I intuitively paint and sketch on paper and fabric. 

I mostly use watercolour paints on paper and fabric paint on cotton. Watercolours because I like the pigment they have. Often, I use charcoal, usually from the campfire when I am travelling, staying in my motorhome, in bush settings. I have painted from ochres, I have crushed from soft coloured rocks which I sift and add to glue to paint with. The more challenging the medium, the more rewarded I feel at times. Often, I experiment using things I find on the ground to use as mark making instruments. I enjoy the idea of recycling everything for another purpose. Wherever I am from day to day, I am highly aware of textures, pattern, shapes, and the light.  

However, I am at my most creative when I am fully emersed amongst nature.  I rarely plan what I intend to do on paper or fabric, it’s usually an idea that presents a mark or image in my mind. When that feeling for creativity arises, I can’t start quick enough and once I begin, it’s difficult for me to stop painting. One idea leads to another and then another. Creating colour combinations becomes addictive and completely absorbing.  

Denise’s home base, on ten acres of land, is surrounded by nature. It’s situated in the hinterland of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia.