts minimotion with soundscape ‘chimp love’ featuring my day working on ‘sacred place’ and you know what it went pretty f⚓️🌜king well all said and done, still got some work to do, what’s new.



​​
fotoMahaloness 

stages in process

hälts hybrid art featuring a detail of ‘sacred place’ and painters tape and paper.

zig zags, going back to the beginning…

hälts painting zone, sacred space


by Leave a comment

fall

Q: Do I wish I could reverse time? 

A: No. 

Time is what happens to us, life changes, our friends change, our family changes, our planet changes, everything we know changes. This is what life is, a process of change, a movement, a dance, a song, a painting, a leaf that turns orange, a slow river that meanders into the distance, a candle that blows out on a birthday cake. 

and now a quote that I came across recently….

Because we don’t know when we will die 

We get to think of life as an independent inexhaustible world

Yet, everything only happens a certain amount of times 

And a very small amount really

How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon in your childhood

Some afternoon that’s so deeply a part of your being 

that you cannot even conceive of your life without it

How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? 

Perhaps 20

Yet it all seems limitless. 

-Paul Bowles 

fotoMahaloness

documents from fall that include both my art and some moments from a BC sojourn to see my elders. 

‘sacred place’ hälts hybrid art

in life there is death, I found this Robin in the yard and laid her to rest in a peaceful ceremony, honouring her life.

a fall scene

I want to be a cloud

just a beautiful tree on a sunny fall day

the garden continues to transforms

a grouse I befriended

my dad is a courageous man, he has lived a full life and without him I would not be here making art, photographing nature, writing blogs, and experiencing this beautiful life, thank you and happy birthday, job well done❤️

​

‘fall hiatus’ 🍁 new hälts mininaturedoc with soundscape ‘5 elements’ featuring some magical BC moments 🌜 and goodnight 

​


by Leave a comment

hey Zeus 

I have always had the fantasy of being struck by lightening. Come to think of it perhaps it was the movie ‘The Great Outdoors’ that spawned  this fascination, or perhaps it’s was Frankenstein. At any rate lightening is in my veins, even though I have never been struck, I have come close. When I was a kid I had little to no fear, I chased storms around, and would sit on my soccer ball and watch them roll above me, lightening forking through the sky, to which my father would eventually drag me inside, much to my chagrin. For a large part fo my life I was obsessed with windsurfing, a total shred head, sailing in many of storm winds, flying across the water while my sail mast begged for a bolt, it never happened. I have made love in storms, which is the best. Occasionally I have been caught in storms along my travels, and never got struck, nevertheless what a beautiful experience to behold. Not long ago I tattooed a bolt on the inside of my forearm of my dominate paint hand. It represents a time I got my spark back, and has reminded me ever since to never let that charge go, even amidst those times when life creeps up, and will all know it does, those rogue waves that throw us off our balance and send us over the falls. Yet, I paint on, letting the electricity course out through my brush onto the canvas. 

Enter Zeus in my most recent painting WIP called ‘sacred place’. He is there and yet only ever so slightly behind a thin veil of white paint, waiting for me to forget so he can to throw that bolt down my way. The story with this new painting is that it was an old painting. It was a portrait, from a time when I was living the bohemian lifestyle, no worries, fancy free, at least that’s what I told myself. I went to a lot of festivals and did live art in many places. This portrait is of a girl who caught my eye in my travels, or so I thought. I painted it from memory however as I painted it at least seven people morphed into her. They were people who I met that I had no intention of painting, and yet there they were one after the other, entering the painting in way or another. Memory is an extraordinary thing. This leads me to my newest painting foray. I decided to paint over that portrait but not really, I am leaving subtle reminders of its presence like memory, subtle and enduring. The following images show the stages of my newest WIP which is called ‘sacred place’. 

fotoMahaloness and 2 minimotions (mini documents of my artistic endevours)

‘painter man’ 💫 late night hälts minimotion with soundscape ‘drop it in’ featuring some clips working on a new painting WIP ‘sacred place’ including the ever so satisfying tape pull and a sky timelapse from the other day.

coffee and a bolt of lightening at the Ro, my fav little coffee shop in Calgary

​

​
​’dedicated to my dad’ 🕯this minimotion is for my dad, it was his birthday recently so I dedicated this sesh in his honour, he is a courageous man and I am sending him all my love ❤️

​

Well friends that Where I am at, I have been keeping a lot of other stuff at bay, including a new website, in order to finish this painting in a reasonable amount of time, while thinking about the next one that will be getting a transformation. 


by Leave a comment

multi tool 

​​​Lately most of my time has been allocated to drawing, painting and baking! whilst also working in the film industry from time to time. Drawing is a daily practice, this has been the case for as long as I can remember. These are spontaneous drawings mainly as an exercise to free up creative blocks and for conceptualizing ideas. I have also been exploring the watercolour medium here and there and I guess you could say appreciating the change in process. Some of the techniques I employ in my acrylic painting do so happen to cross over nicely, such as layering and the use of drawing as a foundation. However I do find watercolour to be more of a one shot deal, or at least I use less paint and subsequently less layers of paint. What I have noticed with watercolour is the crystal like shimmer of some of the pigments and the unpredictability has made for some interesting surprises. With more experience I am developing my own painting techniques as I get accustom to the way watercolour goes down on the paper, and the look of the pigment on paper is giving me ideas. Recently I’ve been thinking about going back to my abstract roots. However as we all know plans change as life changes, so time will will tell. 

