Debra has loved playing with color and design since her childhood.

 

Debra graduated from The City College of New York in 1976 with a BS in Biology and Art. Her study of Biological Illustration at CCNY led to the publication of her illustrations in biological and medical journals.

Around the same time, after reading The Jewish Catalog, Debra decided to design and calligraph her own Ketubah and wedding invitation. She soon found herself doing the same for friends and relatives, and eventually, her business, Calligraphic Design, was born.

Debra had the privilege of studying calligraphy with Marty Oberstein (Art Students League), Jay Greenspan, a pioneer in the revival of Hebrew calligraphy (92nd Street Y), with calligraphic luminaries Jeanyee Wong and Ismar David (Calligraphy Workshop - New School), and with other renowned calligraphers through the Society of Scribes of New York.

Debra's calligraphic prints, The Aggadic Alephbet and The Physician's Prayer, have been featured in collections worldwide, and the Aggadic Alephbet was included in an international travelling exhibition of Hebrew Calligraphy and in a Jerusalem Post article on the book arts.

 

Debra's calligraphy and illustration have been published in  Solomon's Proverbs (Koren Publisher's, Jerusalem, 1986), and on the cover of Effective Jewish Parenting, by Miriam Levi (Reuven Mass, Publisher, Jerusalem, 1987), and in Chadesh Yameinu K'Kedem, (Ezra, Jerusalem, 2002) a Memorial Book for Malki Roth and Michal Raziel, who were murdered by terrorists in the Sbarro Pizza Shop bombing in Jerusalem in August 2001.

In the eighties, Debra began to explore the art of paper cutting; in the nineties, she began designing, carving, and printing with stamps carved out of erasers; most recently, she has begun designing in fabric.

Debra has conducted classes and workshops in arts and crafts  for children and adults ages 2 to 92 for over 30 years in her home and in community centers in the US and in Israel.