Cafe Bliss Art Show 2019, Oakdale, CA


Cafe Bliss
152 N Yosemite Ave, Oakdale, CA 95361
July 1 - November 1


Mountains, Clouds and Streams, 2015
Mixed media on wood
Triptych
4’x 6’
Courtesy of Artist


Artist, D.A. Hartley

Manuel Antonio, 2019
Acrylic on canvas
40" x 30"
Courtesy of Artist



Douglas Creek, 2015
Acrylic on canvas
40" x 30"
Courtesy of Artist




Nobe Young Falls, 2017
Oil on canvas
30" x 40"
Courtesy of Artist






Douglas Falls, 2011
Watercolor, ink on paper
8” x 6”
Courtesy of the Artist



Un verre d’eau, 2019
Oil on canvas
12” x 16”
Courtesy of Artist



Blue Iris, 2014
Oil on canvas
40" x 30"
Courtesy of Artist



Pink Orchid, 2015
Oil on canvas
30" x 40"
Courtesy of Artist



Tsunami Buddha, 2005
Mixed media on canvas
16” x  20”
Courtesy of the Artist



In this series, World of Abstraction, my paintings are based upon philosophical ideas, and addressing the unknown. Paintings by Denise Hartley.

“Passage Way”.   The opening into another dimension. How do we reach the unknown within ourselves? How do we learn about ourselves?

To Know Yourself is to Forget Yourself

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
Zen Buddhism And Its Relationship
to Elements of Eastern And Western Art

http://artsites.ucsc.edu/faculty/lieberman/zen.html

Birth of a Painting Series IX: "Solid Footing, Trees and Rocks".

" A beautiful thing calls forth things that are 
beautiful in kind..."
                                  Tung Chung-Shu
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.

DSCN5755
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.
lostcanyon.logo
"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:
  1. Water! 2008, Conley Art Gallery, Fresno, CA. Solo Exhibition
  2. Icons, 2004, Three Person Exhibition, Fourth Street Art Gallery, Berkeley, CA.
  3. Temporal Man in Nature, 2002, Cort Gallery, Three Rivers, CA. Solo Exhibition.
Thank you for visiting my art blog,
Denise

Birth of a Painting Series X: "Mountains, Clouds, and Streams".

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
"Tao", cast bronze, 10.5" x 22", 2002.

Birth of a Painting Series VIII: Installation, "Water!".

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.                 

"Aspens", oil paint, gold leaf on wood, diptych, 6'x8', Private Collection.  

"Mountains, Clouds and Streams", mixed media on wood, triptych, 4'x6'. For Sale.    

"Silent Passage",oil paint on gessoed wood, 4'x6', 2004. Private Collection.                       
"Koi", oil paint, gold leaf on wood, diptych, 70"x 68", 2008. For Sale.

                                           


Copyright© Denise Hartley 2018
all rights reserved 

Birth of a Painting Series VII: "Douglas Creek". 2015

         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. 

Denise Hartley

A Study of a Maxfield Parrish Painting

  A study of the painting, Aquamarine, by Maxfield Parrish. For the fans of Parrish, I began this study to learn how to create the glowing i...