Artist Denise Hartley blogs about art, painting, murals, and philosophy.
As an artist I seek balance in my life. As a healer, I use healing in my art process to address the healing of our planet.
So to know yourself is to forget yourself. This is to say that when we make friends with ourselves we no longer have to be so self-involved. It’s a curious twist: making friends with ourselves is a way of not being so self-involved anymore. Then Dogen Zen-ji goes on to say, “To forget yourself is to become enlightened by all things.” When we are not so self-involved, we begin to realize that the world is speaking to us all of the time. Every plant, every tree, every animal, every person, every car, every airplane is speaking to us, teaching us, awakening us. It’s a wonderful world, but we often miss it. It’s as if we see the previews of coming attractions and never get to the main feature.
"Mitochondria I", mixed media and gold leaf on wood, 4' x 6', 2002. Private collection.
"Mitochondria". Each of our cells can contain thousands of mitochondria. They are used by our bodies to convert molecules into energy. They are independent, and genetically distinct from the cell nucleus, and can manufacture their own proteins. It is thought that mitochondria originated as a separate single-cell organism that became symbiotic with their hosts, as to be indispensable. Mitochondrial DNA is a remnant of a past existence as a separate organism. Mitochondria contain their own DNA, which we only inherit from our mothers, and can be used to trace maternal links (The American Heritage Science Dictionary).
“Jade Disc”, acrylic paint on canvas, 4’ x 6’, 2002.
“Jade Disc”. This disc is called a bi disc, it is a flat jade disc, with a circular hole in the center. They were used in Neolithic times, burial objects, undecorated, about 3000 B.C.E. The jade objects represent Heaven and were laid on the diseased.
Tao”, mixed media, acrylic on canvas, 4’ x 6’, 2002.
This painting represents the beginning of the universe. The red rays
piercing the disc, are the sparks that create the Ten Thousand Things in our
existence.
Verse 1.
The Tao that is unnamable is the Source of the Heaven and
the Earth.
Verse 40.
The name, once introduced, becomes the Mother of the Ten Thousand Things.
Returning (to the basis) is the motion of Tao,
Yielding is the work of Tao,
The Ten Thousand Things in the universe are born of being,
Being is born of nothingness.
Verse 42.
Tao begot one.
One begot two.
Two begot three.
And three begot the Ten Thousand Things. Lao
Tzu, The Tao Te Ching
"Silent Passage", oil on gessoed wood, 4' x 6', 2003.
Lao Tzu, The Tao Te Ching.
The reason water can keep changing its form is because it is essentially
formless. Its form is determined by what is around it. Put it in a cup, and it
will be cup-shaped. Put it in a ravine, and it will be river-shaped. It needs
no form of its own, because it harmonizes with everything around it, taking
other beings as its outline, instead of imposing itself upon others.
“Zen Drawing”, mixed media on wood, 3’ x 4’, 2002. Private Collection.
“Zen Drawing”. Enlightenment, the first principle is possible acknowledging the everything and everyone is Buddha-nature. Enlightenment is possible to everyone. Enlightenment in Buddhism, or for the Taoist sage, is not expressible in words, or logical thought. Intuitive understanding is necessary, acknowledging that eternity is here and now. Fredric Liberman
Nature Series:
My art consists of a combination of video installations and paintings, which form an exploration of the sights and sounds of water. Focusing on a natural vista, the viewer may experience the crashing of waves, the roar of a whitewater river, and the sounds of a brook working its way downward, in the cycle of movement, back to the ocean.
Photo by D.A. Hartley
My paintings create a tactile experience for the viewer, transforming the gallery into a visual world of life sized natural forms which mirror the existing environment. The paintings are sculptural, created on large wood panels, with deep texture, stains and oils are worked into the wood. The videos are of natural events, surrounding the viewer with the gentle or crashing sounds of water, designed to include the viewer within the artwork.
"Lost Canyon".
Paintings in this video: “Lost Canyon”, mixed media on wood, 4’ x 6’, 2005. Private collection. “Blossom Peak”, mixed media on wood, 4’ x 6’, 2004. Private collection. “Aspen”, mixed media on wood, 4’ x 6’, 2002. Private collection. “Starlight”, mixed media on canvas, diptych, 76” x 54”, 2004. Private collection. “Old Friends”, mixed media on wood, 4’ x 8’, 2001. Courtesy of the artist. “Old Oak and Rock”, oil on canvas, unfinished, 2017-2018. ”Cypress and Basalt”, mixed media on wood, 4’ x 6’, 2006. Private collection. “Aspens”, mixed media, gold on wood, diptych, 6’ x 8’, 2006. Private collection. “Tao”, cast bronze, 10.5” x 22”, 2002. Collection of the artist.
