A Splash of Garden Delights

Denise Cross is a visual artist progressively working towards her MVA, creating artworks primarily in acrylic paint, watercolour, charcoal and graphite. Her starting points begin exploratively, carrying out detailed studies of her subject matter, relying heavily on graphite and charcoal. These realistic studies become her stimulus, from which she acquires elements from symbolism and realism, taking her work through a process of stylisation. The central driving force to Denise’s artwork is to bring to light hidden stories, memories or moments of time through the means of what some perceive as mundane, ordinary, everyday or insignificant. She is deeply motivated in providing opportunities to bring hope, appreciation, healing, or to challenge preconceived ideas or notions.

Her painting ‘A Splash of Garden Delights’ is an exquisite array of fauna, providing a moment to breath slow deep breaths to escape the tumultuous seasons of late. The interplay of colours, textures and interlocking diversity of forms, of the Waratah, the kangaroo Paws, and the Flowering Gumnuts, allow you to playfully bounce from one to the next, releasing an uplifting, re-energising breathtakingly beautiful sense of hope and positivity.

Denise Cross has been a finalist in a series of reputable art competitions such as; Redlands Art Awards 2024, Brisbane Portrait Prize 2023, and Percival Portrait Painting Prize 2018. She has regularly contributed works to solo and group exhibitions, within Queensland and Bangkok. Denise has been a secondary art teacher for 26 years, completing a BFA and M.Ed. Her personal visual arts practice always accompanies her teaching practice.