[3] In 1926,[4] aged 18, in the company of her mother and fellow artist Hilda Roberts, she went to Paris to study at the Académie Scandinave and at La Grande Chaumière.

[2] In 1928, Steyn's first individual art show was held in St Stephen's Green at the Dublin Painter's Gallery.

[3] That same year Steyn entered into Sur La Glace, she did not win but was awarded a silver medal at the Tailteann Games.

[3] In 1929 she had an exhibition in Manhattan and embarked on a tour of France and Germany visiting Avignon, Toulon and Marseilles.

[3] She felt her work was underappreciated in Ireland and returned to continue her study at La Grande Chaumiere and then Académie Scandinave.