Art Exhibitions for this series:
Water! 2008, Conley Art Gallery, Fresno, CA. Solo Exhibition
Icons, 2004, Three Person Exhibition, Fourth Street Art Gallery, Berkeley, CA.
Temporal Man in Nature, 2002, Cort Gallery, Three Rivers, CA. Solo Exhibition.
Birth of a Painting Series X, “Mountains, Clouds, and Streams”.
“The world is a world of becoming. To see being in becoming,
and becoming in being, that is enlightenment”. D.T. Suzuki
Empirical and experiential sculptural paintings, within a
natural environment, the paintings are a combination of massive sculptural
grounds, forming a reflection of nature, reflecting the temporal nature of man.
"Mountains, Clouds, and Streams", mixed media on wood, triptych, 4' x 6', 2005. Courtesy of the artist.
Nature Series: Themes of Taoism by Denise Hartley.
Sculptural paintings on wood.
“My paintings are influenced from real physical spaces that
exist in nature. The painting is intrinsic to the wood panels that I use. A
tree was cut down to create this panel; the life of the tree encourages the
finished piece. My paintings begin more as sculptural projects. I assemble, sand,
stain, and texture, with an eye to the wood grains. I apply the paint by
rubbing the surface. The surface inspires the art.” D.A. Hartley
Artist D.A. Hartley creates a series
of empirical and experiential waterscapes in a video installation that explores
the sights and sounds of water.
Water!: D.A. Hartley
Museumgoers might be expected to
imagine entering a natural vista, experiencing the crashing of waves, the roar
of a whitewater river, and the sounds of a brook working its way downward, in
the cycle of movement, back to the ocean.
The viewers are invited to
participate in a format of healing and reflection upon nature.
Water! A combination of large-scale
videos within an installation format includes an inner meditation room,
surrounded by paintings and the gentle sounds of water, designed to include the
viewer in the artwork. The paintings are sculptural, created on large wood
panels, with deep texture, oil paints, and gold leaf. The videos are of natural
events; “Lost Canyon Falls”, includes water and fire, in a meditative film;
“Lake Kaweah”, transforms two years of photos into a video time piece,
recording the beauty of each passing day; “Douglas Creek”, includes streams,
meadows, and the sounds of water.
Lake Kaweah, 2007-2008,
large-format video collection of stills.
Conley Gallery, CSU Fresno, 2008.
One Woman Show.
A video of stills,
documenting the rising and
lowering of the waters of
Lake Kaweah,
from the wild flowers of
early spring,
to the snow-capped peaks in
the Sierra Nevada mountains of California.
Paintings:
"Cypress and Basalt", mixed media on wood, 4'x6', 2006. Private collection.
Douglas Creek is one of many small creeks that come directly
from the high-country snowmelt and natural springs. It is our drinking water
for our cabin in Stanislaus National Forest, located at 6,700 ft. where the
water is delivered by gravity flow. After passing by our cabin it enters the South
Fork of the Stanislaus River, which begins at (9,635 ft. (2,937 m) Leavitt
Peak, in Tuolumne County and eventually enters the San Joaquin River, and
drains into the San Francisco Bay.
This little mountain stream and river have sustained life
well beyond our time. There are parts of wagons used by the settlers trying to
cross the Sierra Nevada Mountains. There are obsidian points from the Miwok Native
American tribe and grinding stones. The tiny stream banks are lined with
willow, horsetail herb, mints, orchids, and many other wildflowers. As a child
I wandered where ever I wished, with the caveat that, if lost, head downhill. I
have slept outdoors with bear and mountain lions as possible visitors. Deer
have taken a nap beside me. Chipmunks and Golden Mantle squirrels have sat in
my hands. I trust the four- legged critters but keep a wary eye on the two
legged.
Climate Change is changing our landscape quickly. We had to
saw down six large beautiful Ponderosa trees this year alone. They are dying at
a rapid rate, from bark beetles (love the heat), and a fungus, which spreads
from fir tree roots. This was all predicted by a U.C. Berkeley scientist that
wrote about how pollution affects the photosynthesis process, especially in the
Ponderosa Pines. I watched a fire burn this summer across the river, tree
torches burning brightly in the night.
