you don't know how you want to do it until you start (24 June 2016)

Margaret Olley, Poppies and checked cloth

Margaret Olley, Still Life of Blossoms, Plums and Pewter Jug

I’ve never liked housework. I get by doing little chores when I feel like them, in between paintings. Who wants to chase dust all their life? You can spend your whole lifetime cleaning the house. I like watching the patina grow. If the house looks dirty, buy another bunch of flowers, is my advice.

- Margaret Olley

 Olley's house in Paddington, with Olley at its centre

recreated at the Margaret Olley Art Centre, Tweed Regional Gallery in Murwillumbah

Margaret Olley in her Duxford Street studio, 1995, by Robert Walker


The challenge, the interesting part of painting, is that you don't know how you want to do it until you start.

- Margaret Olley

Ben Quilty, Margaret Olley, 2011

Quilty and Olley


To be a sculptor or a painter you do not need a university degree. You don't need a degree to be a plumber and you don't need a degree to be a practical artist.

- Margaret Olley

 Margaret Olley, Untitled (Citrus Still Life), 1964

''She went the way she wanted, with paint still on her fingers, cigarettes stubbed out and off to bed after a full day of painting,'' said friend and dealer Philip Bacon.



When the bon Dieu comes for me, I'll say: 'One minute, I'm not ready. I have to finish this painting.'

- Margaret Olley

Margaret Olley: An artist of the people (The Australian)

The Magic of Margaret Olley (The Age)

Olley dies as she wanted, with paint still on her fingers (SMH)

Margaret Olley's home on display at Tweed Regional Gallery (SMH)