Background
She was born on the mountain farm Grimdalen in Skafså, Telemark, and later also lived and worked in the so-called Kunstnerdalen in Asker.
She was born on the mountain farm Grimdalen in Skafså, Telemark, and later also lived and worked in the so-called Kunstnerdalen in Asker.
Grimdalen studied at the Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry from 1923 to 1926, at the Norwegian National Academy of Fine Arts (1927–1929) under Wilhelm Rasmussen, and in Copenhagen under Einar Utzon-Frank. She made study travels to Italy (1933-1934), Greece (1935), Paris and Italy (1938), and London (1947). Two of her inspirators were the painters Henrik Sørensen and Otto Valstad.
She worked mainly with granite, and also bronze. She is represented at the National Gallery of Norway, and was one of the main contributors to the decorations of Oslo City Hall. The art museum Grimdalstunet was later (in 1965) built at her home farm Grimdalen in Skafså (now within Tokke municipality), and contains a collection of more than 250 of her sculptures.
The mountain farm itself is also a museum, with buildings from the time of barter economy in the 17th century.
