Brintrup was born in
Puerto Montt, Chile in 1954. She received a BA degree in painting from the
Catholic University of Santiago in 1978. In 2004 she became a professor of art at the
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. The youngest daughter of three brothers, she lived during her childhood, until the age of five, in the vicinity of the town of
Fresia,
Llanquihue. Shortly after her fifth birthday, she moved with her family to the town of Puerto Varas. At the age of 17, she entered the Catholic University of Santiago in the career of education, but after four years of studies she decided to pursue a career in the Arts by studying for a
Bachelor of Arts with a mention in painting, from which she graduated in 1978. During the years 1979–80, in the middle of the dictatorship, she attended the Taller de Artes Visuales (TAV) organized by Francisco Brugnoli which focused on the specialization of engraving techniques and discussion of art in general. == Academic life ==