“In the Silence of Creation I find My Voice” Dutch Painter Rianne Bouter Comes into Her Own as an Artist and Mother
- Celeste Sunderland Gottfried
- Apr 14
- 4 min read
Big changes have happened in the life of artist Rianne Bouter these last few years. She moved back to the small Netherlands city where she grew up, had a baby, and converted her garage into an ultra-charming art studio. And despite all this—or more likely, because of it—she has finally found her groove as an artist.
The defining moment came last spring while working on a piece called “Here For You.” In the painting, two female figures fold gently over one another in a comforting pose. Looking at it you get a sense of tenderness, healing, matters of the heart.
“At that moment I really felt that what I’m painting right now—this is exactly the story I want to tell. This is who I want to be as an artist. It all fell into place for me with that painting. This is what I want to do, this is the life I want to pursue,” she says.
Bouter had set out to be a fashion designer, studying at HKU University of the Arts, in Utrecht, Netherlands, but after graduating and moving to Amsterdam she wasn’t sure if fashion was really her thing. Growing up in a creative family, art was always something she did, but like many artists she felt unsure if she could forge a career in the art world.
Then, while working at the home decor store Dille & Kamille, in Amsterdam, she was invited to paint some illustrations on the shop windows. The experience inspired her to do more, not only with illustration but with painting as well. And when she and her husband decided to move back home to ‘s-Hertogenbosch (fun fact: Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch is from there too) and have a baby, she was able to take some time for creative exploration, eventually converting that garage into a beautiful studio space of her own.
It's a place where she can be alone, where she can spend time transferring her thoughts and feelings to the canvas. “Art is my way of expressing myself,” Bouter writes on social media. “As someone who finds it hard to communicate their feelings, when I’m painting, my emotions flow onto the canvas. To me, my paintings speak a language much louder than words. And by painting I not only find my voice as an artist but also a path to healing and understanding myself.”
Working—in any context—is always challenging with a baby at home, but Bouter has been able to manage it thanks to her hugely supportive husband, her mom and in-laws who help out with childcare, and freelance projects doing window illustrations for Dutch brands like My Jewellery, Van Lanschot, and Anna + Nina. She’s not able to paint every day, but has a good balance, and spends as much time as she can in her studio.
In the quiet, sunlit space gently meandering curves form graceful, surrealist shapes in pretty palates of lilac, avocado, and ochre on Bouter’s canvases. Hints of her fashion illustration background come through in elegant female figures, themselves vaguely reminiscent of the supermodels in Peter Lindbergh photographs from the 1990s, albeit in a vivid pastel colorscape.
In one piece, a pale, willowy hand cups a delicate face painted in various shades of blue. “I Lean on You, You Lean on Me” is a painting she made for her mom in 2023, she herself a new mother at the time, and like many of Bouter’s works, it conveys strong feelings of comfort and love.
When painting, she might be thinking about “letting go of doubt and embracing vulnerability” she says, or venturing deeper on her own path to self-awareness. Each individual piece is rife with feeling, whether it depicts surrealist figures embracing, or a single hand.
In fact, hands were a theme in a series of tiny paintings Bouter made for her first collaboration with Art Museums of the World during Art Basel 2023. We had set up a vintage art vending machine at Hyve Hostel with miniature artworks by 50 different artists and Bouter was one of them. It was her first project after her daughter was born, and between feedings and diaper changes, she was able to sneak in the time to make some miniature works of art.
“Hands can tell a whole story,” Bouter says. “When you see a picture of a hand, you can see if it is stressed or tense or relaxed, or two hands holding can be a really loving message, so I was exploring that. I wanted to tell a story just with a hand.”
We can’t wait to see what stories Bouter will tell with the new paintings she’s making for Basel Art Summer Camp this June. It will be her first trip away from her daughter and she’s nervous about missing her, but looking forward to connecting with a community of like-minded artists from across Europe.
Meet Rianne and the other artists at Basel Art Summer Camp here:
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