Una Shanks was born in 1940 and enrolled at Glasgow School of Art in 1958, studying textiles in the progressive department headed by designer Robert Stewart. A string of teaching posts followed graduating, including a year at Jordanhill College, which was later merged with the University of Strathclyde. She lectured in teacher training at Hamilton College until 1982 before taking early retirement, enabling her to focus on her artistic practice full-time. In the eighties and nineties, Shanks exhibited regularly at the Fine Art Society (later Roger Billcliffe in Glasgow), The Royal Glasgow Institute, Royal Scottish Academy and Royal Society of Painters in Watercolour, where she was elected an RSW in 1988.