Kylie Dunstan was born in Broken Hill, New South Wales, in 1972, and completed secondary and tertiary (Bachelor of Visual Arts) schooling in Adelaide.

She worked for a number of years in commercial art galleries before taking up a position as an Arts Officer at a community centre in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory.

One of Kylie's duties was to take the local women out on bush trips to collect pandanus and 'colour' for weaving and dyeing the mats and baskets sold in the Arts Centre.

These trips inspired the idea for the picture book Collecting Colour, which won 'Picture Book of the Year' in the 2009 CBC Awards. Kylie currently lives in Vietnam with her partner and two children.