At Lake Balaton 1981

Maria Bozoky made this watercolour, At Lake Balaton, using the kind of layered washes and energetic pen lines that really show the hand of the artist at work. You can almost feel the light shimmering on the water, can't you? The blue is laid down in such a way that it feels both still and moving, reflecting the sky and the distant hills. I'm really drawn to the contrast between the delicate, almost translucent washes of colour and the darker, more assertive pen marks that define the trees and benches. It's as if Bozoky is inviting us to see the world through her eyes, not as a fixed, static image, but as a process of constant change and flux. I am reminded of Joan Mitchell, in the way she evokes a sense of place through pure colour and gesture, without ever becoming too literal or descriptive. Just a playful exploration of the possibilities of paint.