Debbie was born in Stillwater Oklahoma in 1955. Her family moved to Texas in 1968. She now resides in Cypress, Texas.

She graduated summa cum laude in the spring of 2004 from the University of Texas at San Antonio with a BFA concentrating in painting. She has studied landscape and still-lifes with Dalhart Windberg, still-lifes and figure painting with Robert A. Johnson and figure drawing and painting with Scott Burdick. She has attended workshop in bird photography with Jim Nieger and Arthur Morris.

She is an associate member of the Oil Painters of America, associate member of the Society of Animal Artists and a member of the International Guild of Realism.