Bettink, Rieka

Rieka Bettink was born in 1936 Putten, the Netherlands. She lived on her parents’ farm until 1955 and subsequently in a home for the mentally handicapped. In 1976 she was encouraged to take part in an art group. Since 1996 she has been living in a sheltered community elsewhere, but returns almost daily to the workshop of the institution. Her neat drawings and paintings present elements of farm life and her day-to-day life. The visual elements are like projections, but are sometimes viewed from different angles. She works primarily in ink and watercolor on paper, but uses stronger colors when working in acrylics on canvas.