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.

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”, mixed media on wood, gold leaf, 4′ x 6′, 2005.

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 VIII: “Water”, an Installation.

 

Water! A combination of large-scale videos within an installation format that 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”, in the meditation room, includes streams, meadows, and the sounds of water.

“Koi”, oil on wood, gold leaf, diptych, 70″ x 68″, 2008.

Paintings: “Cypress and Basalt”, mixed media on wood, 4′ x 6′, 2006. Private collection.

“Aspens”, mixed media, gold leaf on wood, diptych, 6′ x 8′, 2006. Private collection.

“Mountains, Clouds, and Streams”, mixed media on wood, triptych, 4′ x 6′, 2008. For sale.

“Silent Passage”, oil on gessoed wood, 4′ x 6′, 2004. Private collection.

Copyright 2018 Denise Hartley.

Thank you for reading my Friend Nature Blog!

http://www.dahartley.com

Birth of a Painting Series VII, “Douglas Creek”.

“Douglas Creek”, acrylic on canvas, 3′ x 4′, 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.

Thank you for reading,

Denise Hartley

 

 

Birth of a Painting Series IV: “Nobe Young Falls”

Birth of a Painting Series VI: “Nobe Young Falls”.

“Nobe Young Falls”, oil on canvas, 3′ x 4′, 2010

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.  Dillon Wood

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.

Thank you for reading this post! Denise Hartley

 

 

Birth of a Painting Series V: “Golden Falls, Lost Canyon”.

“Golden Falls”, artist Denise Hartley

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.

“Golden Falls”, mixed media, gold leaf, on wood panel, 4′ x 6′, 2005.

 

 

Please promote self-healing by visiting beautiful sites in nature. Being in nature is a blessing, each flower will delight and encourage you, and the sounds of the forest and stream will lead you back to your true self.

Blessings to you,

Denise Hartley

Website: D.A. Hartley: http://www.dahartley.com

Birth of a Painting Series IV: Blue Iris

Birth of a Painting Series IV: Blue Iris

The Life of Flowers

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.” Her door to the garden was a glass storm door, always letting in the light and colors of the garden. Her home was full of florals, a rose bud was placed on her dinner tray, and each of her linens and drapes were patterned with florals. My son later restored her garden while renting her home, a garden that was destroyed after many years of renters. “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.

Please view my page ‘Healing Plants’, a blog about my grandmother’s garden, then my sons, and last, my beautiful garden at her home: Page on this site: https://friendnature.wordpress.com/healing-plants/

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. The blooms of chamomile go into my tea, I cherish scented flowers of the sweet pea, and the budding squash blossoms that will soon be vegetables. I love flowers!

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.

Years ago, when my children were small, I was known as the artist that painted flowers. I had a large greenhouse filled with herbs, seed, and tiny plants. My retreat was a comfortable chair, just cherishing the quiet, and the scent of earth. The blooms, one of the healing powers of flowers, is the gardens reward. I opened a medicinal herb nursery, Emerald Gardens, and shared the bounty with the farmers market and the neighborhood deer.

Living on the South Fork of the Kaweah River, near the entrance of Sequoia National Park, I felt most comfortable backpacking alone, so I could linger in the beauty of the mountains. Hiking through mountain lion country, and crossing rivers, and snow watered creeks added excitement, but this was necessary to visit my favorite destination, Garfield Redwood Grove.  Amazing, among the redwoods were shoulder high lupin flowers, and fern. http://www.redwoodhikes.com/SequoiaNP/Garfield.html

 

I am off to paint a ceiling mural, sky and clouds, on my future grandchild’s nursery!

Many thanks for visiting this site!

From the desk of Denise

htttp://www.dahartley.com

https://friendnature.wordpress.com

 

Birth of a Painting Series III: “Blocked”.

BIRTH OF A PAINTING SERIES III: “BLOCKED, an Art Exhibition”. Fresno, CA, 2000.

As an artist, I paint when I am inspired. Everything flows; feeling great, working in the studio for hours, paint flows from my brush. The question is how to be an artist when the inspiration has disappeared, when you feel blocked from your inner self?

The painting “She Broke”, was the beginning of the “Blocked” series. 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. The broken figurine is real, and she is still broken, kept as a reminder of the past.

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 next painting is the “Eye of God”. Using the contrasting shades of blue and orange creates a boldness I had not expected.  The ‘eye’ is not blocked,  and 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 follows 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. I am encouraged by the reddish blast occurring in the top left, breaking the grid, and the swirl in the middle, and the circular objects lying upon the grid!

