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