Priestley has had retrospectives at the British Film Institute,[3] Museum of Modern Art [4] and Hiroshima International Animation Festival in Japan.

She grew up in a wooded area near the Willamette River with horses, dogs, a cat and a huge collection of comic books.

Priestley and Engel co-directed Times Square (1986), also using the Cubicomp[8] to generate images and recording them on a 16mm Bolex camera on a tripod, positioned in front of the monitor.

Priestley has directed animation segments for Sesame Street ("“The Lumps: Rejection Victories” and “The Lumps: Social Skills”, 1990), and directed and animated music video sequences for Tears for Fears (“Sowing the Seeds of Love”, 1988) and Joni Mitchell (“Good Friends”, 1985) and a PBS series title: “Making Peace” (1996).

Priestley's influences include Hilma af Klint, Mary Ellen Bute, Jane Aaron, David Hockney, Evelyn Lambart, Norman McLaren, Jules Engel, Len Lye and Antoni Gaudi.

[22] Priestley has been an active member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1992 and the Short Films and Feature Animation Executive Committee (2018 to 2022).

Priestley's interests include hiking, medicinal herbalism and designing and producing performative events for Burning Man[61] and All Hallows Eve.

[62] She is married to award winning animation director and production designer Paul Harrod (Isle of Dogs,[63] Wendell & Wild,[64] and The PJs[65]).