In this heartfelt and inspiring conversation, artist and teacher Denise Hall opens up about her creative journey—from sketching from the family Bible as a child to building a life centered on art, family, and perseverance. Denise shares how she nurtured her passion while balancing full-time work and motherhood, along with honest insights and practical encouragement for anyone trying to make space for creativity in a busy life.
TAKEAWAYS
- Denise’s journey in art began with childhood drawings inspired by family.
- Life changes, like pregnancy, can reignite creativity.
- Teaching art has become a significant part of Denise’s journey.
- Denise emphasizes the importance of having fun while painting.
- Self-doubt is common, but everyone has their unique style. Embrace it!
- Art is subjective; beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
- Community support plays a crucial role in an artist’s journey.
- Denise encourages aspiring artists to try without fear of judgment.
- Making time for art is essential, despite life’s challenges.
- Continuous learning is vital for artistic growth.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction to Creativity and Art
02:58 Denise’s Artistic Journey Begins
05:59 Rediscovering Art During Pregnancy
09:05 Transitioning to Teaching Art
11:54 Overcoming Self-Doubt in Art
15:02 The Importance of Enjoying the Process
18:06 Lessons Learned from the Artistic Journey
21:01 Community and Support in Art
23:57 Future Aspirations and Closing Thoughts
ABOUT DENISE
Denise began painting in 2005, though her interest in art started much earlier. From a young age, she was drawn to creative expression, recalling early memories of drawing as a child. Her passion for art deepened in December 2001 while she was pregnant with her first son and placed on brief bed rest. During that time, she was encouraged to draw—an activity she had previously pursued only intermittently—and it soon became a meaningful creative outlet.
Over time, she expanded her practice to include colored pencils and pastels, focusing primarily on floral and landscape subjects. In recent years, her work has evolved to include a strong emphasis on abstract painting. After three years of consistent exploration, she developed a keen interest in oil painting and studied formally for about a year while working full-time nights as a Respiratory Therapist. Although professional commitments eventually limited her ability to continue classes, she remained dedicated to her craft with the continued encouragement of her husband and family.
In 2008, she made a renewed commitment to painting, applying the techniques she had learned and intentionally making time to create. Since then, she has participated in numerous local art shows throughout the Dallas–Fort Worth area. In August 2018, she expanded her artistic practice further by beginning to teach painting classes and host painting events.
Her work is inspired by the freedom to blend colors and bring imagined visions to life, creating pieces that are expressive, vibrant, and personal. She credits her husband, family, and supporters for their continued encouragement and is deeply grateful for the support of those who follow and appreciate her work.
CONNECT WITH DENISE
Websites
Social
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/denisehallfineart/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hall8853/
Twitter: https://x.com/theartistmom/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/theartistmom/
Wanna Try Acrylics? Here’s a great starter set: https://amzn.to/4ueLRRl Note: As an Amazon Associate, I may earn a commission from qualified purchases.
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TRANSCRIPT
Shannon Grissom (00:00)
Welcome to Made to Make. Here we talk about creativity, the challenges that come with it, and why we keep showing up anyway. Because hey, we are all Made to Make.
Welcome to the We Are Made To Make podcast. I’m your host, Shannon Grissom. Today’s guest is Denise Hall. She’s an artist whose journey from sketching as a child to teaching others proves that creativity can grow in any season of life. Welcome, Denise. you’re welcome. You know, I was thinking about…
Denise Hall (00:35)
Thank you. Thank you for having me.
Shannon Grissom (00:41)
You started creating and drawing as a child, so can you tell me your first memories of that?
Denise Hall (00:48)
Well, my family had a Bible, family Bible. So I would try to draw whatever pictures were in there. It was Jesus on the cross. Mary was reaching out to him. So was trying to draw that. I was like, OK. You know, I was five years old and I showed my parents. like, oh, good job. know, all that was like, what’s this?
Shannon Grissom (01:16)
Where is it?
Denise Hall (01:17)
Other things I would draw I try to draw other than Bible but I think I really figured out that I really had a liking to art when
in middle school and we would do projects where it require drawing or whatever like me I would I decided to draw it versus cutting out paper and glue in it so that’s when I realized oh I really like doing this yeah
Shannon Grissom (01:48)
I know when I was little I drew on everything I could think of. drew inside my books, which I got in trouble for, and the walls. Did you kind of overflow into other places?
Denise Hall (01:58)
I
did draw on books. I didn’t do the walls. I attempted to and then I kind of got caught and she was like, know. I was like, okay, I didn’t know I couldn’t do that, know, trying to be. yeah, I would, you know, go in books and stuff and draw on them or color over them or something.
