Margaret Olley, Still life with mandarins, c.1975 oil on board, 76 x 122 cm, Private collection
Margaret Olley caught my attention with her orange tones which occurred again and again in her still life paintings. Orange walls, orange objects, oranges. To my delight I discovered she had an orange dining room, and often painted there, as well as a yellow living room and a green kitchen.
STEVEN ALDERTON, EARLY MORNING AT MARGARET OLLEY’S HOME 2011 [DIGITAL PRINT ON ARCHIVAL PAPER 158.85CM X 67.5CM] COPYRIGHT: STEVEN ALDERTONMandarin oranges are one of the few fruits I remember fondly from growing up in Edmonton, AB. We would buy a crate at Christmas time, and the thin leathery skins were easy to peel with just a bit of pressure from your fingers. I made a dollhouse from one of the wooden crates.
