Deahna was born in the former Soviet Union, Ukraine to be more specific. She and her family immigrated to United States in 1980. Her first camera was a gift from her father when she was 10 years old, right before they left USSR. It was the old style, where you hold it at the waist and look down into it to shoot. She never had a chance to use it, because the immigration process was long and arduous, and it was sold at a market in Rome, Italy, in order to have extra money to live on. They ended up settling down in Baltimore, MD, where she graduated from high school and then went on to continue her education at University of MD, earning a BS in Finance. In March 2003, she earned a Master's Degree in Information Technology and Project Management from Colorado Technical University.

She has always enjoyed all forms of art: carving a wall mural with a ball point pen in her parents' bedroom at 2 yrs. of age; learning to play piano at age 5; doodling all over her notebooks and textbooks in her teens; painting various nail designs with a two hair brush while working part-time as a manicurist after high-school; experimenting with oils, pastels, charcoals and watercolors in her mid 20's; painting wall murals of Buzz Light Year and Spiderman in her older son's bedrooms; and always, always snapping pictures, wherever she goes.

In the past several years, she has been fortunate enough to have the support, ability and time to let her creative juices flow. Her inspirations and ideas come from a wide variety of sources: something simple as a hair falling down in an outline of some animal, to masterpieces created by the greatest artists in history. Traveling to various countries and living in Colorado for the past 11 years, has also provided her with an abundance of photographic material. Joining FAR and being surrounded by so many talented people, has been an invaluable experience for her. She has learned a great deal, and hopes to continue to share and develop her artistic abilities.