Hi! I'm Denise.
ARTIST BIO & MISSION STATEMENT
I fell in love with acrylic painting 18 years ago as a teenager in Utah, then later through formal instruction at Colorado State University. Painting became a visual language for me, offering connection and expression where my sensorineural hearing loss made communication feel limiting.
Today, I live on a quiet stretch of land in rural Colorado, where the solitude fuels much of my inspiration. The land itself—its open skies, wildlife, silence—finds its way into my work. But I’m grounded by community through my longtime studio in Denver at Kashi Kari Gallery where I enjoy connecting with neighboring artists and visitors. Influenced by Georgia O’Keeffe's independent spirit, I like making one-of-a-kind pieces, or "high desert noir," works that reinterpret landscape, myth, and modern life in the American West. I intentionally focus on originals to preserve the intimacy and individuality of each piece for collectors.
My mission is to use narrative surrealism as activism: every painting becomes an argument for the conservation of land, memory, and myth in a rapidly changing American West. In 2025, I’m expanding my work to intersect more directly with environmental advocacy and nonprofit partnerships. I believe in the power of narrative-driven art not only to reflect the world, but to shape it.
-xoxo, Denise
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS & PUBLIC PROJECTS
Jul 2017 - Present | Kashi Kari Gallery & Cooperative | Denver, CO
Member Resident
Oct - Nov 2025 | The Lab on Santa Fe How Fargo Can You Go? | Denver, CO
Open Show
Sept - Oct 2025 | Niza Knoll Gallery, Small Works | Denver, CO
Open Show
Mar 2023 | Athena Project, Women in Their Infinite Forms | Denver, CO
Grant Recipient & Selected Artist
Jun 2022 | Art Students League of Denver Flagpole Project | Denver, CO
Grant Recipient & Selected Artist
Jun 2021 | Biennial of the Americas, Covid-19 Memorial | Denver, CO
Virtual Open Show
Dec 2020 - Feb 2021 | R Gallery, Circles & Squares | Boulder, CO
Open Show
Nov 2020 - Jan 2021 | Littleton Museum, Liberating Humor | Littleton, CO
Open Show
Jul 2019 | Harvest Moon Women’s Retreat | Elizabeth, CO
Art Instructor
Apr - Sep 2019 | Colorado Mills Shopping Center, 50 for 50 | Lakewood, CO
Open Show
Nov 2016 | CORE Art Space, Grande Petit Deux | Denver, CO
Open Show
Nov 2012 - Apr 2013 | MSP Int’l Airport National Arts Program | Minneapolis, MN
Open Show
DONATION PARTNERSHIPS
Apr 2023-25 | Dinosaur Ridge Gala Fundraiser | Morrison, CO
Sept 2024 | Access Gallery 99 Piece Fundraiser | Denver, CO
Jan 2022 | Firehouse Art Center Fundraiser, BCWF | Longmont, CO
May 2020 | Online Covid Relief Artwork Auction| Franktown, CO
Aug 2017 | Keller Williams Cares Black White Gala | Lone Tree, CO
Sept 2012 | Friends of Animals Barking Ball Fundraiser | Park City, UT