AIRA RAUTSO, born in 1954 in the town of Rakvere, graduated from the Tallinn Pedagogical Institute in 1978.

Since 1980 she is teaching at the Jõhvi Art School.

Aira Rautso has been showing her works at exhibitions since 1981. She had solo exhibitions in Ida-Virumaa county, in Tartu and in Tallinn, as well as in Eckernförde (Germany) and in Uddevalla (Sweden). Her paintings have been displayed at many group exhibitions in Estonia and abroad: in Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Germany.

Aira Rautso's art has won her the 2004 Ida-Virumaa Culture Award and the 2006 Award for Creative Work of the Ida-Virumaa Cultural Endowment. In 2008 she joined the Estonian Artists Union.

She describes her creative process in the following way: "I perceive painting as living in a parallel world. I would walk cross-town to my studio. Sometimes I would make a circle through a suburban park, looking for signs of change. I would try to forget my everyday pursuits. Then I would listen to my favourite records: John Mayall, Bruce Springsteen, Bach, Arvo Pärt...I look at the white canvas and the row of motley paint cans, and my intuition tells me whether this is a day of yellow, dark blue or grey tones. I have no idea yet of how the painting will look like. Colours would  take decisions upon themselves. Images grow out of them. I would only follow them with my hand."