A botanical artist since 1993, Deborah Kopka teaches Watercolor, Graphite, Pen & Ink, and Mixed Media in university and community college adult education programs, and in botanical gardens, such as the Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum at the University of Michigan and the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens (Pittsburgh). She was the botanical illustration instructor in the School of Art and Design at the internationally ranked Toledo Museum of Art for several years.
Deborah studied botanical illustration in England and editorial illustration at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles. She earned a Botanical Painting Diploma, with Distinction, from London Art College in the United Kingdom. Committed to lifelong learning, she is currently doing further studies in botanical illustration and botany with the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
A 40-year publishing professional and a former Editorial Director with The McGraw-Hill Companies, she works with domestic and international educational publishers and has authored or co-authored twelve non-fiction children’s books.
Deborah lives with her husband; their tabbies Sean, Erin, and Emily Ann; and their quarter horse Noelle in the historic Ohio town of Perrysburg on the Maumee River, where she paints the flora of the gardens and farmland that surround her home and studio. She is a member of the American Society of Botanical Artists, the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and the Ohio Arts Council. Her botanical art is licensed internationally in the fine art print and home goods markets.
Deborah Kopka Designs 