Sandra studied at the Ontario College of Art, and graduated in 1963. Afterwards she studied at the Instituto Allende, in Mexico and received her Master of Fine Arts Degree in 1966. In 1991 she studied at the University of Toronto at the Faculty of Education and obtained her Bachelor of Education Degree.

In 1975 she began teaching at OCA and continued there (now OCAD University) as an associate professor until her retirement in 2013.

First exhibitions of her work took place from 1980 at Gallery Moos in Toronto and then at Gallery Mira Goddard. Past exhibitions include solo and group exhibits in Canada in Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Guelph, Kingston and Brantford Ontario as well as exhibits in the USA in Chicago, the Albright Knox Gallery in Buffalo, Michigan, Indiana, Virginia, The Bronx Museum, New York, She has also exhibited in Europe in England at Oxford University and Finland at the Alvar Alto museum.

Paintings and prints are represented in over sixty-seven public and corporate collections including the Canada Council Art Bank, the Toronto Dominion Bank, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Ernst and Young, University of British Colombia, University of Toronto, the University of Lethbridge and the Agnes Etherington Art Center.

Awards have been from the Canada Council for the Arts; Ontario Arts Council Grants and several Purchase Awards in Canada.