In the studio, 2017
Denise Van Dyke has been looking at how the sky meets the ocean and making that the focus of her paintings since she moved to the Jersey Shore.
Born in1952 in Rockford, Illinois and raised there, she has been painting since high school. After graduating with a degree in Art Education with a concentration in painting from Northern Illinois University in 1974, she moved to New York City to work as an artist.
Continuing to paint, Van Dyke began taking classes at the School of Visual Art to become a graphic designer. She worked for 30 years as a designer at a major advertising agency and for the publisher, Random House, Inc. in New York.
The body of work over the years has been mainly abstract which was influenced by living and working in the city. Buildings, construction sites, graffiti, and the city-scape are all evident in these pieces.
In 2012 Denise and her husband Richard left New York and moved to New Jersey where they had been spending weekends and vacations for years. The latest work although still abstract is based on the ocean and the sky. Each painting has a horizon line with sky above. These works are mainly concerned with color and the light at different times of the day. In all the paintings over the years, color has been the most important aspect whether in an abstract or ocean-inspired work .
Collecting driftwood at the beach and wanting to work with glass beads led her to combine the two into sculptures. The grain and texture of the wood determines the design. The pieces are completely covered in beads with colorful geometric patterns.
Van Dyke has exhibited her work in New York City and shows around the country. Her work is included in corporate and private collections nationwide including the Prudential Insurance Company of America, The CMC (California Marketing Center) in Los Angeles, and other corporate offices.