Rea Aarnio-Gibson was born in 1961 in Helsinki, Finland. She moved to the United States in 1981, and gained a BFA in design, specializing in fiber arts, from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. After graduating she worked with quilt artist Patsy Allen, and during this time she became interested in the art of textile quilting, before later switching her focus to fabric painting. She is currently working for Aarnio Design Ltd., and also as a graphic designer at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.