Deborah comes from a family of artists. Her mother and grandmother were accomplished watercolorists and teachers. As a child, she drew constantly and copied her grandmother’s work. On the paternal side Deborah is related to artists William Starbuck Macy, Wendell Macy, and William Ferdinand Macy.

Deborah studied sculpture from the live model in clay, plaster, wax and bronze at Rhode Island School of Design under sculptor Robert Lamb, and she obtained a Fine Arts degree from the University of Massachusetts, though she credits her progress to her determination to learn the human face and form by holding her own studio life classes. A guiding light has been the teaching advice in her well-loved Charles Merrill Mount biography of John Singer Sargent.

Deborah’s association with The Portrait Society and her love of Nelson Shanks’ work led her in 2018 to Studio Incamminati in Pennsylvania for a workshop with artists Jeff Hein, Ricky Mujica and Natalie Italiano. Deborah was featured on the cover of SOCO Magazine that year. Since then, online study from classically trained artists Cesar Santos and Scott Waddell from The Angel Academy and The Florence Academy of Art respectively has been an inspiration.

Deborah’s figurative paintings have a uniquely feminine viewpoint. She sets up her models with lush fabrics in vintage costumes, creating a mood of repose and reflection.

Deborah has shown widely across New England, with portraits and gallery pieces in private collections. She has paintings in the permanent collection of The Old Dartmouth Society Whaling Museum and over a dozen portraits in the permanent collection The City of New Bedford.

She is a juried member of The Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, and has won numerous awards from the Cape Cod Art Center, Cape Cod Cultural Center, North River Arts Society, and, from the CLWAC at The Salmagundi Club.