After matriculating from high school, she attended the Tegne- og Kunstindustriskole for Kvinder (Drawing and Handicrafts School for Women) before studying at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts under Sigurd Wandel (1921–24).
[1] Although she graduated from the Danish Academy as a painter, Starcke was above all proficient as a textile artist, creating pictorial collages and woven pieces, both large and small.
She used fabrics or "rags" of various kinds to provide shape and colour to her work, creating simple but refined artistic compositions.
Her subjects were frequently inspired by the tales of Hans Christian Andersen or by stories from the Bible.
[1] Starcke received several grants and awards including the Tagea Brandt Rejselegat (1943) and the Niels Larsen Stevns prize (1973).