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• My name is Ibolya Való. I was born in 1958, in a Hungarian town, Nagykáta.
• Back then, some of the women did gobelin stitching in the village where I was growing up. I could be three or four
• years old when the mesmerising glow of silk threads made me fall in love with the multitude of colours - and I spent
• most of my childhood drawing and painting.
• As a teenager, I had the chance to meet an elderly painter whose paintings really fascinated me. I was standing
• around in his studio, looking at his art in admiration. I believe it was there and then that I chose painting as a future –
• or it chose me. I was sixteen when I first tried oil painting. Although I felt that I was born to be a painter and wanted
• to dedicate my whole life to painting, this idea had remained only a dream for a long time; I became a fabric pattern
• designer. This helped me to master the art of drawing smooth and accurate outlines which proved to be a useful skill
• later on.
• After a few years of drawing fabric patterns, I became a pattern painter at the Gobelin Manufacturer’s Association. I
• liked this line of work better because I found it more colourful and engaging.
• For a short time, I was working in the field of pottery as it had also been one of my interests. Besides painting and
• decorating ceramics, I designed plaques inspired by Egyptian murals and hieroglyphs. I found this work deeply
• fulfilling; I really enjoyed the process of making ceramic plaques. I decided to illustrate Homer’s Iliad; the historic
• scenes of the epic poem were displayed on clay-based pictures that were fired after their completion.
• During the various stages of my professional life, I have always returned to oil painting.
• I painted surrealistic pictures mainly inspired by Salvador Dali and René Magritte. In 1987, these paintings were
• accepted by Hungária Galéria (the Hungária Gallery). In 1996, I became a member of the Független Magyar Szalon
• Képzőművészeti Társulat (The Independent Hungarian Saloon Fine Arts Association), where the annual almanac
• included my artworks among the works of other artists. Every six months, the Saloon organised and hosted
• exhibitions both in Hungary and abroad featuring my art as well. In 1997, I became a member of the Zichy Galéria
• Alkotó Közösség (The Zichy Galery Artistic Society). At that time, my artworks had been juried for ten years. That was
• the point when I started to return to realistic painting. It was a very fulfilling period of my life; I had excellent
• masters to learn from. Apart from participating in collective and stand-alone exhibitions, I also organised exhibitions
• on my own which were hosted primarily in cultural centres and schools, and where artworks by other painters and
• myself were displayed. The children in the schools were captivated by my pictures and started wondering how
• paintings were made. Well, I decided to show them - and since then, I have been teaching 
• the basics of painting to
• those who are interested.
• I have launched a programme for elementary school children called “Paint an oil picture yourself!” This programme
• has been running for almost 25 years. During this time, thousands of children have been introduced into the
• mysteries of painting - and some of them became artists themselves.
• Throughout the past decades my pictures have been exhibited in several countries, such as England, America,
• Germany (Bavaria), Belgium, France, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Italy, Switzerland... I have also
• become a member of several galleries.
• As most painters do, I have been experimenting with various techniques and materials over time, for example acrylic
• paint. My pictures are painted on canvas, so they can be hanged on the wall immediately after I have put the brush
• down. I usually use canvas sizes ranging between 40x50 cm and 100x100 cm. The larger the canvas is, the more
• engaging it becomes to paint on it! To protect the completed artworks from the passing of time, they are handled
• with varnish. I only work with the highest quality paints and brushes available.
• I have been living in Budapest for forty years.
• More than 45 years have passed since I first grabbed a brush. Since then, painting has been an integral part of my
• everyday life. Although I love all art forms, for me, painting is at the pinnacle of art, and I simply cannot imagine my
• life without it. A painter never stops painting, even when they have put down their brushes for the day. The process
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• of painting continues in their minds and dreams... It never stops. With my paintings, I want to convey new
• perspectives, atmospheres, new aspects of beauty and harmony to those who are open towards it.
• The mission of the artist is to touch the hearts of others with a ray of light.
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