Ollie’s interiors feel like a natural extension of her still lifes. The focus has widened from the things that furnish everyday life, whether a cup of tea, a favourite piece of crockery or flowers brought into the kitchen, to the rooms in which those little moments take place. Her own description of her practice is rooted in the intimacy of domestic life and the “private theatre of the everyday”; even the fabrics and ceramics that appear in her still lifes are objects collected and used within her own home. For Small Pleasures, Ollie began looking beyond her own home too, visiting friends across the country and painting interiors that hold a particular resonance for her. These are not immaculate or staged. What interests her is the evidence of life: rooms that have been lived in, surfaces gathering objects, a cup left beside the sink. In this sense, the interiors become portraits of life without requiring a person to appear. 

Rained In began with plans interrupted by an early-summer downpour. Instead of looking elsewhere for a subject, Ollie turned her attention inwards, to the comfort and intimacy of an unexpected afternoon at home. “There’s a strange pleasure in plans being cancelled because the weather’s made the decision for you,” she recalls, “tea in hand, embracing the ritual of cosiness instead.”