Nature influences my art, every aspect of nature in
the wild is so precious. In California we have been experiencing an extreme
drought, which is causing fires, and tree disease and plant die out in our
Sierra Nevada Mountains. We have lost thousands of trees in the last few years,
and the loss of natural habitat is shocking.
My painting “Nobe Young Falls”, is a landscape created in oil paints. Nobe
Young Falls are in Sequoia National Forest. I used to have a home in Camp
Nelson, and the falls were near my home. It is an area that was homesteaded by
my son’s great, great, grandmother, Nellie Marshall (the niece of John
Marshall, discoverer of Gold! in California). She homesteaded 200 acres near
Ponderosa, CA. in the Sierra Nevada’s of California, in 1870’s. She married
Nathan Dillon, a gold rush businessman, and owner of land that is now
Dillonwood Sequoia Grove in Sequoia National Park.
Nobe Young Falls are now a destination, when I hiked there it was an
unmarked trail. If you would like to visit these falls there are now directions
posted. https://www.world-of-waterfalls.com/california-nobe-young-falls.html
Here is a map of the Giant Sequoia Groves in the Sequoia National Forest.
Camp Nelson, Ponderosa, and Dillonwood are located on the second map: Giant Sequoia
Groves in Sequoia National Forest.
As an artist I seek balance in my life. As a healer, I use healing in my art
process.
As an artist I seek balance in my life. As a healer, I use healing in my art
process.
As an artist and healer, I address the healing of our planet. I try to
approach Climate Change, and our damaged environment, more as a spiritual
issue. First, we must heal ourselves, and by doing so we will become aware of
the reality of the global stress that humanity has caused.
My paintings are often bought by healing organizations and individuals.
"Golden Falls", was a corporate purchase by Kaweah Delta Medical
Center, Visalia, California. They have bought several of my paintings.
Please promote self-healing by visiting beautiful sites in nature. This
artwork was inspired by a small waterfall in Stanislaus National Forest. The
trail to the falls was a delight, each flower will delight and encourage you,
and the sounds of the forest, and stream, will lead you back to your true
self.
My paintings are often bought by healing organizations and individuals.
"Golden Falls", was a corporate purchase by Kaweah Delta Medical
Center, Visalia, California. They have bought several of my paintings.
Please promote self-healing by visiting beautiful sites in nature. This
artwork was inspired by a small waterfall in Stanislaus National Forest. The
trail to the falls was a delight, each flower will delight and encourage you,
and the sounds of the forest, and stream, will lead you back to your true
self.
Article by Denise Hartley, artist and gardener, etc.
I have inherited my grandmother's love of flowers. Just moments after arriving for a visit, she would say, “Let’s go outside and see the garden". “Blue Iris” is a photo taken by my photographer son, Chris Gilbert, in that garden. His photo was the source of my painting. When we sold her home, the blue iris came home with me, recently planted in this tree stump.
Flowers give me courage, the life of a flower is so ephemeral, the beauty of the flower quickly passes, and is soon replaced by another. My life is passing just as quickly, and I will soon be replaced by my children and grandchildren. I long to look at flowers (and grandchildren’s) beautiful faces.
In my little greenhouse I have a tray of tiny lavender plants, also snow peas, and a flat of chamomile. The flowers attract the butterflies, bees, and birds. My desk looks out over my garden. My dad was the gardener, with a large vegetable garden, and a pergola filled with red grapes. I am the new keeper of his garden. My garden here, although established, was a working man’s garden. I just finished planting his vegetable garden this winter, and I planted a peach tree, expecting blossoms and delicious peaches late spring.
I am off to paint a ceiling mural, sky and clouds, on my future grandchild’s nursery!
Many thanks for visiting this site!
Please respect the artist's copyright!
As an artist, I paint when I am
inspired. Everything flows; feeling great, working in the studio for hours,
paints flow from my brush. The question is how to be an artist when the
inspiration has disappeared, when you feel blocked from your inner self?
I began this series of paintings
while I was blocked! My creative solution was to paint the limitation that I
was feeling. I began just to paint actual BLOCKS, placed in restrictive grids, which
eventually swirled into patterns.
The first painting this series is the painting “Eye of God”.
Using the contrasting shades
of blue and orange created a boldness I had not expected. Somehow the ‘eye’ is not blocked, or it is not
placed within the grid. The ‘eye’ expands to me the feeling of what is possible,
or what is enduring within myself.
