Ardyn Halter | Sea Diaries

I began to think about water more than I did in pre-Covid times, considering, even meditating about the feel of water, the spaces in water. and the look of water. I was absorbed how my perception and then, later, my memory of water changed, as I walked down to the sea, seeing the water by star or moonlight, seeing the water during my swim on the surface and down into the dark depths, seeing light dawning, and then seeing the water afterwards on the walk along the shore back to the car. Before, during and after the swim – all these moments of time were all conjoined into each painting back in my studio.

I recorded my experiences like a diary, but rather than ink in a book, I chose to work on thick paper with oil paints.  With these, I filled my studio with memories of when night turns into day, wind over the water, the lift and fall of waves, ambient starlight, and the emerging, beautiful palette of the dawn as it changes colours of the sea and sky. 

For me, a dawn swim is a presence in one's mind and body for the rest of the day.”

Ardyn Halter, 2022