Olive had just won a ‘Keating’, but there were no signs of any luxuries about the house. We sat on old car seats in the lounge around a wood-stove that had a permanently topped-up teapot on the go.

I asked Olive if I could buy one of her photos, but she apologetically explained that she could only sell them at a price fixed by her agent – one I couldn’t afford. As I was leaving the next day, she gave me a bag containing a print of her wonderful photograph Shasta daisies, saying ‘I can’t sell them at a lower price, but I can give them away!’

Mike Ladd, Prospect, SA

Olive Cotton’s photograph of Ross McInerney (right) with Kieran McInerney, Geoffrey Lehmann, and Mike Ladd, taken at Spring Forest in September 1993.

Fairweather friends

Dear Editor,

Letters are sought of the noted Australian painter Ian Fairweather for possible inclusion in an edition of his selected letters now in preparation and due for publication in 2015. While Fairweather lived a reclusive life on Bribie Island off the Queensland coast near Brisbane, he was a sociable letter writer; and over the years he enjoyed visits from several notable Australian artists who admired his work. Many of Fairweather’s letters are held in institutional collections in Australia and overseas, but others may survive in private ownership. Copyright clearance to allow publication has been negotiated with the artist’s family, who support the project. Owners of letters are invited to contact Dr Claire Roberts, Senior Lecturer, Art History, University of Adelaide SA 5006 or by email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Claire Roberts and John Thompson