Gallery Viewing Hours: Monday, Friday and Saturday 10am-5pm, Tuesday-Thursday 10am-8pm
Road Taken
Do you have a road not taken?
This was the question explored during my bestie’s weekend away celebrating our collective 50th birthday’s. They convinced me that it was not too late to pursue my Fine Arts Degree. I started classes at NSCAD in the winter of 2023 and in a word the experience has been expansive.
The exhibit showcases examples of portraiture sound scapes, forged metal sculpture, bronze bust made through the lost wax process, ceramics in contemporary architecture and furniture, colour and finish test tiles for the Culture Hub Fireplace, large scale sculpture techniques, mold making processes, chemistry composition of both clay and glaze, mark making through ink and charcoal.
Scythian Queen Headdress based on 4th century BC funeral feast of warrior women; muscles of the face sculpture from human anatomy class, recreation of 16th Century floor tiles from Saint Nicolas Troyes Aube in France; ceramic sandbar chair, face masks window insert, and of course a selection complex functional ceramic pieces are a few examples of techniques and processes explored over the past couple of years.
Art school is teaching me how to see, express, share, experiment, play, take risks, fail and recover. I’m thrilled to share a selection of my favorite class projects that have pushed me into an expansive creative space.
This exhibition is installed July 21 – September 12, 2025 with an opening reception on Thursday July 24 from 5:30pm-7:30pm.
About the artist
Denise is a ceramic artist, owner of Martin Ceramic, and student at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.
In her studio practice, she creates small batch functional pottery using soft glazes, elegant lines and understated details. Her viking warrior alter ego is unleashed in the creation of large vases, platters, and mazers referencing metallic elements and jewels in dramatic gestural forms.
The Culture Hub fireplace, Clachairean, commission was created in collaboration with Fenn Martin. The A-symmetrical design echoes an 18th century rock-built structure. Each unique ceramic tile surface and texture weaves a story of labour and landscape with patterns and textures rendered from wheat, risks, trees and geological fissures, which trace the spirit of early settler labor.
Denise has a Bachelor of Commerce Degree and spent over a decade in the corporate technology space where she designed and implemented Human Resources Management Systems. Within this fast paced and demanding career, she enjoyed travel throughout Canada and the United States, working in energetic and dynamic teams.
In 2012, she returned to her hometown to focus on family, developing a studio practice, and fostering a creative community. Martin Ceramic was launched in the following year. Denise is a juried member of Craft Nova Scotia, member of Nova Scotia Potters Guild and an active board member of Creative Pictou County. She was honoured with the Town of New Glasgow Culture and Heritage Award, Royal Bank Women of Influence Nominee, and recipient of Talent Trust, Xerox Canada, and Allan Clark Fleming Memorial Scholarships.
