Denise, born in rural Saskatchewan, is the daughter of a Canadian WWII volunteer Veteran and a British war bride, and part of a large extended family. It was a family that overcame post war economic challenges and the challenges of a sister born with hydrocephalus. She has shared that this sister helped shape her into the person she is today, and wouldn’t have wished for her life to have been any different. It was a family that embraced life, loved the arts, respected and valued a connection with nature and took joy in the simple things.

Like her father, her interests led her in many directions, working as a hair dresser, a cake decorator, an owner of a daycare, a singer in a band, a home care provider and an educator. Like her mother, she kindles a yearning to travel and see other parts of the world, and to always keep learning.

She studied Visual Arts at the University of Regina and took several creative writing and art classes through community night school. Her self-taught painting has developed over the years influenced by her love of travel, nature and the flavours of diverse cultures. She has used her art as a way to communicate and, when she worked as an Educational Assistant, as a way to support youth facing various challenges to promote
and achieve inclusivity.

Denise believes that everything we see or experience, changes us, making each day divergent. We are what we see and do and a reciprocal relationship if formed between the two. This belief is reflected in her wide range of subject matter and style shared with you through her art.