Denise Emerson

When Denise was six years old, her teacher gave the students what were called “ditto sheets.” She was supposed to color the pictures with crayons or colored pencils, but she started drawing outside of the lines on the sheets. The teacher saw what Denise was doing and asked her, “Denise, what made you think of doing that?” Denise couldn’t explain at that age, but knew that she didn’t want to be confined by the lines. She was the first person who noticed Denise creating her own composition.

Art is in Denise’s body, she creates beadwork and prints inspired by Native designs and ancestral photos, and uses modern technology to create beading patterns, her gut tells her when an art piece is finished. It’s good medicine for her spiritually.