About Me

I am a pastel artist living in Stratford, Ontario.

I have always had a fascination with art, and as a teenager I dreamed of becoming an artist. However, I followed what I felt was a practical path into the healthcare field, and graduated college as a pharmacy technician. During my 35-year career in hospital pharmacy, I dabbled in drawing and painting in my spare time.  Once my two wonderful boys came along though, my art activities happily shifted to enjoying cut and paste, finger painting and other kids crafts with them.

Fast forward 27 years and suddenly I had more time to devote to my interest in art. I enrolled at Sheridan College of Art and Design in 2013 and graduated from the Fine Arts Certificate program with high honors in 2015. My first encounter with using pastel was at Sheridan and it was love at first touch! The soft buttery feel and luscious colours of the pigment had me hooked on this wonderful medium!

 I retired from hospital pharmacy in 2016 and relocated to Stratford, Ontario to pursue my dream of working as an artist full time. 

I paint subjects that I find a connection to. This allows me to truly enjoy the process of painting my impression of the landscape, still life, pet or people portraits. I strive to capture the light, colour and atmosphere of the landscape and the realism and mood of unique still life arrangements for you to enjoy.

My goal with painting what moves me, is to evoke an emotion in the viewer. When a viewer connects with my work and finds that it has the ability to stir within them a memory, meaning, a smile or a dream, then I have accomplished this goal. 

~ Denise

 Where You Can Find My Work

 Village Studios 

24 Downie St. 

Stratford, ON

N5A 1W5

519-271-7231

 Village Studios is a beautiful gallery/gift shop that has been selling Canadian fine art and craft in Stratford for over thirty years. I am honored to have my pastel paintings hang alongside the other artwork in this lovely gallery. Please stop in and see my work when in Stratford.

Stratford Art in the Park

(May to Sept )

Lakeside Drive

Stratford, ON

N5A 7S3

Stratford Art in the Park has presented a juried professional outdoor art show on the banks of Lake Victoria in Stratford since 1968. The show is open every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday (weather permitting) from the end of May till September. 

 A Little Bit About Past Exhibitions of Denise's Work

Denise is an award winning pastel artist living in Stratford, Ontario. Her work has been exhibited at Gallery Stratford Public Art Gallery and in over 35 juried international and regional/local competitions for both pastel and open medium exhibitions. For full list of juried exhibits, please click on the button below.  

Denise has earned her Signature status with Pastel Artists of Canada and is a juried Active Member of

Federation of Canadian Artists.