Her mother is an English teacher and has written a novel and one of her older brothers is a comic book illustrator so it is not surprising that D'Ette loved the arts at a very early age. She remembers that when she was a little girl that her idea of a great gift was art supplies, and she has fond memories of her mother taking her to the art supply store. She says that her mother was always very supportive of her desire to draw and paint. D'Ette attended an inner-city high school in Arizona and says the art program and classes offered there were “poor at best.” So she worked on her art at home on her own. But college was a different and she says, “After I waited on tables I realized that I did not want to do that for the rest of my life. I knew I wanted to be an artist.” Once the idea blossomed she says, “I dedicated all of my time to it.”