DeMent grew up in North Carolina under a sewing machine. Around quilting great grandmothers, gardening great aunts, and mom= fashion designer. When Mom went to work She lost her personal seamstress so began altering her families Vintage clothes, up cycling, years ahead of this trend ,raiding closets for vintage materials.
Working at Hancock Fabric Store in high school and college she honed her craft as seamstress, costumer, designer.
DeMent discovered handmade paper in 1989 at the China Exhibit , High Museum o art , Atlanta . Profoundly influenced by this tactile and versatile medium.
DeMent begin A self taught -on going journey creating art works both functional and decorative sustaining herself through paper making for over 20 years at galleries and art festivals.
This passion for handmade papers primary manufactured from recycled materials, vintage ephemera and invasive plants continues to be influenced by her interest in visual narrative a, history, love of the garden.
Influenced by her long time relationship with fabrics and fibers, stitchery, is always cropping up as decorative and functional element in this body of work. Many references to clothing. Textured paper clothes lines, quilts and vintage paper corsets have been a subject found in DeMents work for many years. Wearable paper clothes,” Robes in paper,” is a logical next step in DeMent’s line of work.