But I just do remember like this when I first started coloring the smell of crayons and different the, you know, the paint that we use. I just, you know, but yeah, I really enjoyed it. But when I got in high school, I didn’t take art. So I was kind of a bummer.
Shannon Grissom (02:53)
So was there a reason why you didn’t take art or just you just got busy with other things?
Denise Hall (02:58)
Well,
so back then, well, I make it seem like I’m so old, but it was more like you need to learn the skills of, you know, typing and all this other stuff and you don’t even take art, you know, but I still kind of drew at home, but I pretty much got away from it completely in high school. So I just did other stuff.
Shannon Grissom (03:27)
Yeah, well, I hear you. I didn’t take any art in college at all. was trying to be practical.
Denise Hall (03:34)
Me either.
I didn’t either. just like, in college, think I was more like, in my mind, I was thinking, well, have to concentrate on a certain project. You can’t always do what you want to do. I think that’s I was thinking. So I just decided not to do that in college.
Shannon Grissom (04:00)
But then, when you got pregnant, it seems like it opened doors for everything. So, can you talk about that and how your creativity shifted during that time?
Denise Hall (04:13)
Yeah, so I got pregnant. I had just graduated respiratory school. So I went to community college for respiratory therapy. So got pregnant, long story short, ended up on bed rest. So I couldn’t really do anything for like two weeks. So I got bored. I was like, can’t just sit here.
Because I’m not supposed to be really doing anything, which that didn’t really happen. We can’t just sit around and do nothing for two weeks. And especially if nobody’s hauled the way you’re on hand and foot, not that that way. So I said, well, me. You know what? I think I’m going to start drawing. So I started drawing because I had some stuff from high.
from middle school my mom kept. She kept some things I did in middle school. So when I got married, I kind of packed all that up and took it with me. And I thought, you know what? I want to start drawing. So I got some colored pencils and started out with floral stuff. And that’s basically, that was the main thing, the floral. Then I started working with pastels. So I started with oil.
pastels and then I did chalk. I was like, boy, this is messy. But I love to call it. This is like, you got to do a lot of cleaning with this chalk. The colors are beautiful. It’s just a lot going on. So, yeah. So I went from there and then, you know, I had, had my son, um, went to work. I was, I was off for a little bit.
Shannon Grissom (05:36)
Okay.
That’s true!
Denise Hall (05:59)
But I didn’t really do much because being with the new board, I just wasn’t thinking about that at the time too much. But when I went back to work, I started selling my drawings a little bit, like floral pencil drawings. I sold a few. So I went to Hobby Lobby just to frame them. So when I was waiting to get them framed, I heard all these ladies laughing in this room.
This is when they taught art at Hobby Lobby, because they don’t do that anymore. For a while I was like, would really love to learn how to paint. So three months later, went to Hobby Lobby to get some things framed. Heard these ladies laughing in this class. I what is going on? I went over there and all these ladies were just painting with oil paint. was like, what is this? And the instructor was like, hi, how are you?
You know, this is, know, painting classes. And anyway, I learned more about it. Sorry, taking classes there. It was just like the 10 of us. It was like twice, two to three times a week, whenever I had time. Yeah, so she, I remember she said, you have to, whatever you learn here, you have to make sure you do it at home. There’s so many.
students that come here and paint go home and do nothing come back and they’re like how do do this again? Let’s do you know she says I feel like that I mean you really you know you really want to do this and you seem really you know really good so if you could just do what I taught you at home paint at home also you could go a long way so I did that.
And ever since then, so I took the class for about almost about six months, twice a week. Then I just didn’t have time to take it anymore. So I was working nights at the time. So it was full time. So it was kind of hard, you know, after a while finding time to go to the class. So I just did what I could at home and just kind of learn some things and.
whether it’s through video or whether self-taught. But I did remember a lot of things that she taught me. So I just took it home and just applied it to the canvases. yeah. So let’s.
Shannon Grissom (08:43)
Well, it sounds like from what you were saying earlier, not on the podcast, but just in what I wrote about you, that you’ve had a lot of family support. So how did that that how did that help? You you stepped away from classes. I mean, you’re working full time and taking classes at night. That’s a lot. And raising a family. So.
you know, stepping away, you were able to continue to paint and how did that support help you? It sounds like you’ve had a lot of encouragement.
Denise Hall (09:14)
Yeah, so my husband was really encouraging me to just make sure you find time to do it because I would always say, I don’t have time. He was like, if you really want to do it, you’ll find time to do it.
