Still life…

This is a still life painting by Margaret Olley, a much-loved Australian artist, who died in 2011 at the age of 88.

I love her style of realistic painting, her colours glow. But she famously hated house work. This is very evident in the reconstruction of her home that has been painstakingly recreated, piece by piece, in a specially built extension at the Tweed Regional Art Gallery. (see another post I did about this remarkable woman)

It was carefully catalogued, thousands of articles, the exact position noted, then all brought from Sydney to be displayed here.

You walk round the outside of the house peering in through the windows and doors at a conglomeration of articles that made up the creative person that was Margaret Olley.

As the gallery is only a short drive away I’m lucky to be able to visit regularly and this was where we came after the delicious lunch at Teavine House.

To me it looks like a life times collection of eclectic junk, but Margaret insisted she knew where everything was and would not let anything be moved. Everyday the gallery staff put fresh flowers in the vases, as they were when she painted them. Classical music plays softly in the background.

I visit this gallery every few months to see the ever-changing exhibits and always enjoy looking at this still life recreation of an amazing artist. So much to look at I notice something different at every visit.

It had been an enjoyable days outing and as the day faded we had one more cup of coffee, being the only ones in the café, it was almost closing time, it was quiet and peaceful and as the sun went down a stillness surrounded me. Life is good…

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Ailsa (where’s my backpack) ask us to create our own post and title it Travel theme: Stillness