Arife Aktuğ was born in Bolu in 1957. She is a graduate of Istanbul University Faculty of Letters Turkish Language and Literature Department. She started taking illumination classes from Suzan Çataloluk in 2000, and opened her workshop in 2005. She continues to give workshops and training courses at Irgandı Art Bridge. Among the students she trained are Şeyma Ay, Yeşim Akköseler, Dilek Eren, Sevim Yavaş and Aylin Özkan.