A poem from the poem zone

I wrote this the other day in bc, I was thinking about the darkness of the times, and conversations I have had with friends and family as well as reflecting on recent events. Regardless of what my position is in terms of politics, social issues and so on, it is evident that beneath the veneer people are going through some hard times. I do hope that this poem reaches out and makes a tiny little difference in your world. 
There’s only one of you

Take care of yourself

Stop punishing 

Stop blaming

Feeling sorry

Stop loathing 

Wake up

Tomorrow

And tell yourself 

I love you

Don’t waste time

It’s not too late

Be courageous 

Give a shit

Love

Forgive

And the let the sun shine in


Moments in time

‘so faded’ 🌞 nuevo hälts minimotion with soundscape ‘moonscape’ featuring a very faded sesshin on my new watercolour WIP ‘lunar’ and one of my favourite places in the world to think, the mountains 💛

​

from the green lodge book a drawing I did Kate a night before dreamland

the Zen of Apple pie, hand picked bc apples, dough from scratch on table

from the green lodge book, a drawing called ‘goodbye’

a little side project ‘jagheart’ hand painted found object

I had to reattach a horn, I may have stumbled on my new favourite media, DAS!

hälts watercolour WIP ‘lunar’

moon pie, I got a little more creative with the dough, next one is going to be sick!

a camera mount I worked on with the master rigger and key grip Jeff

hood mount rig camera and a light, I like this work it opens up new ideas for my own work!


by Leave a comment

sketches hecho en Mexico 

The following is a minimotion and some creative endevours and or signs of creativity documented while in Mexico earlier in the year. It was an interesting experience to make art in a new environment, it comes with its own set of challenges and surprises. I do find art is a bridge between myself and the people I encounter, perhaps it is the universiatlity of creativity that truly connects us. No matter where I go it is there. I soak in what’s around me as I work, I try to get into is rhythm, hear it’s sounds, and smell it’s smells. Some will say to me that art is my job, and yes it’s true that art is part of my income however it is so much more than just a commodity, or product. Art is an exchange between myself and the environment I am in. Kids passing by while working in public is a unique experience. They are truly in the moment, even when the parents are focused on something else, I catch that glimpse and smile, mini Suns that remind me to continue on the path. This is the bonus of painting in public, and something I do miss when I am buried deep in the studio. Life passes pretty fast and it is easy to get lost in a studio and forget the world is there. By putting myself out there I am opening to an infinite number of possibilities. By trusting my intuition and I let the creative process do what it does, when I try to control the vairbles is when it often loses its magic. 

fotoMahaloness

‘the next bend’ (part one of two) 💛 hälts minimotion with soundscape ‘loving memory’ featuring a couple snippets of a boat trip to a special place in Mexico with the foamies, it was a magical experience that will live on with me for the rest of my days ❤️ in loving memory of J brah who left us too soon, in a time of sorrow we become one in order to celebrate and honour him, forever in our hearts, rest in peace my friend ❤️ here’s to the next bend 

​

ice cream shop drawing sesh ⚡️ Zicatela Puerto Escondido

watercolour made on top of a house under a palapa, I could hear every sound for miles around (Puerto Escondido)

outdoor sign mural work station 🏍 Zicatela ‘Brand X’ rent a scooter/motorbike

‘elephant garden’ mural work station located in Zicatela on Iguana Ave. ☕️ great food great coffee friendly people

Puerto surf family ‘foamie mural’ work zone 🌞 I worked with my little not so little buddhy Otis who developed the concept and I mentored him a on the art of mural 💛

El Lugar drawing sesh, great little open air restaurant on the beach, fin is found object that I drew on with my trusty pen

‘Elephant Garden’ mural in process located in Zicatela 🌞

a moment with my work, and the wall, it’s easy to overlook the fact that this wall is very special and I wanted to make sure I honoured it’s being

surf breaks are mandatory, I am no pro however I am not too shabby either for being a mountain rolling foothills kind of man

One of the best tables with view of Ocean I have had the pleasure to sit and create, an unforgettable experience

Ink and watercolour kine made on a beach in southern Mexico undisclosed location, sorry….

hälts hybrid art ❤️in an undisclosed surf spot I went to which was all about the mini seshs, surf, art, surf, art, surf, art…until exhausted sleep do it again….