Patina Designs & Bronsino Designs for Living

Denise Wilson calls Vancouver home even though she was born and raised in Toronto. What’s more is that she regularly takes up residency with her husband’s family in Peru. Denise, who studied fine art in Vancouver and Florence Italy, uses her extensive travels throughout Europe and the Americas plus their languages, cultures, art, design and architecture to influence and inspire her.

As a visual artist, she uses endless sketchbooks and journals to document her creative design ideas. However, her penchant for beautiful things will not let her enjoy drawing or writing in an ordinary book. Therefore, Denise started to make her own. Initially the books were made with paper covers but her search for something more durable and a series of coincidental events lead to leather from a variety of unusual sources.

Denise has successfully launched three unique collections. In 2003, Patina Designs launched a collection of buttery soft leather accessories accented with hand silk-screened images and appliqués. The collection has expanded from books to include refillable journals, agendas and coin purses.

In December 2005 Denise and husband Andres Hinojosa teamed up to create Bronsino Designs for Living. The line pays homage to the 16th century Florentine artist Agnolo Bronzino and the Hinojosa family home on Calle Bronsino in Lima, Peru. The finely crafted handbags and accessories from the Bronsino collection are classically inspired works of art produced in very limited numbers.
 
The following year Bronsino Recycled came to fruition and focuses exclusively on the use of recycled and reclaimed leathers.

Denise’s work has been featured in Fashion Magazine, the Georgia Straight, Vancouver Lifestyles Magazine, Real Weddings, The Toronto Sun and Shared Vision Magazine. In Vancouver Bronsino handbags are available through Umeboshi Shoes, The Velvet Room Boutique, and Favourite Gifts, as well as at the Portobello West Market the last Sunday of each month. Patina Designs are available at Twigg & Hottie, Ainsworth and Dream.