Small pastel drawing wins Rotary annual art show

Julie Freeman with her award winning artwork On Guard.

A lifelike pastel drawing of a crab won Auckland artist Julie Freeman the best-in-show award in the Rotary Club of Paraparaumu's annual Art Show held over Labour Weekend.

A total of 267 artworks from around the country were entered in the awards held at Southward Car Museum.

Her work, called On Guard, was of a crab she photographed in rocks in Kawau Island, north of Auckland.

"I was struck by the beautiful purple and pink colours of the crab.

"I had never seen one with those colours before."

It took about a week to create the pastel artwork.

"I'm overwhelmed," she said about the win.

"I put two smaller pieces into the show this year. I guess sometimes a smaller piece can win."

There was further cause for celebration as a pastel artwork by her husband Michael Freeman called Something New won the best still life award.

Julie, who won the same award in the artshow in 2014 for her work pastel artwork George, came to Kapiti for the long weekend for a family reunion as well as tutoring at a pastel workshop.

The reunion was a memorial for her father Bob Sinclair and his brothers Bill and Jim who died in a boating accident off Waikanae Beach in October 1967.

Meanwhile funds raised from the art show has enabled the rotary club to pledge $10,000 towards redevelopment of the Mahara Gallery to a suitable standard to display and retain the Field Collection of paintings by Frances Hodgkins and others.