Cowan was born in
Edinburgh and educated at
St Leonards School in
St Andrews and at the
Karlsruhe Conservatorium in Germany. During
World War I she served with an ambulance organisation in France, during which time she completed numerous sketches of the unit's work and of her co-workers. She exhibited both bronze sculptures and watercolour paintings with the
Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts. Cowan travelled extensively throughout her life, especially in Africa and south-east Asia, and pursued several interests other than her art. In 1924 she won both the ladies golf championship of India and the ladies tennis doubles championship of Malaysia. She was a talented amateur violinist and in 1927 was the founding president of the Women's Section of the Edinburgh Society of Musicians. In 1911 Cowan learned to fly and at various times was claimed as either the first British, or the first Scottish, female solo pilot, with both these claims being strongly disputed by the
Royal Aeronautical Society. ==References==