Francine Gravel was born in Montreal on March 17, 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.

In 1967 and 1969, she travelled to Europe, working for the most part in Belgium. Upon her return to Canada, she worked in Toronto until her appointment at the Alberta College of Art in Calgary where she was an instructor from 1972 to 1976. She then accepted a teaching position at Concordia University in 1976 - 1977 before moving to Vancouver where she lived and worked unt...