Denise is a small batch potter from the north shore of Belfast Lough in Northern Ireland.

​Predominantly a thrower, she uses a potter's wheel to carefully bring shape and form to each hand-thrown piece. 

​​She's heavily influenced by the landscape and shoreline of the island of Ireland, especially the Glens of Antrim and has a peculiar fascination with lighthouses & the maritime shipping forecast.​

​Her ceramics journey began when she was 10 and gifted a toy pottery set for Christmas. She was hooked. The idea of taking a shapeless piece of clay and shaping it into a recognisable form fascinated her. The flame had been lit.

Raised in Belfast, Denise qualified and pursued a career as a nurse but retained her life-long fascination with ceramics and pottery. After a timely and inspiring meeting with another ceramicist, she decided to follow her crazy dream to become a potter and enrolled in a night class at the University of Ulster. After four years of night classes, she purchased her own wheel and kiln and began making in her own time.

In early 2022 she moved into her dedicated studio space in her garden in Jordanstown on the north shore of Belfast Lough.

In September 2022 Denise began her full-time study of a HND in Ceramics at Belfast Metropolitan College, balancing it with her other role as a part-time nurse and mother to four children and qualified with Distinction in 2024. 

She describes herself as a small-batch potter, producing various functional and statement ceramic pieces from her home studio.

She primarily works with white stoneware, buff and toasted varieties of clay. Each piece is hand-thrown on the wheel before being fired twice, the first a “bisque fire” to 1,000 degrees celsius followed by a second “glaze” fire to 1,220 degrees celsius.  

Moneyvart Ceramics is named after the townland of Moneyvart (Monadh na bhFeart), just outside Cushendall where she has a house. It translates as the “hill of the miracle”.