Brigitte Handschick was born in Berlin in 1939. She studied at Master School for Arts and Crafts in Berlin-Charlottenburg but had to abandon her studies in West Berlin after the Wall was built. From 1961, she worked as a painter, graphic artist and book illustrator in East Berlin. From 1987 to 1990, she held a teaching position at the College for Advertising and Design in Berlin-Schöneweide. Handschick died in Berlin in 1994.