“Venus”, D.A. Hartley

This is the first painting created of the BLOCKED art exhibition. “Venus”, oil on canvas, 30″ x 48″, 1997. Venus figurines found in caves, the earliest created 35,000 years ago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_figurines

 

 

Many thanks for your interest,

Denise Hartley

Please respect the artists copyright. 

Exhibition: Paintings by Denise Hartley:

“Creation”, oil on canvas, 3’x4′, 2000;

 “Eye of God”, oil on canvas, 3’x4′, 1998;

  “Self-Restraint”, oil on canvas, 3’x4′, 1999;

 “She Broke”, oil on canvas, 30″x 48″, 1998.

“Venus”, oil on canvas, 30″x 48″, 1997.

http://www.dahartley.com

http://www.denisehartley.org 

Instagram: dahartley222

 

 

 

Birth of a Painting Series: “Blossom Peak”.

Article by Denise Hartley

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.

Painting, Blossom Peak, by artist Denise Hartley

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 snow covered 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”.

 

Video: Birth of a Painting Series: “Blossom Peak”.

 

California Oil Wells Pumped Waste Into Aquifers

California State shuts 12 oil company wells that pumped waste into aquifers
By David R. BakerMarch 3, 2015 Updated: March 3, 2015 8:54pm

Photo: Jae C. Hong, Associated Press

State shuts 12 oil company wells that pumped waste into aquifers

By David R. Baker

March 3, 2015 Updated: March 3, 2015 8:54pm

State officials have ordered oil companies to shut 12 more wells that injected oil-field wastewater into drinkable aquifers beneath California’s drought-stricken Central Valley, regulators reported Tuesday.The wells, used to dispose of water left over from oil production, are clustered in Kern County, the heart of the state’s petroleum industry. All have pumped water laced with oil and trace chemicals into aquifers that could be used for drinking or irrigation in the valley’s fields and orchards.

They are the result of three decades of bureaucratic confusion among state and federal regulators that allowed oil companies to drill hundreds of disposal wells into aquifers that were supposed to be protected by law. The problem was the subject of a Chronicle investigation in February.

Each of the 12 wells recently ordered closed was found to be injecting wastewater within a lateral mile and 500 vertical feet of a drinking-water well, prompting the shutdown order from the state’s Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources.

RELATED

File – This Jan. 16, 2015, file photo shows pumpjacks operating at the Kern River Oil Field in Bakersfield, Calif. California is proposing broad changes in the way it protects underground water sources from oil and gas operations, after finding 2,500 instances in which the state authorized oil and gas operations in protected water aquifers. State oil and gas regulators on Monday, Feb. 9, released a plan they sent the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week for bringing the state back into compliance with federal safe-drinking water requirements. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, file) State pledges to stop oil firms from tainting aquifers Aletha, center, and Tom Frantz, right, and family friend Judy Reed, left, plant new almond trees as P.D., the dog, wanders by Jan. 29, 2015 on Frantz’s land in Shafter, Calif. Frantz is a fourth generation farmer who recently inherited his father’s land and currently has 4,000 almond trees. Frantz is concerned about the quality of his future water supply. State let oil companies taint drinkable water in Central Valley
‘A significant step’

“As we’ve said before, the protection of California’s groundwater resources — as well as public health — is paramount, particularly in this time of extreme drought,” said Steven Bohlen, the division’s supervisor. “Halting injection into these wells is a significant step toward that goal.”

So far, no drinking wells have been found to be contaminated by the underground wastewater injections.

“We intend to keep it that way,” Bohlen said.

The companies that own 10 of the injection wells voluntarily relinquished their well permits, Bohlen said. The division has filed cease-and-desist orders against the two companies that own the two other wells, demanding that injections stop within 24 hours. All of the companies will be required to test water quality in the affected aquifers and check for contamination in nearby drinking-water wells.

Eight other injection wells shut down by the state last year remain closed.

California produces more oil than any state other than Texas and North Dakota, and its petroleum reservoirs hold far more water than crude. Last year, oil companies extracted 205.3 million barrels of petroleum from the ground, along with 3.3 billion barrels of salty water, according to the division. Once it has been separated from the oil, most of the water is pumped back underground, sometimes into the same formation it came from, sometimes elsewhere — including usable aquifers.

A Chronicle review in February found 171 cases in which the division allowed oil companies to inject “produced water” into high-quality aquifers that were supposed to be protected under federal law. Another 253 injection wells went into aquifers whose water could have been used with more extensive treatment.

