Dunedin artist and interior designer Suzanne Lund’s final art exhibition when she was alive sold out hours before the doors even opened last September.
However, it was the exhibition held at her funeral which encompassed her life the best, friend and fellow artist Amanda Shanley said.
On January 25 at the Otago Community Hospice, Mrs Lund, 54, died from pancreatic cancer while surrounded by friends and family.
Her funeral, held last Saturday, exhibited her life’s work — from floral paintings, to toys made for her children and quilts knitted for various loved ones.
Ms Shanley said her friend’s passion as an artist was always ‘‘flowers and plants’’.
‘‘Plants represented the joy and bliss she felt for life,’’ she said.
With her final exhibition, they wanted to show her true life’s work which, Ms Shanley said, was her children.
‘‘Being a mum was just her be-all and end-all, that was her most precious, loved thing to do.
‘‘We wanted to show Sue’s entire body of work . . . She would have seen what she made for her children just as important as her paintings.’’
Born and raised in Christchurch, Mrs Lund headed to Wellington after high school to study towards a fashion and design degree from Wellington Polytechnic. While there, she opened ‘‘The Mermaid Shop’’ with a group of other designers. The store became a well-known gem of the 1980s.
She shifted gears in her 20s and went back to secondary school to study art so she could get a portfolio together to attend the Otago Polytechnic School of Art.
Husband Russell Lund said the couple met while she was at art school. They married about four years later in 2000.
‘‘For about 15 years she didn’t paint at all . . . she was raising our four children, but about seven or eight years ago she wanted to get back into it.’’
Her work was all about ‘‘big, intense, colourful’’ florals, and it was ‘‘gaining some real recognition’’.
The proof of that, Mr Lund said, was her last exhibition, which had about 20 works.
‘‘Everything sold within four hours before the exhibition even opened — it’s sad to think what might have been.’’
She was a member of the Dunedin Revival Assembly for close to 30 years and had been involved in the interior design of multiple award-winning properties and projects.
At her funeral, her children — Benjamin, Daniel, Catherine and Ruby — performed a musical piece.
‘‘She was incredibly proud of her children’s musical abilities. . . the funeral was an all-family affair,’’ Mr Lund said.
