Deb Schmit started oil painting at the age of five and began exhibiting her work at age twelve. Her first impressions came from studying the illustrations and paintings by C.M. Russell and Frederic Remington; she created cards and letters to friends and family members, depicting horses with Cowboy and Indian characters riding across the pages.

She worked part time as a fine artist throughout her life and gained several commissions along the way. As a young adult, she supported her artistic vision through a wide variety of unusual jobs including: graphic artist and computer technician, banking clerk at a Japanese bank, and more recently as a working cowgirl in Montana. After her daughter left for college, Deb turned...