In addition, the division improperly issued permits for 2,021 other wells that are injecting water or steam into aquifers that also contain oil, usually as a way of squeezing more petroleum out of the ground.

The wells recently ordered closed are owned by California Resources Corp., Chevron U.S.A., E&B Natural Resources Management, Linn Operating Inc., Modus Inc. and Western States International Inc. Modus and Western States received cease-and-desist orders from the division.

“It’s encouraging to see them take immediate action when they see a threat,” said Andrew Grinberg, oil and gas program manager with the Clean Water Action environmental group. “Obviously we have concerns about all the wells that remain open.”

Series of foul-ups

The problem dates to 1982, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency granted the division authority to enforce the federal Safe Drinking Water Act in California’s oil fields. Through a tangled series of snafus, the two agencies developed different lists of aquifers that were considered suitable for wastewater disposal. As a result, the division started issuing injection permits for some aquifers that should have been protected, a problem that persisted undiscovered until 2011.

According to a report issued Tuesday by state environmental regulators, the federal EPA and the division adopted two agreements on which aquifers to use, one in 1982 and the other the following year. But the signature page of the second agreement, including the date, was photocopied from the first, adding to the confusion.

3 shut wells reopened

The problem first sprang into public view last year when the division abruptly shut down 11 injection wells in Kern County, fearing that they had breached aquifers already used for drinking or irrigation. The owners of three of those wells were later allowed to resume pumping after they proved to state officials that their wells had not accessed drinking-water aquifers after all.

The division is now examining all of the disputed injection wells and has warned oil companies that injections into potentially drinkable aquifers must stop by Oct. 15.

David R. Baker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: dbaker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @DavidBakerSF

David R. Baker
David R. Baker
Business Reporter

The Beauty of Change, the Basics for Survival, Earth Unplugged

The Earth seen from Apollo 17. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Basics for Survival, Earth Unplugged

The Beauty of Change, Essay 1, the Basic Steps…

Simple Steps for Improving Your Life:

1. Cherish what you have. Appreciate your life, family, friends, and your blessings given by our planet and ‘Mother Nature.’  Everything comes from Nature. Every material object in your life came from our Earth, at a great cost. The planet cannot keep up with our consumption. Give back to Nature, recycle what you do not need, it is made from precious material. Watch what you throw away, are you really giving back to Nature by dumping into her earth and water what you have consumed and no longer want?
2. Recognize that you have what you need. If you have a home, food, water, you have enough. Everything else is a want. The First World (us) has taken too much from a finite planet (the only one we have). We are stripping our planet of its resources for our pleasure, leaving little for the rest of humanity. We choose not to see what our selfishness has caused, and the suffering of the Third World, who is starving and thirsty. I know we can do better.
3.  Simplify your life. Having less material objects creates a space that you will enjoy more. Give away or sell what you do not need, someone else can use it. Eating less and more healthy simple foods will increase your enjoyment also. Growing your own organic foods gives pleasure, knowing that you are working with, and in nature. Your body is part of Nature, give it simple good food, and it will reward you with good health. Learn to recognize what will enhance your diet, and create good health. Eat less high resource foods: meat, out of season fruits and vegetables (they have probably traveled more that you have), factory created foods (processed, and dead, also well traveled).

What Easy Improvements I Made to Enjoy My Life More:

• I sold my large house, and downsized (2003)…AND use way less power. Easier to clean, more time to spend outside in Nature
• I became a vegetarian (1995)…I grow my own food, and my protein is from fruits and vegetables, legumes, and eggs from my chicken, AND have great health. I eat less and enjoy it more. I don’t eat GMO corn or soy products (they are hidden in packaged food).
• I use less energy in my new home, replace your light bulbs with more energy efficient CFL’s…Check your appliance efficiency. My heater is on a low setting, so I dress warm.
• Gave up TV (1995)…The new flat screen TV’s use 2x to 4x the energy of the old tube ones. Again, I am outside in Nature, or reading, or painting.
• Unplug what you are not using, standby mode uses electricity….
• I sold my super cool Black & Silver Dodge Ram truck, and bought a small Toyota pickup, now I have downsized again, being given a free car that has great gas mileage.
• I found something useful to do, and am getting a teaching credential, AND blogging about climate change.
• I stopped buying what I do not need. Yes, even Christmas presents, I bought everyone socks for Christmas! I make my own beer and wine (another blog), and gave as Christmas presents).
• I recycle everything. I have a compost pile, recycle cans, jars, plastic, etc., I have very little trash to send back into the Earth.

Starting the Garden

Growing the Garden

Eating the Garden

Mother Nature (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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