Grace Coombs was born in Hamilton, Ontario and later moved with her family to St. Catherines. She studied at the Ontario College of Art and the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts. She taught art at Edgehill College in Windsor, Nova Scotia, Havergal College, North York and the Ontario College of Art in Toronto. Coombs designed a stain glass window for the church in Guelph but is mostly known for her paintings and drawings.