Denise Whitmore lives in a little piece of paradise just on the outskirts of New Plymouth. She has had no formal art training and is mostly self taught, starting in 1996 with small watercolour studies of shells. She then moved swiftly to acrylics on board and canvas, attracted by the texture of the paint and the vibrancy of the colours. As an artist she finds endless inspiration in the extremes of the Taranaki environment, particularly the fantastic beaches and the things found washed ashore. A member of the New Plymouth Potters Inc., Denise has been playing with clay on and off for about 20 years, and produces wall tiles and sculptures depicting the flora and fauna of New Zealand. She has also dabbled in the production of works of a more commercial nature such as company logos, graphics, business cards and so on, and more recently, illustrations for children's books.