Happy Midwinter, everyone

For the first time, I took part in a Midwinter Christmas Pop-Up Shop, filling the walls with some of my paintings in the Community Gallery on Princes Street here in chilly Dunedin. None of the paintings were particularly wintry or remotely related to Christmas, but it was all worth it! Juliet Walker managed the event and invited me to exhibit and fill the walls. Everything was so well organised and incredibly uncomplicated. Juliet and her daughter ran the whole show and made it all so easy for the rest of us artists. The shop had a wonderful European Christmas feel, and I’d love to do it again next year.

The biggest surprise was that I finally sold my painting “Lowland Storm”—the first original I’ve sold this entire year! A lovely lady from Invercargill walked in within the first five minutes of the shop opening, saw my painting, and bought it on the spot. Thank you so much if you’re reading this!

At the same time, the Riversdale Mixed Media Show was on, where I had been invited to exhibit. This show is always so well organised and of high quality. This year seemed even more impressive than usual. Sadly, I didn’t make it there in person to see it for myself. I had four of my still-life fruit paintings on display, and they have all now safely returned home, ready for the next exhibition. One advantage of not selling very much is that I never run out of artworks to exhibit! In fact, I’m almost relying on that this year, as I have several more showings planned, with some artworks potentially appearing in more than one exhibition to help spread my work around Aotearoa a little bit more.

During June I’ve been busy entering various competitions and preparing and packaging paintings to be sent off to exhibitions. This week alone both the Otago Art Society’s 150th Annual Exhibition and the Ashburton Art Society’s 62nd Annual Exhibition are opening, and I’m fortunate to have paintings included in both. They are new works and I will share them with you once the openings are over.

My airport exhibition is also still running for another two and a half weeks. Once that’s done and if all goes to plan, I hope to hold an Open Studio on the last weekend of July. I will have paintings and prints available to purchase directly from my studio. For this I have just received my latest prints from my photographer and printer, Murray Eskdale at Mint Printing, and as always, they look superb! This time, I also have four new designs available and in various sizes. Here is a sneak peek…

I’m also already preparing for my next solo exhibition at the beginning of August. It will once again be a fundraiser exhibition at Maori Hill School, with 30% of the proceeds going to the school. Please mark the date in your calendars! The exhibition opening will be held on Monday, 3 August, from 5.00–7.00 pm at Maori Hill School. I’d love to see you there!

So, there always seems to be plenty happening! At the very least, I’ve had a lot of fun along the way, and I’m very grateful to have this creative career alongside my work as a primary school teacher. Sometimes the two even come together, whether it’s through my fundraiser exhibition or helping make props for the upcoming school musical—which opens tomorrow! How exciting!

Hi everyone!

I still have my small collection of paintings on display at Dunedin Airport for June and the beginning of July. I chose larger works, mainly landscapes, as they make a stronger impact and help fill the vast space. I have already received some lovely feedback and am very grateful for the opportunity to show my work to so many people. Altogether, I have eight works on display across four walls around the terminal.

This year has been a year of new endeavours, challenges, and firsts for me. For the first time, I entered an overseas award, The Salon Art Prize for the month of April, and received an award in the Landscape category for my painting Lewis Pass Beech Forest. Along with a certificate, I received prize money that covered the cost of my entry. More importantly, this recognition makes me eligible for the grand prize at the end of March next year, as well as a feature in the magazine. The most exciting part, however, is exhibiting alongside artists who have been my idols for quite some time.

Other first-time endeavours this year included entering the NZ Contemporary Art Calendar, applying for a fellowship, submitting work to the Adams Portraiture Awards, and participating in the New Zealand Paint and Printmaking Awards. Not all of these opportunities were successful, but it is always worthwhile trying new things and seeing where they might lead.

With my other job as a teacher, along with the paperwork and organisation involved in various exhibitions, the one thing I have not done much of this year is painting. I am just about to finish my first landscape of the year, which will be entered into the Ashburton Annual Exhibition. I am also hoping to complete another painting for the upcoming Annual Exhibition for the Otago Art Society’s 150th anniversary.

I was hoping to have an open studio in June sometime but it might have to wait a little. If you are keen to visit, however, you can flick me an email from my contact site (website: http://www.sarahfreiburger.com) and arrange a time to come by. I won’t have many paintings on display in June, though, as they are all out on show.

Thanks for reading my newsletter.