At the age of thirteen, he was apprenticed to a master decorative painter named Pader Faxøe.

From 1807 to 1808, he served in the Napoleonic Wars and developed rheumatism, which would create health issues for the rest of his life.

He worked as a decorator until he took a teaching position at the newly created Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry in 1819.

[2] During his tenure there, he travelled extensively throughout Norway, visiting Telemark, Hardanger, Trøndelag and other scenic locations, painting local costumes as well as landscapes.

He also accompanied Gerhard Munthe on a mapping expedition to Aurland and, together with Wilhelm Maximilian Carpelan, made some of the first drawings of the Jotunheimen mountains.