On August 5th, the exhibition Slow Burn – A century of Australian women artists from a private collection, will open at the S.H. Ervin Gallery. I have spent the past four months working very hard on the exhibition catalogue and am very proud to be a co-author on such an exciting and important project. Of the 102 artists from the collection, I researched and wrote 47 of the biographies. The collection ranges “from the delicate pastels of Janet Cumbrae Stewart to the modernist prints of Margaret Preston through to the bio-techno sculptures of Patricia Piccinini. The works in the exhibition demonstrate the skill and versatility of women artists over the past hundred years” (S.H. Ervin Gallery). In honour of the exhibition I plan to do a mini-series featuring a few of the artists represented in the collection as well as one or two of the artworks that I did not write about for the book. The exhibition will be on view at the S.H. Ervin Gallery until the 19th of September.
As one of Australia’s best known still life artists, Margaret Olley has enjoyed a successful career and many accolades, including the Companion of the Order of Australia. Her compositions are perfectly balanced with rich colours depicting intimate interior scenes. Olley tends to paint the objects from her own home demonstrating an acute attention to detail. She rarely paints a single objects but instead creates groupings of fruits, flowers, and vases. In her paintings the spatial relationships between the objects are as important as the objects themselves. In 1997 Olley was declared an ‘Australian National Treasure’ and a major retrospective was held at the Art Gallery of NSW.
Orange Grapefruit Marmalade
makes 2 jars
2 oranges
1 pink grapefruits
1 lemons
1 litre water
1 cup sugar
Scrub the skin of the fruit and cut in half removing all visible seeds. Place in a large pot and cover with water (about 1 litre). Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 hour uncovered.
Remove the fruit from the water and strain out all seeds. Finely mince the fruit while carefully retaining all juices and flesh. Discard any hard bits. Return the flesh to the pot of water and add 1 cup sugar. Continue to simmer over medium-low heat for an additional 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, sterilise two canning jars and set aside on clean towels. Once the jam is ready, take it off the heat and carefully ladle into jars. Screw on the lid tightly and overturn the jars on a cutting board allowing the jam to cool. Ready to eat immediately and will keep for several weeks.
15 comments
Rosa says:
Jul 25, 2010
That marmalade looks and sounds fabulous! I love that painting.
Cheers,
Rosa
deana says:
Jul 25, 2010
The painting is really special. I think I love the sense of light and time with those wonderful shadows thrown by the objects… a texture and tone that isn’t seen often enough. And the color… you capture it brilliantly in that marmalade… thanks for another lovely post!
Tweets that mention Margaret Olley – Orange Grapefruit Marmalade »Feasting on Art -- Topsy.com says:
Jul 25, 2010
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Megan Fizell, Nezka Pfeifer. Nezka Pfeifer said: RT @tresjoliestudio: Orange grapefruit marmalade inspired by a very orange still life painting by Margaret Olley http://bit.ly/9i8oMz […]
Julie says:
Jul 25, 2010
The oranges on the branches remind me of our trip to Greece! Lovely, vibrant color in both the painting and your marmalade.
Hannah Stephenson says:
Jul 26, 2010
Congratulations on the exhibition and catalogue! Can’t wait to see what you post…this was wonderfully cheery.
siri says:
Jul 26, 2010
Impressive work, lady!
I made marmelade for the very first time the night before Lasse was born. You’ll HAVE to try blood orange with ginger and grapefruit vanilla bean sometime. Both were delish!
Joanne says:
Jul 26, 2010
Congrats on all of your hard work!
The marmalade looks delicious…I love anything grapefruit-esque.
Kitchen Butterfly says:
Jul 26, 2010
Yummy……….I love making jams/marmalades! And well done with all your ‘curating’ .
Sophie says:
Jul 27, 2010
MMMMMMMMM,..this special marmelade is looking georgous & ooh so appetizing too!
shaz says:
Jul 27, 2010
Sounds like a fantatstic exhibition, well done on the hard work.
Great marmalade too.
liz says:
Jul 28, 2010
Congratulations on the exhibition! Just love the vibrant colors of the painting (and the marmelade sounds great too).
hungry dog says:
Jul 28, 2010
Congratulations on the catalog! Sounds like a lot of work, but fun. This looks refreshing and delicious. I love grapefruit.
kathy says:
Jul 30, 2010
I love this post. Beautiful! I hope you will submit this to http://www.findingvegan.com! ~Kathy
Forager @ The Gourmet Forager says:
Jul 30, 2010
Congratulations on the catalog! And love that painting – so realistic and vibrant – it’s hard to tear my eyes away from it.
Jessica says:
Aug 1, 2010
Delicious! Nothing beats marmalade and jellies made from scratch! Yum!