Born on the island of Trinidad, Deborah moved to Toronto at 11 years old after her Dad a welder, was recruited to help build the Alberta pipeline. She attended school there but moved to Nevis in 1984 after she met and married a Nevisian, Colin Tyrell. Except for a 5 year period when she returned to Toronto, Nevis is now her home. Deborah’s fabric art is about using what is readily available to create something exciting and different so that visitors to the Caribbean can get a unique take-away from their vacation. She always wanted to run her own business and to be an artist but initially didn’t pursue formal training in either field. In 1997 however, she started taking private art classes in Nevis. In 2000, while living in Toronto she took classes at Toronto School of Art, then in 2002 attended Sheridan College, Oakville, Ontario. Deborah returned to Nevis in 2004 and noticed that there was a shortage of locally made gifts for sale. In 2007 she decided to start a business selling a mix of imports and appliques that she made but unfortunately when the recession hit in 2007-2008, her business struggled. By 2009 Deborah was selling mainly the appliques she made. Her inguenuity led her to start experimenting with embellishing her applique work. In June 2011 she attended a conference in Minnesota for Surface Designers and people who work with fabric and fibres. At that conference, she learned how to make art with fabric and this led to a full transformation of the business from that of a gift shop to an artisan studio selling only items she made. In 2012 Deborah started creating wall hangings from her appliques. She soon realised that the time required to make these intricate pieces and also ensure that there were items available for sale to the everyday visitor was very demanding, so in May of 2013 Deborah hired Marina Simmons, a formally trained artist who also sewed. Now with Marina’s talent and Deborah’s vision, they create a variety of art pieces. Images of different areas of Nevis, abstract pieces that are made into clutch purses, abstract fish and once in a while, large wall hangings via commission.