Shannon Grissom (09:33)
I had
a guitar teacher tell me the same thing. said I said yeah, I’m practicing a little here and there he says We always make time for the things we want to do there. There’s time you just got to make it So You’ve done a lot of realistic work and then you moved into abstracts So what what got you turned on to start exploring abstracts?
Denise Hall (09:44)
Yeah.
thought, well, let me see what I can do a little bit different. Because you know, it’s stuck on florals. So I tried to kind of do other things like abstract. And that was kind of out of my range there, because I’d never done it. And I thought, I guess it can’t be too hard. Too hard to just put something together.
But when I started doing that, it wasn’t as…
I guess in my mind I was thinking I’ll just throw some colors and do some design.
Shannon Grissom (10:44)
But
now… Now! It is not easy!
Denise Hall (10:49)
I don’t
like what I did or let me do. So, but yeah, I started doing, I started playing with abstracts and for a while I was doing oils and I started just doing acrylics. But since then I haven’t went back to oils. So, let’s say the last time I painted an oil painting was over, I don’t know, 15 years ago.
think it’s just the convenience of.
not having to use a lot of chemicals, but at the same time, I really loved painting with oil, so at some point I will get back to it. But yeah, I just decided to kind of play around with abstract. What I really like doing is the floral seascape in landscape.
Shannon Grissom (11:48)
and some cityscapes that are really cool.
Denise Hall (11:52)
Thank you!
Shannon Grissom (11:54)
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back to the show. And now we’re back.
Denise Hall (12:35)
you
Shannon Grissom (12:35)
So
I was thinking about one of the things that has really impressed me about your journey is that you know a lot of life has happened and you just keep persevering and you just keep going and now you’re teaching so how did that all get started?
Denise Hall (12:54)
I you know, I love to teach some classes. So I started out at a recreation center near where I live. And I started out with kids and that was fun. So I kind of teared off from that. And then I started doing, story short, 2020 when COVID.
came along, I had to improvise. So I started doing, started teaching painting online. So I would start doing paint parties online. That’s what got me started in selling paint kits and stuff like that. So, but I taught kids for about
three years at a recreation center. just, I ahead and moved to doing online paint parties during COVID. And then when we started kind of getting out of being isolated, I would reach out to different restaurants, managers that own the restaurants or just ran the restaurant. And I would kind of ask him,
Are you not about me, you know, not about having someone doing paint parties, blah, So they were either interested or not interested. So I started doing that. I would also, because I travel, because I have a studio. So like if I have someone that wants a paint party at their home or anywhere at a restaurant, they can pick wherever they want to go. I would travel to there.
Elvin Bridge is bringing all my stuff. bringing like table cloth, paints, aprons, brushes. I supply all the things they need to enjoy, you know, paint party with their friends, families. Yeah.
Shannon Grissom (14:52)
Do you get a lot of people that this is the first time they’ve painted or they’ve been thinking about it for a long time and they’re just now getting started or?
Denise Hall (15:02)
So a lot of times, the ones that’s never painted are like, oh my gosh, I’m going to paint like, it’s going to look like crap. And I can’t even draw a stick. That’s all I can do. I mean, you’d be surprised what you can do if someone is teaching you and you’re by step, because it’s a step by step paint party.
And it turns out to be fine. And some of them be like, and I’m like, you did fine. So I would tell everyone to say a certain thing like, before we get started, I want everybody to repeat after me. I will not judge myself. I will enjoy myself while we are painting.
and have a great time and we just go on and everybody paints and nine times out of ten all of them look great and then you have that you might have one where they just gave up and said I’m done and I’m like it’s okay you still have fun. I think the objective is to have fun. I them
Shannon Grissom (16:18)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Denise Hall (16:28)
you know, before we get started. Also, the objective is to have fun, enjoy yourselves, and just, you know, just have a great time painting. No pressure. This is not, you know, hey, no, you didn’t do it this way. We’re not doing that. We’re basically, everybody’s getting together because they want to have fun, chit chat, and…
Shannon Grissom (16:48)
Good.
Denise Hall (16:52)
and paint and then they drink whatever beverage they want to drink whether it’s wine, water, juice, or whatever they’re drinking but yeah, they’re just to have fun.
Shannon Grissom (17:03)
That’s a great way for people to get started. Yeah. And even for people that have been painting a while just to go have fun. I love painting with other painters. It’s fun. So, you know, when you get people that are unsure about their artistic abilities or their… I mean, could show up and then still be unsure. What do you say to people to help them get over that hump?
Denise Hall (17:13)
Yeah.
Shannon Grissom (17:32)
What would you say to yourself, your younger self, if you were unsure about being able to create?
