Deborah was born in Baltimore. She graduated from Maryland Institute, College of Art in 1970 focusing on graphic design. After a forty-year hiatus she began a seven year course of study in painting at AACC with painters including Leonard Koscianski and Lillian Bayley Hoover. She also studies with Anthony Waichulis at the noted Ani Academy in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. She has been a member of MFA since 2010.

Deborah has received several first place awards in shows at the Maryland Federation of Art in Annapolis, MD including the prestigious Caruso Award for Still Life. She has exhibited in Art Space at BWI Airport, University of Maryland Medical Center, University of Maryland, College Park, and Quiet Waters Park, among other venues. In 2013 and again in 2014 she took first place at the UMMC show, which is associated with the National Arts Program. Best in Show was awarded to her at MFA's 2017 Winter Members' Show. In 2020, Deborah was a semi-finalist is the prestigious ARC 15th Annual Salon for her kinetic still life "Steve's Sunflowers", which also took Best in Show in the annual Still Life category at Gallery Ring.

She has a piece on permanent display at Gallery D in BWI Airport. She is represented by McBride Gallery in Annapolis and shows often at Crystal Moll Gallery in the Federal Hill section of Baltimore, Maryland.