Deborah is an artist and author.

Her favorite mediums are ink (with brush and pen), pencil (HB), watercolor, gouache, colored pencil, charcoal and digital.

When she’s not drawing or writing or reading, Deborah can be found gardening, hiking, cutting fabric, XC skiing, playing with clay in her ceramic studio or snuggling her dog Bear.

Clients include: Putnam’s Sons (Penguin), Anne Schwartz Books (RandomHouse), Macmillan, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Greenwillow (HarperCollins), Peter Pauper Press and Enchanted Lion Press.

Represented by Laura Rennert at Andrea Brown Literary

A few steps on the path to becoming an author-illustrator:

  • University of Michigan, BFA, School of Art

  • MFA in Poetry from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago

  • Faculty for University of Michigan’s undergraduate New England Literature Program for six years

  • Teaching certificate + middle school language arts endorsement, Northwestern University

  • Literacy specialist in Chicago Public Schools for three years (Grades 4-8)

  • Owned her own photography company shooting portraits and weddings for six years

  • Faculty at VCFA MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults (2020-2022)