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.
and now a hälts minimotion with respect to the ritual…
Now a new minimotion called ‘homesickness on a moonlit night’ referencing Li Bai’s poem at the beginning of this post.
⛩ hälts minimotion featuring a day helping to install the Imagine Asian Exhibit at CSpace 4th Floor (old King Edward School) located in Marda Loop Calgary, which runs May 27th until June 3rd 10 am until 6 pm and features a diverse selection of artists and celebrating Asian Heritage Month. I am honoured to contribute a few pieces to the show and what a delight to witness a master calligrapher Simon Y. S. Wong at work on a poem that I narrate in the minimotion, soulful and magical at the same time
Nature is soul medicine hälts minimotion
in the studio with hälts, inside there is a deep well of sorrow, listen for the joy, it’ll be alright.
New WIP ‘vehicle of life’
there is duality, that’s why I go full spectrum
I am honoured to be part of a group show called ‘Imaigne Asian’ which celebrates Asian Heritage Month, my painting on the right, ‘Earth Buddha’ is next to a master artist named David Noh.
I have often wondered what is the soul of human. Is soul a shared spirit that transects in all directions, mutual to all species, planets, and the universe. Or is soul an individual experience, something within, which occasionally meets another soul that has similar soulness, if you will. Sometimes you just have to make up words. Is their even a soul? I can think of a few individuals who seem soulless however I am going to leave that up to your own imagination. It has been my impression that the art I make has a soul. In many ways I have been extremely protective of it. In a predominately soulless art world which includes commercial art (galleries, ad agencies, public art), all of which I have experience with, my observations have been that they rarely scratch beneath the surface of their own superficiality, where plasticity rules and imitation is applauded. It is no wonder that art as we have known it for hundreds of thousands of years has been stripped of its dignity and sophistication. Instead it is reduced to condensed soup, selling things to people they don’t really need, and making a few very rich people in the process. It’s all about the next publicity stunt that will help that artist(s)/ agency rise to the upper echalants of the boogie, which might be considered an art in itself, however I think history shows time and time again it often misses the soul part. There are a some rare exceptions no doubt but every compromise has its toll on the soul. So with that said lets move into a Paul Bowles quote from ‘The Sheltering Sky’, shall we.
That night he awoke sobbing. His being was a well a thousand miles deep; he rose from the lower regions with a sense of infinite sadness and repose, but with no memory of any dream save the faceless voice that whispered “the soul is the weariest part of the body”.
fotoMahaloness
Currently in the studio….
a feather from my cap on my palette board which will also turn into art, nothing wasted.
colour therapy
a gesture to the experience
hälts hybrid art, do city buildings have a soul purpose?
This is the white lodge, a place where I like to go and be one with the wonder, the beauty and the peace. Modern life is a busy life, there is so much going on in the world and it is overwhelming to the senses, the disposition and the constitution. It has been very important to my artistic practice to make an effort to get out of the studio and explore the world around me. The white lodge is where the elders live, it is the place where the eagles soar, and the ravens play. In its winter coat the white lodge sparkles and the air is crisp. I come to here to fill myself with its energy and replenish the soul, and give the heart much needed nature time, so it can recharge and gain strength for this crazy world we humans have created.
❤️💚💛 Art Event Announcement💛💚❤️ I will be featured at Raw Artists Calgary ‘Envision’ January 18th, 2018! I will be live painting, selling original art, and prints, it is an exciting event with a diverse array of creative people in one room, tickets are $20 and I will have a little something for you on the night, please click here to go to my event page where you can purchase tickets , thank you and Mahaloness.
mimimotion and fotoMahaloness
a new minimotion called ‘the white lodge’ with soundscape ‘crystal wonderland’ featuring timelapse footage of an outdoor hockey sesh in this magical place, my home, this is what goes into the art when I return to my studio.
it has been really cold, crisp you might say….
a waking life moment
the valley brah, winter wonderland, makes my soul happy
‘mountain magic’ hälts hybrid art combining my fotography with my watercolour WIP ‘raven’
Somedays you just need to stop and smell the flowers, and this is exactly what hälts did.
