[1] She was active from 1898 to 1944, and received prestigious commissions to paint vice regal representatives, prominent members of society and celebrities, in Melbourne and later Sydney.

She was the second-eldest of five children of the English-born photographer, artist and miniaturist George Cherry[2] and Mary Ann Mathilda (née James).

Her husband had also been employed at Johnstone, O'Shannessy and Co. After a difficult marriage and two children, they eventually divorced in 1899, with Whiting citing "desertion and habitual drunkenness" as the causes.

[9][10] She acquired the skills necessary, including "stippling with a camel hair brush",[9] and she achieved notability, which was commented on regularly during her career, when one of her early miniatures was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1900.

[12] Her success at the Royal Academy resulted in a steady stream of commissions from influential people, and her skill in creating miniatures was widely recognised.

[18] with regular complimentary references in the newspapers of the day, such as: "Mrs Whiting ... stands at the head of her profession in the miniature branch of portraiture".

She regularly visited her son Saville in Sydney, and received commissions to paint members of the wealthy Australia Hordern dynasty, as well as the daughter of the NSW Governor.

Whiting received many prestigious commissions to paint miniatures, including ones of the great Victorian art benefactor Alfred Felton and the Earl of Linlithgow.

[23] One of the miniatures painted by Whiting, completed in 1919, was of Melba in one of her famous tiaras[2] wearing "a lace gown with camellias which she had first worn when she performed La Traviata.