Denna was born in Edmonton, Alberta. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design and attained a Bachelor of Education from the University of Victoria, in 1997. Denna has taught and worked as an artist in Vancouver, British Columbia for the past 20 years. She now exhibits her work across Canada.

Denna specializes in using oil on wood and plaster. She often combines encaustic and transfer techniques with her work. Her paintings consist of personal symbols and organic shapes layered in glazes of luminescent colour. Shapes and forms are transcended through transparent layers of paint.