I've traveled all my life, observing character, style & culture. As a kid, the theater and its costume closets were my second home. As a teenager living in Italy, I traveled extensively throughout Europe absorbing "the Old World" Elegance & Fineries of Classic & Avant Garde Fashion, Venetian Street Theatre & Verona's Operas.

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I returned to the United States and studied Costume Design at the University of Utah, where I designed and constructed costumes for theaters throughout Utah.

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Living in New York City for 13 years, I was intimately exposed to the creative world of fashion, by prepping clothing for many of the world's top designers' runway shows. I opened Jennifer Dehner Millinery, a hat shop located in an old janitor's closet, (for $150 rent a month!). I designed and constructed one-of-a-kind hats for trendy, chic & funky New Yorkers. I also subcontracted for Izquierdo Studios, making both hats and costumes for Broadway and off-Broadway shows. And I designed costumes for films.  

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Moving to Vieques, Puerto Rico, on Halloween 2000, life slowed down. While in a hammock on my favorite beach, my hands began to express nature's inspirations through jewelry. That was 20 years ago and I continue to create beaded, macrame, crochet, and wire-wrapped, unusual jewelry with beads, trinkets & nature's offerings.

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I have sold my work to locals and tourists from the now-defunct, Jungle Boutique at Chez Shack, and from the back of my Blue Dolphin Jeep Boutique, in front of Bananas, Duffy's Esperanza, and  El Quenepo restaurants. 6 years ago I opened Beading Bikini Jewelry, another jungle boutique nestled between the Jungle Room (formerly Noche) & Tin Box Restaurants on island. 

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Hurricanes Irma & Maria devastated Vieques island in September 2017. North American friends took me in and I have relocated to Asheville, North Carolina. I have recently created Touch of Ridiculous, another website where goddesses who embrace the wacky feminine will find whimsical wearable art accessories like hats, epaulets, and sleeves, festival skirts and Mardi Gras masks, all handmade upcycled accessories.

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Life comes full circle.

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Blessings,
Jen

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