Debbie Milner-Lively was born in 1960 in North Vancouver. She grew up in the North and West Vancouver area. As a young child, her dream was to be an artist. In her spare time she was always drawing and painting, so the passion started very early for her. Debbie’s first scholarship was awarded to her at 8 yrs old.

After graduating from Carson Graham with an Arts Scholarship, she married and had four children. Her family moved to Kamloops in 1990 at which time she picked up her brushes again to pursue an art career. Debbie is largely a self-taught artist other than taking workshops with established artists. For the past 22 years she has worked hard to master watercolor, acrylics and oils. In the past 10 years she has worked primarily in oils. The fascination of rendering light can be seen in each of her paintings. Debbie says she is driven to paint the enticing contrast of light and shadow and loves the challenge of doing so. For her it’s easy to be passionate about the whole painting process, from the design stages to the manipulation of paint on the canvas.

Debbie: I‘ll never retire from creating. Painting is a journey that forces you to grow. Growth sometimes is uncomfortable but always produces change and life. If I’m not painting, I’m thinking about it and composing ideas for the next one!