Zehra Çekin was born in Istanbul in 1962. She is a graduate of Istanbul University Faculty of Pharmacy. Çekin started her illumination and miniature training with Cahide Keskiner in 1994, her khatt training with Hüseyin Kutlu in 1995, and received her illumination and thuluth-naskh khatt licenses in 2001. She attended the illumination courses of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism between 2000-2002, and took painting classes from Reza Hemmatirad. Çekin gave the illumination specialization classes themed “16th Century Karamemi School” at the Classical Turkish Arts Center at Yıldız Palace Şale Kiosk between 2004-2006. She participated in various group exhibitions and trained many students.