The painting “Self-Restraint”, painted
in blues and greens which followed the cool color pallet,
using analogous colors.
The lovely landscape is blocked by a
large grid, and it is broken into drip-like smaller grids within the panes of a
window. To me that exemplifies that there is beauty in the world, yet at the
time I could not quite access it.
My favorite of the series is “Creation”.
Warm colors are dominant, with a touch of cool blues and
greens. But everything
in the painting is off kilter, the edges are leaning at odd angles. The blocks
and the grids remain in the painting. The artist is still blocked, but she is
stacking the blocks in a manner that creates tension in the artwork.
“She Broke”.
The dominant orange, the contrasting blue highlights, black drips, blobs, and pools, and yes, the first block began in this painting, on the upper mid-right of the canvas.
Paintings by Denise Hartley: "Creation", oil on
canvas, 3'x4', 2000;
"Eye of God", oil on canvas, 3'x4', 2000;
"Self-Restraint",
oil on canvas, 3'x4', 2000;
"She Broke", oil on canvas, 30"x
48", 1998.
I have created another video in the “Birth of a Painting
Series”: BLOCKED.
This is the second painting in the series: Birth of a Painting Series. Artists love to create, and I am trying to dedicate my time to create a platform to showcase my art. Sadly, painting is so much more rewarding for me! This week I am washing each of my paintings, photographing them, and formatting the photos for different uses. Before this, then that, which means that I have to learn to use a 35mm camera, light balance, f stops, the list is endless. I was almost caught swearing the other day. My son is helping me with #'s. I have started posting on Instagram:dahartley222, Twitter: DAHartley, my wordpress blog, Friend Nature (https://friendnature.wordpress.com). The learning curve makes my head spin. I would rather be out today under the blue sky digging in my garden! My art focuses on spirituality, healing, self-expression, and nature themes. My collectors have noticed my healing theme, my paintings have been purchased by hospitals, nurses, and healing professionals, and those individuals that need healing. I am currently inspired by artist, writer, and teacher, Lisa Congdon. Her book, ART, INC. is driving me on. (lisacongdon.com). She offers ideas on how to prepare a press kit, advertising on line, creating a marketing plan, just about everything you need to learn to promote your own art. Check out her website! She Broke, is the first of a similar group of paintings from my BLOCKED art show in 2000. I will be posting the rest of the painting in the next several posts. Well, back to work (where are the emoji's on Blogger?). Denise
The painting, “She Broke” is dedicated to the “MeToo” movement and to all women.
Time Magazine’s Person of the Year is dedicated to #MeToo.
Time article by Bill Chappell,
“It has created a wave of awareness and brave confrontations over sexual harassment and assault, taking down powerful men in the process. And now the #MeToo movement has been named Time magazine's Person of the Year
for 2017.
She Broke, oil on canvas, 16" x 20", 1998.
Self Portrait, oil on canvas, 16" x 20", 1998.
A thirty second video from: Birth of a Painting Series: She Broke.
In the Birth of a
Painting Series, I try to give examples where the artist finds inspiration
in creating an artwork, and how the creative process develops within the
artist.
I begin this series with
my painting “Blossom Peak”. It is a 4’ x 6’, mixed media painting on a wood
panel, created in 2004. It is in a private collection.
The inspiration for the
painting “Blossom Peak” began on a hike I took with my son. We climbed an iconic
peak in Three Rivers, California. Three Rivers is near the entrance to Sequoia
National Park, on the banks of the whitewater Kaweah River. The park is the
home of Mount Whitney, in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. It is famous for
its giant sequoia groves, jagged peaks, and glacier polished valleys, rushing
rivers, and wildlife. As a resident of Three Rivers, hiking is an important
experience, as well as white water rafting and swimming, and it is the
backpackers dream location.
My young son I
enthusiastically began our hike at the base of Blossom Peak, and headed
straight up hill, we rose above California’s Central Valley, hidden by fog.
After reaching the top, we could see the peaks of the Sierra Nevada, signed the
book, made our cell calls, and then my son looked over the steep edge, and
slipped. He somehow caught himself at the last moment at the precipice, a 35’
drop to the rocks below.
In the spirit of
jubilant thankfulness, we began our descent. The inspiration of this painting
was based upon the high emotions that I felt that day, and on our return, I
began this painting, “Blossom Peak”.
Denise Hartley
Video: Birth of a Painting Series:
“Blossom Peak”.
