Born in Victoria, B.C., Nelson is one of six sisters and an elder brother. She was raised in Trail, B.C. and, after attending the University of British Columbia, completed her degree as an R.N. at the Vancouver General Hospital. Nelson has travelled widely, and lived in Montreal, Boston and Oakville, Ontario.

Nelson has attended art studies at the University of Toronto and Harvard University in Boston. She has painted individually with many fine artists and instructors in the Toronto area.

Nelson is a member of the Studio Artists of Thornhill and has exhibited in Toronto, Huntsville and Grenada, W.I..

Painting with water colours is her great interest. In a difficult medium, her use of colour and natural beauty bring much pleasure to the viewer, particularly her interpretation of fresh flowers and trees and landscapes of Muskoka and the Caribbean. She has developed her skill into an art concept which she has expressed in a yet unpublished book entitled Magical Ratios.

Nelson and her husband Perry, an accomplished stone carver, reside in Thornhill, ON. They have three daughters, six grandsons and one great granddaughter. They enjoy the company of family and friends, time at their Muskoka cottage and winter weeks in the Caribbean.