She studied painting at the Art Students League of New York, and the American School in Fontainebleau, France.

[1] She designed stained glass windows for the National Cathedral in Washington, DC and murals for the interior of The Tavern on the Green restaurant in New York City.

She was most active during the Depression and World War II, and designed many religious triptychs, which were used as portable altars for the armed forces.

[3][4] In the 1950s and 60s, she taught in the Art Department at Manhattanville College under her married name of Nina Blake.

Moving from Manhattan, she purchased a building site in Newtown, CT in the late 1940s, where she built her own house on 8 acres (32,000 m2) of land, which she named "Topside," and designed maps for the city of Newtown, and was active in social and political affairs in the community.