Francine Gravel was born in Montreal on March 17th, 1944. She studied at the Montreal School of Fine Arts under Albert Dumouchel and Pierre Ayot and obtained a Diploma in painting and printmaking in 1965. She then obtained a teaching certificate in 1966 and taught in Quebec and Ontario in a number of schools and art centres. From 1967 to 1969 she travelled in Europe, working for the most part in Belgium. Upon her return to Canada, she worked in Toronto until moving to Calgary, where she taught at the Alberta College of Art until 1976. She then accepted a teaching position at Concordia University from 1976 to 1977 before moving to Vancouver, where she lived and worked until 1986. At that time she took up residence in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley, where she now has her permanent studio. Since 1978 she has worked solely as a painter, printmaker and poet, Francine Gravel nommée au titre de maître en beaux-arts - AIBAQ- en 2011.