Deb McKay has worked in fashion and interiors for 20 years before she came to ceramics. Her background in these artistic fields have led her to explore, tone, texture, repetition, pattern, symmetry and design. Exploring other artistic field before clay, improving her overall skills, Deb admits once she found clay in particularly porcelain, it was like an understanding of how to work the material and how it would respond, that has made her come to love and work in this medium. McKay is largely self- taught and began working with clay in October 2018. In this short space of time, she has received recognition for her detailed work as a Finalist in the 2020 Waterhouse Natural Science Exhibition at the South Australian Museum receiving a highly commended award. Deb was also a finalist in The National Emerging Artist Art Prize in 2021 and 2022 and a Finalist in The Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Art Award in 2022. In 2022 Deb won The Waterhouse Natural Science Exhibition in the Emerging Art Prize category. Early 2023 Deb received a highly commended award in The Adelaide Parklands Art Prize.
Her work has been acquired by Parliament House Art Collection Canberra, and many private collections both in Australia and Internationally.