Born in 1977 in Üsküdar, Istanbul, Zehra Koblay started her artistic journey in 1994 with the illumination classes she took from Asiye Kafaler Dönmez at the History and Islamic Research Foundation. She received illumination training from Suğur Kars in 1995 and Ayşenur Kadakçı Velioğlu between 1996 and 1999. Koblay, who worked with the master-apprentice method in Asiye Kafaler Dönmez's Mim-Art workshop, completed her four-year illumination training at the Classical Turkish Arts Foundation in 2013. Between 2010 and 2018, she worked as the assistant of Asiye Kafaler Dönmez and in 2011 as the assistant of Ayşenur Kadakçı Velioğlu at the same foundation.

The artist, who continued her academic education by graduating from Anadolu University Open Education Faculty History Department in 2018, completed her master's degree at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Traditional Turkish Arts Department Illumination Programme in 2019. In 2023, she completed her thesis titled "Investigation of Ten Mirrors in the Collection of Topkapı Palace Museum in terms of Motif, Pattern and Period" (“Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi Koleksiyonu’nda Bulunan On Adet Aynanın Motif, Desen ve Dönem Açısından İncelenmesi”).

The artist has participated in many national and international exhibitions, projects and workshops since 1995. Among these activities, the exhibitions organised at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in 2019 and the educational activities at Taksim Mosque Islamic Education, Culture and Art Foundation stand out. She still gives illumination trainings in this foundation.