Born in Amoy, China, in 1933, Mignonette received her early training at the Russian Art Academy in Shanghai and the Chao Shao-An Studio in Hong Kong. She earned her BFA and MFA from Ohio University and was a professor emerita of painting at the University of Michigan School of Art, having taught there for over 30 years.

She has been recognized with extensive regional, national and international awards and exhibitions. Her work is represented in numerous public and private collections.

In 1996 she published Watercolors of Italy, a collection of open air paintings of the Italian landscape. Shortly after being diagnosed with cancer, she completed another publication, Distant Places, showing her open air and oil paintings of China and the Far East. She passed away in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 2009.

A retrospective publication is planned for Spring 2012.