ABOUT TIO
A Scottish artist with a lifelong passion for creative expression
Hello. I am Tio Guise from Scotland. I am a painter with a deep desire to share my vision of the beauty of this gift of life. When I pick up my materials to draw or paint, emotions are stirred, music flows. Skilfully, I begin to weave marks, colours and gestures together, releasing more than the idea. There is an emotional presence that that reaches the soul.
Art has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. Some people tell stories with words. I have always told them with line, tone, and colour.
A Life Shaped by the Scottish Artistic Tradition
I grew up in Edinburgh in a large family, full of creative activity. Everyone was busy and I was encouraged to occupy myself. I used my imagination to create games and my hands to make things. That foundation naturally led me to Edinburgh College of Art, where I trained in Drawing and Painting.
Drawing was the backbone of all the training; it was bliss. Two whole days each week drawing from the model. The technical skills developed ran as a thread through everything I did. Drawing became my language and I was fluent in it.
Since then I have used this language to bring together my thoughts, experiences and emotions. I search for meaning in all that I see. For me, to draw is seeing deeply in the search for the essence of a subject. It is tactile, immediate and honest. It is where an idea begins to take shape and emotions are triggered.
My Artistic Approach
Commission a Piece of Original Fine Art
My work begins with essential intense observation, then moves into interpretation. I look closely at the world around me, the figure, the landscape, the subtle gestures of everyday life, and then allow imagination and memory to influence the final piece.
I work in oil, watercolour, acrylic, and gouache. Each medium gives me a different way to explore tone, colour, and depth. I choose the material that best suits the feeling or atmosphere a piece needs.
My paintings are not meant to replicate reality. They are meant to express an emotional truth.
A Thread Through Every Season
My artistic life has continued through many roles. I have exhibited throughout Scotland and taught drawing through the Open College of the Arts. I have been an artist, a tutor, a mother, and a grandmother. Through every season, drawing and painting have remained the constant thread.
I have always been creating. Always exploring how a moment or a feeling can be transformed into something visual.