Ritva Voutila was born in 1946 in Nokia, Finland. She spent her first twenty-two years in Finland, and came to Australia for the first time in 1968. After two and a half years working in Sydney she returned to Europe, and spend the next ten years in Canary Islands, Spain. She moved to Australia for the second time in 1981, and since then Australia has been her permanent home. Before becoming a full time artist/illustrator/graphic designer in 1983, she has worked as a garden designer, computer programmer/analyst and computer sales representative.