Simone was born on Vancouver Island and grew up in the Cowichan Valley on a small farm where the acres of fields and forests met the sky and over looked the sea. She began to draw as soon as she could hold a crayon; marvelling at with a few strokes of a pencil that she could create a world or creature. The sense of wonder continues to delight her when a work of art begins to breath and looks back at you from the canvas and says "Hello". It is this that ignites her excitement and enthusiasm to create to see who she will meet and what next adventure will be. Simone has a lust for learning and her first degree, through Malaspina College (VIU) and The University of Lethbridge was extremely varied from opera to archaeology and a few visual art classes thrown in for good measure. Her career direction changed many times through her first degree but the more she worked with children during the summer holidays the more she realised she loved teaching. With that in mind she moved toMontreal and attended Concordia University where she earned her teacher qualifications in art education. Teaching allows her to travel and see different places which fuel her teaching, art and writing.