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Denise Faith has been a lifetime Chicago area artist. Growing up on the south side, she began drawing and painting
in fifth grade. Each medium she experimented with became her new favorite.
Moving only as far as the north side of Chicago in high school, she continued working in every medium, finding each
one refreshing and open to her creativity. Even in college, at Augustana, a small private liberal arts school in the Quad
Cities, she continued working in pottery and painting, while still loving jewelry and weaving. Her versatility was shown
in her senior exhibit of many mediums. Viewers remarked on this while noting her name, saying they knew one day they were
sure to hear her name again. Graduating with degrees in art history, studio art, and art education she moved back to the
Chicago area.
Turning down a teaching position in art she settled into the University of Chicago to pursue an advanced degree in art
history. But feeling the need to create her own art, she compromised her degree, leaving the U of C, again moving from the
south side to the northern suburbs to begin seriously "painting". Beginning in oils and believing in the theory
that one cannot successfully abstract without being able to represent, she once painted quite realistically and exhibited
in art shows throughout the Chicagoland area, including a one woman exhibit at Combined Insurance Company.
While switching to Acrylic painting when raising four children, she also spent much of her time teaching art to children
and adults. The art program she created for
three to five year olds became an integral part of the park district programs throughout Chicago's Northshore.
While teaching watercolor and calligraphy to adults at Oakton Community College (a program she implemented), her own
art style began emerging through the incorporation of washes and the calligraphic line. Her once realistic figures began
to take on an abstract, interpretive style and her work continued to be seen around Chicago and suburbs, including the Botti
Gallery in Evanston and another one woman show at Northwestern University in Evanston.
Today, she still lives on Chicago's Northshore and maintains a studio in her home(including a five foot loom for those
times she still needs to work in another medium).
Her daughters are musicians and greatly inspire her subjects, colors, and moods. Many of her paintings are visualized
while listening to their concerts and therefore can be described in musical analogies. Her sons are athletes ... inspiring
a whole new subject.
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