Nettleton qualified with a Diploma of Teaching from Bedford Park Teachers College (Flinder’s Uni) majoring in Art, Art History and English Literature. During the 1970s she travelled extensively through Europe and Unites States, living in Tuscany for twelve months. It was here she became enamoured with Renaissance Art, seeking out treasures in museums, galleries and churches.

On her return to Australia Nettleton was offered a position as a weaver at the newly created Victorian Tapestry Workshop (now Australian Tapestry Workshop, ATW). In ­1985 she set up her own workshop, Tapestry Studios of Australia, working on significant commissions such as the fabrication of thirteen floor rugs, designed by Australian artists, for the new Parliament House, Canberra.

Due to the taxing nature of tapestry on the body, Nettleton returned to her first love, painting. She now paints full time in a lovely home studio and has exhibited in group exhibitions, as well as a solo exhibition in 2004.