Debra Lea has been "in love" with the arts since her early childhood, where she was "always" doing a project! She discovered her talents during high school in a small Michigan town, and upon completion decided that she would pursue a degree in Art when she entered college. She holds an Associates of Arts degree from Lake Michigan College, and a Bachelors degree in Fine Arts from Western Michigan University, under an arts-cooperative program with Nazereth College, in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Debra Lea has a true entrepreneurial spirit! After earning her degree in art, she pursued her dreams with numerous small business enterprises in the art field, including jewelry manufacturing, clothing design and merchandising, custom costume designs for entertainers, set designs for the theatre, and ceramics. In the mid 1990s she discovered figurative art combines many of her talents in these diverse areas, and focused her activities in the design of sculpture, artist dolls and figurative bronze. She continues in these fields today, mostly as a bronze sculptor in Southern California.

Debra's work has been seen in numerous prestigious shows and exhibitions around the USA, including Toy Fair (NYC), IDEX (San Francisco), Santa Fe International Figurative Art (Santa Fe, NM). She has continued to educate herself and learn advanced techniques in figurative art, and has studied with Marlaine Verhelst (Dutch Stone Clay Artist), Anke Danaan (Dutch artist dolls), Maher Marcos ( sculpture), and currently is continuing studies in figurative bronze and ceramics at Palomar College, San Marcos, California.

An active mother of 3, Debra has been a local champion for the teaching of arts-oriented curriculuum in the California public schools. Over the years, she has held numerous volunteer positions in parent/teacher associations, music associations, and in the classroom as well. She regularly shares her love of the arts with children, offering art sessions within their regular school days that cover the fundamentals of seeing and creating art. Through this effort, she hopes to pass on her love for these endeavours to the young and foster the emergence of new artists from our young people.