She was born in the village of
Aurskog in
Akershus, Norway. Her parents, Casper Cristiansen Berg (1828-1914) and Bartha Nordbye (1829-1912) were landowners. Later, they moved to
Christiania (now Oslo) where her father became a businessman. Originally, she trained as a nurse, then worked as a combination nurse and missionary among the
Sami in
Finnmark. During a trip to Vienna, she saw some works by the Dutch marine painter,
Hendrik Willem Mesdag, which greatly impressed her. In 1885, she had a chance meeting with him and his family. This led to studies with him at his workshop in
The Hague. They were also shown at a special exhibition in Aurskog (1996), and another at the in
Honningsvåg, near the place where she worked with the Sami (2004). ==Selected paintings==