Denise Harris is a Renaissance Woman, not only multi-talented in a number of disciplines and crafts, but a master of those fields. At last count, she is accomplished in the following: graphic design, sculpture, leaded glass window-making, wood-carving, drawing, watercolors, silk screening, carpentry, poster design, jewelry making, set construction, acting, singing, mobile construction, wagon building, sign-carving, set-painting, acrylics, print-making, and building musical instruments.
Perhaps the artwork most familiar to Denise’s public on Bainbridge, where she moved in 1981, are the miniature metal sculptures that she has created for multiple shows on the Island, including the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, which has made them part of its permanent collection. Beyond gallery walls, her distinctive touch can be seen throughout the Island, from the carved signs that create a sense of unity in businesses in Lynwood Center to the decoration of the Winslow Christmas tree.
One admirer commented that Denise seems to have applied the concept of One-Man Band to her life: “One can easily imagine her singing a song she wrote while playing an instrument she built in front of a set she designed and painted below a sign she carved for the site and before an audience drawn there by posters she created.” She is, however, more comfortable as a member of the chorus than as a star. “She is not one to blow her own horn,” the admirer continued. “Of course maybe that would change if she constructed the horn first….”
One-Man Band and Renaissance Woman, Denise has enriched our lives through her commitment to the diversity of the arts on Bainbridge.
Listen to Bainbridge Community Broadcasting’s interview with Denise Harris: