How Claire Juttet Finds Comfort in Nostalgia and Longing Through her Art
In this Arts to Hearts Project interview, we sit down with Paris-based painter Claire Juttet to explore the quiet power of her work. Claire paints women in still, intimate moments—scenes that feel personal, honest, and full of quiet emotion. In this conversation, she shares how her memories, sensitivity, and past experiences shape what she puts on canvas.
We discuss why she’s drawn to slowing down, how nature subtly enters her portraits, and the emotional space she hopes her paintings can hold for others. We’ve learned that her work doesn’t shout—it gently speaks to what many of us carry inside: nostalgia, longing, and the search for comfort.
Claire Juttet is a featured artist in our book, “101 ArtBook – Nature Edition” You can explore her journey and the stories of other artists by purchasing the book here:
https://shop.artstoheartsproject.com/products/the-creative-process-book
My name is Claire Juttet, and I am a French painter based in Paris. I paint portraits of women and intimate, suspended moments where closeness is both physical and emotional. These scenes invite us to slow down, reminding us that what we often search for elsewhere is already within reach. My paintings aim to comfort those experiencing doubt, melancholy, or nostalgia. Drawing from my sensitivity, memories, and personal experiences, I depict moments of connection—with oneself, others, or nature—that offer a sense of solace and quiet serenity.
1. Your paintings evoke a deep emotional closeness—how do you translate those intimate moments onto canvas?
Intimacy is deeply personal—something we don’t share easily or publicly. It’s a form of emotional vulnerability, a fragile space we protect. It feels like a bubble—quiet, precious, and meaningful. I translate that sense of intimacy in my paintings through close-up compositions and emotional proximity with the figures I depict. I mostly paint women, often in tight frames, because it creates an immediate closeness. It feels like stepping into their world, into that emotional bubble.
The moments I paint are drawn from personal memories, with elements from childhood, adolescence, or fleeting impressions that left an emotional trace. Put, intimacy in my work comes from staying close to what stirs something fundamental in me. And maybe that’s what creates space for others to feel something too—to project their emotions, memories, and stories into the work.
To put it simply, intimacy in my work comes from staying close to what stirs something real in me.
Claire Juttet
2. You mention painting scenes that invite us to slow down—what draws you to these quiet, reflective spaces?
I’m obsessed with slowing down—probably because I rarely manage to do it. I tend to rush through things and fill every gap. Even while painting, I listen to podcasts. But I know that it’s only when I slow down, when I step out of autopilot, that I can feel something. It’s like a veil lifting—a kind of mental fog clearing—and suddenly things that were already there become visible.
That’s what I want to paint: what shows up when the veil lifts. Agnès Varda and Nurith Aviv spoke about this in their film Daguerréotypes, a documentary in which they filmed the shopkeepers of Varda’s street in Paris. Nothing extraordinary happens—and yet, everything is there. They said: “When you decide to look closely at something that may be dull, it’s no longer dull. The very act of looking changes it.” That sentence stayed with me. It reminds me that presence can shift everything, even in the most ordinary moments.
3. Many of your works offer comfort during melancholy or nostalgia. Is there a personal experience that shaped this intention?
Yes, absolutely. I had a very happy childhood, full of softness and love. But adolescence hit hard, and that discomfort stayed with me for years. When I started painting, I wanted to express that emotional fog. I painted blue portraits—literally and metaphorically—because I felt blue. That state where you’re so overwhelmed by sadness that you unplug, and end up feeling… nothing. What helped shift things were certain travels, encounters, moments that reconnected me to others—and to myself. They reminded me that I once believed in people, beauty, and small things that bring joy. Now, I paint to hold onto those glimpses. I try to share a form of tenderness and quiet hope. My work still carries traces of melancholy, but it’s rooted in something warm. Nostalgia, for me, isn’t about the past—it’s about what we want to keep alive.
4. How do your memories and sensitivity guide your choice of subjects and the mood you create?
I’m often inspired by small, seemingly ordinary memories—nothing dramatic, just fleeting moments that stayed with me: a cherry, a red poppy, someone putting on makeup. What I try to do is give those moments a second life. I turn them into scenes that feel meaningful or worthy of attention. I try to sublimate the ordinary through soft curves, warm colours, and ideal compositions. It’s not about copying reality. It’s about creating soft and immersive scenes, where emotion and sensation quietly take the lead over narrative.
It’s like a veil lifting—a kind of mental fog clearing—and suddenly things that were already there become visible. That’s what I want to paint: what shows up when the veil lifts.
Claire Juttet
5. What role does your connection to nature play in your portraits and storytelling?
Nature isn’t the centre of my work, but is always there, quietly present. A flower, a cherry, a shade of green. These elements slip into my compositions almost instinctively. They’re not just decorative—they say something about the scene’s mood and emotional undercurrent. I think of nature in a broader sense, too. Not just the botanical, but also human nature—how we feel, remember, long for things. Take the cherry, for example. It’s just a fruit, but holds tension: it’s playful and sensual. Like many natural forms, it becomes symbolic without me forcing it.
Same with the flowers—they don’t stand for femininity in a literal way. They speak about presence, cycles, and things that fade and return. Georgia O’Keeffe inspires me, not for her flowers alone, but for how she used nature to say something more abstract and internal. She turned natural forms into emotional landscapes. I relate to that: I don’t paint nature as a subject, but as a way to carry a feeling. In my painting Fleur bleue, for instance, the flower adds another layer to the portrait. It says something about longing, softness, and maybe a form of dreamy romanticism you don’t need to explain—you feel it.
6. As a woman painting women, how does your own identity shape the emotional tone of your work?
I paint women with a strong presence—calm, self-assured, and often with a straightforward gaze. They look straight at you. There’s no hesitation, no need to soften. It’s the kind of presence I admire. The type I’d like to embody more often. These women offer a gentle reminder to slow down and stay close to what matters. Someone once told me Fleur bleue felt like an emotional tarot card. That stayed with me. In tarot, a single figure can carry a powerful message without background or noise. That’s what I try to create: emotional cards. Quiet portraits that speak clearly and stay with you.
Claire Juttet’s artwork is about slowing down, noticing the quiet moments, and reconnecting with feelings we often overlook. Through her soft, thoughtful portraits of women, she paints not just faces, but moods—those gentle pauses between thoughts, the warmth of a memory, or the comfort of being with oneself. Her journey reminds us that art doesn’t need to be loud to be moving. It can whisper, stir something inside, and help us feel less alone. We’ve learned from Claire the importance of tenderness, the beauty in stillness, and how minor details can hold big feelings.
To learn more about Claire, click the following links to visit her profile.
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