The mind can be a tornado, a whirlwind in our head. The desert knows whirlwinds. Sudden giant dust storms that seemingly come out of nowhere, and envelop everything in its path. Total blindness. Unless of course you are equipped with the right paraphernalia, such as ski googles. Even then, the dust impedes the vision. When in the middle of one while riding a bike, one cannot help but think that an accident looms. Despite the chaos of the dirt filled sky, there are pockets of clarity. Enough to get you from one point to another. In this situation time seemingly stops, or should I say loses meaning. There is no time for thinking. One must do their best to tune in with the rhythm of the desert, and the wind! Without submitting to panic and doom, one must be in the moment. Trust that the storm will pass. Yes you can try to seek shelter…it is my experience that the desert provides to those who do not seek. This is it’s gift.
The following presentation features a new commission painting that I am working on. I used some of my artistic license and created a document that shows a little section of my painting process. I look at my process like a snowflake. Similar from afar however close up each snow flake is it’s own unique shape and form. Similarly each painting I do requires or asks for a slightly different approach than the last. This is important for me as an artist, it keeps me interested in what I am doing, and often new discoveries occur. Enjoy!
And now a short film by Hälts, featuring him working on a new commission painting, while looking for peace in the chaos that is life, questions endlessly left unanswered, solace found in Nature and in the studio. Soundtrack is called ‘under the watchful eye of the surrounding Nature’
Ice like this is rare, so I went for skate in honour of my dad who knew how to move a puck around, Parkinson’s is a terrible disease. My dad has never given up, good on you dad. For the past 4 years I have been the principle care giver in my family for my ageing parents. My dad specifically who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s and also multiple systems atrophy. What do these things mean, well I am not going into specifics of the conditions, I will say that in flash my dad was unable to do all this things he once loved. Hockey was a big one, he payed until he was 75! Now in his 80’s life has taken a turn, and he is hard pressed to do any kind of walking on his own, without the risk of a fall. That is just one part of these diseases, and for a man who ran marathons, taught Social Studies, was an active skier, hiker, and all around active person…this is heart breaking. My dad has never really complained, instead he has fought tooth and nail and despite numerous prognosis he has really overcome some of those odds. Most importantly he is still here and has not given up on himself, or on his journey. When we talk about freedom, it really is a subjective term, and despite most of my dad’s freedoms being taken away, he continues to smile and appreciate all the good days he had. A lesson that I have taken to heart, and mind. The following is a short I made in honour of my dad, we used to pass the puck around in the bay I skated in the video, it represents both sorrow and joy, and appreciating what we have, even if this doesn’t feel enough.
The following short is part of my Autumnal series of videos, please go to my last few posts to see the previous videos, including ‘Wildlife of the East Kootenay’ which captured a pretty amazing close encounter….and one that I will never forget. And now I present ‘eagle who SOARS into FALL season’
The past couple of weeks were quite fruitful, with a once and a lifetime experience hanging out with a brown bear mama and cub. This fall has been bountiful for animal encounters and sightings. I wasn’t exactly expecting to film wildlife, as I was running a time-lapse of the river valley at my local lookout spot. While was running it I happened to see a bear at the edge of the river, or at least it took a second to register. I grabbed a quick shot of bear and reset the time-lapse. An older local couple who live up the hill were doing their rounds in the car with their small black and white dog, head first out of the passenger window, whose sole purpose seem to be bear spotting. They stopped and told me there was a couple of bears below, and went on to tell me to be safe and go have some fun! I thanked them, ran to my house to get my regular camera set up. I grabbed my keys to the car so I had some form of shelter in place if I had to. I went down the hill to see if they were still around. Initially I didn’t see them and went to a turn around, pulled a 180 and slowly went back the direction I had come. At last I saw them on a large slope scoping out the apple trees and stopped. I had no time to check settings, and realised I forgot my tripod. My adrenaline was going for sure, they were pretty close, albeit consumed in eating apples, the last of falls delights. I started my camera and tried to shoot from the window, it was a tad shaky, and unbalanced. So I eventually I made sure it was safe and jumped out to set up a sand bag on the rail of a fence, a tripod would been the preferred setup for my rig, however in a pinch the sand bag worked quite well. I had a good look at the bears to see their behaviour towards me being there, and they watched me, no doubt, as well. I was very slow in my movements, calm, and never gave them reason to feel threatened in any way. I kept a healthy distance you could say and somewhat close to the vehicle just in case she felt otherwise. She would look at me and then nearly simultaneously her cub would look. I lucked out and managed to get a bunch of shots and eventually the pair went off down into the bay. I was elated beyond words. To spend time with these beautiful beings and see them do things I had no idea bears did….all I can say is the magic is real. Before this encounter I had been working on quite a bit of content for an art installation idea called, valley flow, which you can see examples of in my last 2 posts. I was hoping to gather some more animal activity, and hello did the universe ever deliver! What’s even stranger or cool…the same night I went home to organise my footage, and wouldn’t you know it the mama bear came up my deck and we had this moment where we both looked at each other through a pane of glass, thankfully. She made the most beautiful sound and proceeded to jump up on the rail of my deck and climbed down the side of the house, and into the darkness of the night. From my own experience and through books I have read, the bear is a messenger of strength, family, vitality, health, and independence. I will also add that bears in my experience are quite inquisitive, playful and a highly aware beings. I was very touched by the experience which I think comes across a bit…hopefully at least…in my latest digital short film. I also did some of my own sound FX in this one, to match some of the footage, which I think really lends to the experience. I am creating a series of shorts which I will showcase in an art installation sometime in 2023 called, ‘Valley Flow’.
The title of this short is Autumnal: Wildlife of the East Kootenay
Also a special thanks to the Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance for their support, as well as my family and friends out there, somewhere, on this tiny blue dot, we call home.
Mahaloness 