[2] In 1951 her family moved to Brisbane where Staunton received formal art training from her mother, as well as Roy Churcher, Bronwyn Yeates (Thomas), Nevil Matthews[2] and Jon Molvig.
[4] Staunton's earlier work consisted of torn sections of Contemporary Art Society newsletter and magazines.
Her art was informed by notably poetry, literature, music and Buddhism and Zen philosophy and culture[5] Illness in 1974, forced Staunton to reconsider her method from large scale paintings to collage.
[5] In the 1996 Australian Day Honours Staunton was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for "service to the visual arts".
[7] In 2012 Madonna Staunton was interviewed in a digital story and oral history for the State Library of Queensland's James C Sourris AM Collection.