fotoMahaloness
Here are some fotos from hälts moms secret magic garden, it takes a lot of work, care and attention to maintain a garden, this has been a great lesson for hälts and inspires him to put that kind of carr and attention into his art practice.
the elders home in BC, a hidden bit of paradise
hälts stone path completed last summer look as if it’s been there forever
nothing like a good magic garden watercolur sesshin, seen here is hälts WIP ‘painted turtle’s dream’
life is full of everything imaginable and unimaginable, taking the time to sit and let the human spirit express is a key to a healthy life
hälts ink from his white lodge book juxtaposed with his moms summer roses
The journey continues, hälts has been spending a healthy amount of time in the forest realm, visiting lakes and rivers, and looking up to the sky. These experiences bring hälts much joy and the connection to the land, sky and water energizes, bringing a sense of alertness and awareness, which can get comfortable when in the city for long periods of time. In the city realm hälts been working diligently on a live painting project called ‘the healer’ at Calgary New Age Books and Crystals. Each brush stroke is in tune with his natural experiences and mirrors the last part of the painting pilgimage. As ‘the healer’ reaches the completion of its cycle, hälts is drawn into contemplation, remembering all the beautiful people he met along the way, new and old, young and ancient, a blessed experience. At the moment(s) hälts is hosting a print sale at Calgary New Age store, the display features a vast array of artworks, both originals and hybrid art, combining painting and the digital realms. His art is more than just a picture, it is a transmission of story, information, revelations, contemplations, wonder and observations. Come on down and say hello, hälts will be selling his prints, and artworks, and plans on continuing a live painting through to December. Calgary New Age Books and Crystals is located at 104 10 St NW Calgary, hälts is there 12-5 daily, or find him on Instagram for updates, more art, and Mahaloness all the way brah.
fotoMahaloness
Shane Haltman aka hälts is a contemporary Canadian artist specializing in visual art: painting, mural, digital and animation. Here is a selection of his work, and a new minimotion called ‘peasant art print sale’ featuring the soundscape ‘pretty relaxed’ and starring in the movie Nature, water, Guy , Rebecca, Anna and hälts print sale at Calgary New Age Books and Crystals (104 10 St NW Calgary 12-5 pm daily) please send hälts a message if you would like to set up a private meeting. prints will be made available online soon. Thank you, Mahaloness and may the Aloha be with us all.
‘soft whale’ hälts hybrid concept art
the room where it all goes down, up, sideways and in between, hälts art lab, pop up art studio, and ‘the healer’ live painting project and ⚡️PRINT SALE⚡️ at Calgary New Age Books and Crystals
A bit of a painful moment in hälts life journey, these moments build character and are essential to feel, whether you be man, woman, or child, give yourself the freedom to let go and feel whatever it is you feel, than write it down, express it through art, or cooking, or dancing, or singing, maybe a little less drinking, whatever it is you do, channel it, this is good medicine.
No matter how alone you may feel, there will always come a visitor to remind you that this may not be true. (Praying Mantis friend visitation during a maui mana painting sesshin)
When the crow speaks you listen, spending time with Nature, observing Nature is good medicine.
Art is a facilatator of joy.
‘spirit of a child’ (oaxaca, mexico drawing sesshin )
Puerto Escondido street art that brings an ear to ear smile to this artists face.
and a hälts ART minimotion picture show called ‘cultural calamity’ for otherside zine.
They are some who think paint has the power to dissovle the veil, and magically we can cross over to the other side. Unfortunately the ones who worked with this miraculous paint lived thousands of years ago, so I set out to make a ‘veil dissolver’ paint, although instead of mixing it with saliva like my ancient counterparts, I went with a modern version, acrylic polymer.
fotoMahaloness
It all began with a log, which I later I burned and collected the ash and burnt chunks, ground those down, than I ground the quartz with a stone and added the mix to my polymer. I have yet to name the paint, unofficially I will call it spirit paint. A spark in my brain led to this development, perhaps this information was embedded deep within my consciousness, and simply by thinking about it I somehow chanelled ancient wisdom, and voila there it was, my first spirit paint. This is an ongoing social, cultural, anthropological, enthnographical, anthropological and psychological experiment. Modern cave art….
