[4] Her earliest memory was of Operation Gomorrah, the allied terror bombing of Hamburg.
In 1971 she moved to Ireland, and was part of a 1978 exhibition of women artists held in the Project Gallery in Dublin.
The Irish Times wrote that "despite a bold colour sense [she] had an exceptionally light touch with both [oil and pastel], teasing out subtleties of light and atmosphere with expanses of radiant colour and darting lines.
[8] An exhibition of her work was shown at the Coach House Gallery, Dublin Castle in 2022–23.
[10][11] Bolay married the Berlin-born actor Peter Jankowsky (1939–2014);[12] they had one child.