Denise Hall (17:39)
You
never know unless you try. I mean, you have help there, even if you’re at home by yourself. There’s videos, all kinds of videos that you can learn from. You just never know. Just go pick up a brush, get some paint, and do something.
Shannon Grissom (17:42)
Good.
Denise Hall (18:06)
And it doesn’t have to be like perfect. Everybody, I think a lot of people who hasn’t painted before, but they want to, that fear is, it won’t look good or whatever. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Everybody has different styles of painting. You know, your paintings. And also when I do the paint parties, that’s another thing I tell them, hey, because I usually have a sample.
for them to look at. I paint the design that we’re gonna paint. before I have the party, so they can have something to reference to. And I always tell them, hey, it’s not gonna look like this. Everybody’s painting, your painting’s not gonna look the same as mine. It’s not gonna look the same as the person sitting next to you. It’s gonna look different, but it still look good. It’ll still look beautiful. Just paint and enjoy yourself.
You have your own style. So don’t compare yourself with other people. And that’s another thing with me. I think with a lot of artists, including myself, sometimes you tend to just compare like, wow, and not realizing, I mean, your gift is unique.
Shannon Grissom (19:32)
Yes.
Denise Hall (19:33)
You gotta remember that your gift is unique and you don’t need to compare yourself. Everybody has, people have their tastes in art. Like people, have art collectors that have all kinds of tastes in art. You can’t go by what this person is painting. Paint what you love to paint.
and just go from there. have, I mean, you’re unique, you’re yourself. You don’t need to have the same exact stuff, know, same exact painting. Now, I can see if you’re trying to, you know, paint a flower, but you’re going by what this person’s painting just as a guide. That’s all it is, is a guide. So I tell them, as far as, when we’re…
when I teach paint parties, it’s just the guide. It doesn’t need to look. And you can also use different colors. You don’t have to use the same color I use. Pick a different color if you want to have a different color. But most of time, they’re like, I want to do it like that. Because they’re like, I don’t know what I would pick. But there’s some that would paint with us. And they’re really good. I said, do you paint at home?
Shannon Grissom (20:42)
you
Ha!
You know I used to paint with a group of people we’d have a live model and we’re all painting the same model and every one of us had a completely different painting and the model during the break would come around look at everybody’s painting and like she’d look at mine and be horrified or she’d look at somebody else and love what you know and and she and I said you know what and she’s like they’re all different I said you know what and because I said it’s not about you
honey
Denise Hall (21:34)
you
Shannon Grissom (21:36)
It’s about what we’re creating, you know, we’re gonna make you know, we’re gonna make you into whatever we’re gonna make you are Just just like you said you are just a guide and we’re just doing that and that I don’t think she liked But it’s true You know, I like what you said about not judging Especially when I first started out I tried to I compare myself. I’m not as good as this person or whatever. So now
I just like, did I do better than yesterday? To myself, I’m comparing against what I did, you know, and now with the length of time I’ve been painting, it’s more about adjusting my eternal attitude rather than the skill. What am I saying to myself? Am I beating myself up? You know, stop that.
Denise Hall (22:26)
You know what, as far as beating yourself up, when you get done with a painting, you’re like, well, need to, and you start fixing this, fixing that. And it’s like, it doesn’t need to be fixed anymore. Leave it alone. You’re finished. You know? Yes.
Shannon Grissom (22:40)
Yes, you are so right. step away from the canvas So looking back at your entire journey, what’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned?
Denise Hall (22:47)
You know?
Don’t compare yourself to other artists. Other art. I think that keeps you from being more creative because you’re too busy trying to…
you know, compare your art because you think it’s better. Top of the. Yeah. Paint when you can. Always learn. You never stop learning. You always learn new stuff. I’m still learning new stuff.
Don’t judge other, don’t judge. Just because there’s may look, just because another artist may have their own and you’re like, ooh, what you know, what’s going on with that? You know? But it’s all for $10,000, you know?
Shannon Grissom (23:51)
Yeah.
There’s a lid for every pie, right?
Denise Hall (23:57)
Just do it.
just pick up the brush and go. Make time to do it. It’s so easy to make excuses to not. Why have you, like, I haven’t painted in three months. And my husband would be like, well, whose fault is that? And I’m just like.
