Freiburg: A Town of Bächle and Gässle (Satis Shroff)

Welcome to the Town of Gässle & Bächle (Satis Shroff)

Freiburg is a town of Gässle and Bächle be cause it has narrow lanes and a stream that snakes along this olde university town. And in the first week of September (4-6.09.2014) we had 'Art in the Upper Old City.' This year the open air exhibition was for the 34th time.

Oberlinden Open Air Art Show (c)satisshroff

The artists, sculptors and artisans came from Germany and the European countries to show their works of ceramic, graphic arts, sculptures, art, jewellery, silk paintings and photography. The official inauguration was on 4.09.2014 at 11:30 and Ulrich von Kirchbach, Freiburg's mayor for Culture opened the exhibition.

I met Thomas Weiterschau, who's from Höchst, and  he said he'd participated in the Art of Eden, art & design in the Botanical Garden of the Technical University in Darmstadt. Among his most famous wooden sculptures that caught my attention were the faces of females with very fine features.

In the Herrenstrasse I met Otmar Kraus, who actually lives in the Buggingerstrasse in Freiburg, and he showed me a selection of his oil paintings. 'You know, I just paint my pictures while standing. I go around to a landscape and if I like it, I just start to paint,' said Otmar. And he an impressive collection done over the years.

Dorit Riley (doritart@live.com) who possesses an Art Studio, has colourful painting reminiscent of art that you find in the LP covers of the Beatles from the 60's.

I then came across Klaus Polkowski and bought a Ladhak Lamayuru taken in 2003 during a visit to the Himalayas. Polkowski is known for his pictures of Himalayan motifs. He calls his work the Art of Black & White and his work is only in schwarz-weiss (WWW.klaus-polkowski.de).

 I chanced to see the works of Oliviero Masi at the Gallery Schindel  in Oberlinden (www.galerie-schindel.de). Oliviero's works have a lot of light in his Italian landscapes with water surfaces and porches painted in white and violet, bushes and trees in rich lush green foliage. His motifs are mostly the Tosca and the Lombardy and he has a virtuosity in his brush technique. We know such such paintings since the Renaissance and the Italian landscapes have been done by artists throughout the different epochs. The scenes have a magical effect on the observer and make your heart yearn for the Mediterranean sunshine. Oliviero Masi was born in 1948 in Busto Arsizo near Mailand (Italy).