She was the daughter of a local photographer Edgar Eugene Reed and Mary Elizabeth Mahoney, an immigrant from County Cork, Ireland.

After they moved to Boston in 1890, she studied briefly at the Cowles Art School in 1893, and after 1894 began to receive public notice for her illustrations.

Reed's youthful beauty and cleverness caught the attention of a Newburyport artist Laura Hills, who became a mentor.

In 1897, they settled in London where Reed worked as an illustrator, in particular for The Yellow Book, a quarterly literary periodical which was co-founded by Aubrey Beardsley.

[7] In her short career, Reed achieved recognition as one of the preeminent illustrator artists of her time and remains one of the most mysterious figures of American graphic design.