Les Plans sur Bex, a barn with tractor 2003

Hubertine Heijermans made "Les Plans sur Bex, a barn with tractor" with watercolour, and what I love about watercolour is its inherent unpredictability. You set the conditions, and then you let the water do its thing, a collaboration with the cosmos! Look at the way the washes of colour have been allowed to pool and bleed into one another, creating soft edges and subtle gradations. See how the mountain in the background is barely there, just a suggestion of form and texture? The paint is so thin it feels like the mountain is dissolving into the sky, becoming one with the atmosphere. And then, bam! there's that tractor! Kind of kitsch, but also totally charming. This piece reminds me a little of some of those early Hockneys. They both have this way of capturing a specific place and time with such delicate, loving attention. But of course, Heijermans has her own voice, her own way of seeing the world. And that’s what makes art so exciting, right? It's an ongoing conversation, a constant exchange of ideas and perspectives, and ultimately, it's open to whatever interpretation you want to bring to it.