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Denise’s presentation will be live and a recording will be available to all attendees soon after the Summit ends on August 6, 2023.

Registration for PAS is open through July with a finite number of spaces available.

ABOUT DENISE

My love of crafts started in childhood. My mother was a knitter, crocheter, and fabric artist, often recognized for her innovative uses of the knitting machine, and I spent my spare time creating with her. I attribute my imagination, talent, and innovative drive to my mother. I have lived in Connecticut most of my life. 

I followed in both parents’ footsteps and became a teacher. I hold a B.S. in Secondary Spanish Education, an M.S. in Secondary Curriculum, and a Certificate of Graduate Studies in Educational Leadership. I was a Spanish teacher for 27 years. 

My journey began with beading and moved on to wire work, enameling, mixed media, and finally, polymer clay. I am now a polymer clay mixed media artist. I unite wire, mesh, fiber, beads, paint, powders, found objects, paper, and more with polymer clay. My interests in wire and mesh with the medium allow me to discover new possibilities in polymer clay.

• Honorable Mention: Heart of the Maker, 2022, Anxiety Mask, juror Kathleen Dustin, Lexington Arts & Crafts Society Gallery show Optimism
• Presenter, Polymer Art Summit: Polymer Plus, 2023, I’m Totally Wired! 
• The International Polymer Clay Association, current, Vice President of Communications
• The Southern Connecticut Polymer Clay Guild, current, President
• Teacher, Polymer Clay Symposium, 2021, Curious Mondo
• Design Team Member, 2020-2022, CreateAlong.com
• Contributing Artist, 2020-2022, Passion for Polymer 
• Teacher, 2020-2021, Polymer Clay Adventure

Denise’s Presentation

I’m Totally Wired!

I started using wire with my polymer clay projects about three years ago and I have been hooked ever since. My mother was a fantastic knitter and sewer and although I did learn how to knit, I never learned how to properly sew.

I wanted to see what would happen if I started sewing wire into my polymer clay pieces. That discovery was mind blowing for me! I then started adding wire in other ways to my clay pieces and adding my own wire chain with other mixed media like gemstones, fiber, glass, acrylic, ceramic, and more, to create finished pieces unlike anything I had been producing before. I find that sewing with wire is so … well, just cool….and adding other mixed media so creative that it keeps all my pieces fresh and new.

In this presentation, you will learn how to incorporate wire and wire mesh with polymer clay in what I hope are new and exciting ways. My vision is one where the wire mesh and the wire, which are typically used for the structure of a piece, or what I like to call the “endoskeleton”, become part of the “exoskeleton” of the piece so that polymer clay and other media work seamlessly together.

Examples of Denise’s Work

Click to view larger images.