Fiona McDonald studied classical painting and drawing at The Julian Ashton Art School in Sydney, Australia from 1985 to 1989. After moving to the Blue Mountains, she began developing her unique oil-painted, needle-sculpted, life-size cloth figures, and her own line of fabric dolls and dragons. On returning to her home town of Armidale, Fiona added to her skills by learning to knit. This latest phase in her career has resulted in her developing designs for dolls and other toys.