At the age of 19 Gunnfríður attended a young women's school, but was forced to move to Akureyri and learn to be a seamstress after the school burned down. She was to be successful both in Iceland and in Denmark, where she moved in 1919. By 1924 she had returned to Iceland and that year she married Icelandic sculptor Ásmundur Sveinsson.
Gunnfríður, at age 19, attended a girls' school but was forced to relocate to Akureyri after the school burned down. She became successful in both Iceland and Denmark before returning to Iceland in 1924 and marrying Icelandic sculptor Ásmundur Sveinsson that year.