Shannon Grissom (24:26)
You
Denise Hall (24:31)
Okay. Lily says, well, you had time. I mean, so as far as having time to paint, like, I went to Day Shift recently here, well, in September of last year. So I was on Night Shift for 23 years. they’re like, what made you do it, Denise? You know, that’s like, don’t know. What made you go to Day Shift all of a sudden? But, um,
It was the time trying to find the time, especially when they were little to paint, working full time, working nights. But I would just do that like the kids. would put the kid when the kids go to bed, because I would try to do when they’re still awake and they were just keep, you know, like, hey, mom, because they need something or whatever. Yeah. So I was starting kind of waiting until they went to bed and did it. I would be up till two in the morning. Like I would start painting at
10 or 11, I would have a cup of coffee or whatever and I’ll just go paint. It’s like, this is the only time I have time to do it right now. So I’ll just do it then. I would do it. I don’t have a studio. So I just make room in my kitchen, like clean off the table and then my stuff would just take over. So every time we’re getting ready to eat something, I’m like, well, I gotta clear this off first.
Let’s take over the whole kitchen table. yeah, there. And that’s just how I found time to do it. And then now I just do it whenever. But yeah, so I’ve been concentrating more on creating art here lately in the past couple of months versus paint parties, because when I was doing paint parties, I wouldn’t have time to paint.
like I wanted to. So right now I’m just constantly, I’m still doing the paint parties. I’m doing more of creating more paintings right now.
Shannon Grissom (26:36)
Well, you’re still working full time, right? Are you still working? That’s a lot. I mean, there’s a lot of prep going in. my goodness. I mean, there’s a lot of prep going into the paint parties. It’s not just show up with everything. There’s a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes before you ever get to that point. So to be doing that, that’s like another job on top of your job. So I can see where you’d want to kind of…
scale back and do little bit of you know creating just for you so yeah my hat’s off to you so okay if people don’t think you have enough time check out Denise she’s getting it done
Denise Hall (27:18)
We’re done. How I get done?
Shannon Grissom (27:21)
So what do you have anything, I know you’ve been involved in the Dallas Fort Worth art scene, know, working with other artists, doing, you know, being involved in the community. How has that shaped what you’re doing as well?
Denise Hall (27:36)
It just gives you more encouragement to want to do more art and to just be a little bit more involved. It’s just, it’s encouraging. Like whenever, cause sometimes, you know, I would try to get in these group art shows, you know, and galleries. So whenever you get to do that, it’s like, oh, you know.
It encourages you to do to continue to do more things. And so even here lately, I’ve been, you know, getting more into trying to get more into the Dallas Fort Worth area, art scene or whatever, because I kind of took a back kind of taking a not backseat, but kind of scaling the paint parties down because it is a lot of preparation. Because you have to you when you get
When you get ready to do one, you have to prepare all the canvases. You have to do this. You have to do that. It’s just, and it takes a while to prepare and then you do the actual party. Setting up all that stuff, do the party, and then clean it up and then you’re done. So it does. And I just miss creating art. But yeah, I’ve been trying to do more around the DFW area.
Shannon Grissom (28:38)
Yeah.
Denise Hall (28:57)
So yeah, that’s what I’m working on right now. Because for a while I was doing a lot in Dallas. I know before COVID, there was an art gallery in downtown Dallas where they had a lot of art shows, group art shows, and also participated in just sitting at the gallery for a day every so often. And then,
that kind of went to the wayside. yeah, and then ever since then, that’s when I started doing more of the paint parties. Then last year, I was honored to be in a gallery for about a month last year. I’m trying, I’m getting back into things here.
Shannon Grissom (29:51)
Good for you. Good for you. Well, you’re a creative powerhouse. Definitely. mean, it’s just amazing that all that you are doing and working and you are inspiring.
Denise Hall (30:05)
Thank
you. And I want to thank my family, my husband, my family. They’ve always encouraged me to, you know, keep, keep creating. And I will always have support of like when I do paint parties and stuff, would have, you know, sometimes family coming out, my sister, she would come out and help and I would have other family members too. They would come out and help with the paint parties if they’re really huge. But yeah.
Shannon Grissom (30:34)
That’s awesome. So where can people find out more about you online?
Denise Hall (30:40)
So they can go to, for the paint parties and paint kids, they can go to dhaulart.com. And then for my paintings, the website is denishallart.com. I’m on Facebook, I’m on Instagram. So Denise Hall Fine Art on Facebook. And then on Instagram, think it’s hall8853.
Shannon Grissom (31:12)
That’s awesome. Well, thank you. You’ve got me inspired again. So thank you, Denise, for being on the show.
Denise Hall (31:20)
Thank you for having me, I enjoyed it.
Shannon Grissom (31:22)
Awesome me too. It good hanging out with you. So Everybody, please like subscribe and share so that I can bring more episodes to you Thanks for tuning in. That’s a wrap. We’ll see you next time