Denise was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and moved to California in 1960. She lives in Fremont, California with her husband. They have two married sons and three grandchildren. Denise spent 30 years working for Kaiser Permanente in the Information Technology area before retiring to work on her art full-time. She completed her formal education at the University of California at Berkeley with a degree in mathematics. She has been quilting for over 35 years and doing watercolors for over 20 years. Her current focus is mixed media art quilts.

Her work has won many awards and has been included in many private and public collections. Her work can be seen at Valley Art in Walnut Creek. She is a frequent exhibitor at the Olive Hyde Gallery in Fremont and the Harrington Gallery in Pleasanton, all in California. She is a member of Artists 7, a women's art group that travels together and shows their work throughout Northern California. She is also a member of the Studio Art Quilt Associates and Pleasanton Art League.