Published, EAC Communiqué, Winter 1998

Rosalinde Baumgartner’s talents have been nurtured by experience in a variety of media. In the ‘90s the work of this sensitive and perceptive visual artist is developing sharper focus. Stimulated by her new studio at William’s Mill, Glen Williams, (near Georgetown) Rosalinde is using the fine technique she has developed over the years to explore the expression of inner convictions.

In the mid-’70s, Corbett Gray’s studio on Mill Street, Elora, was a gathering place for artists. Reverberations from those days still echo in the memory and artwork of those who came to sketch and paint there, among them Rosalinde Baumgartner. She had first met Corbett in Guelph at the studio of P.D. Wolfond, when she was a student of Fine Art at the University of Guelph. Rosalinde reflects on the dedication, commitment and stimulation found in Corbett’s studio and the focus and inspiration small studios evoke in comparison with larger art schools.

Rosalinde’s childhood was spent in Switzerland during the war years. Her Austrian mother liked to paint, but there was little time. Life was unsettled. Her Swiss father came and went, and Rosalinde lived mostly on a farm, drawing mainly at school. After the war the family returned to Austria, but everything was lost.

Coming to Canada in 1960, she lived first in Toronto, then moved to Guelph when her husband came to the University to study Agriculture, and eventually to teach. During this time the Baumgartners, with their three boys, shared a house with an elderly gentleman who was involved in the Guelph arts world. He provided an introduction to a community that corresponded with Rosalinde’s interests, and soon she began to take courses in art at the University.

Over the years her interest developed into a voice: a means of communicating her deep love of visual beauty. This was augmented by the landscapes of county life when the Baumgartner family moved to a farm near Belwood. As their sons grew older, Rosalinde found more time and opportunity to explore painting, drawing and printmaking. In 1987 she had a solo show of prints and paintings at Guelph Public Library and, in 1990, she won the award for “best print” at a show in the Barber Gallery. Many awards, exhibitions and a degree in Fine Arts followed in succeeding years.

Printmaking holds a strong interest for this artist. Rosalinde is now affiliated with Image Matrix Printmakers Association, Mississauga. She has studied lithography with Otis Tamasauskas, and at Open Studio, Toronto, as well as St. Michael’s Printshop, Newfoundland. She has been a teacher at the Springbank Art Centre, Mississauga.

A love of the works of Mattise enriches her figurative drawing. Rosalinde believes that she can express emotions best through the human figure – though the moods of natural landscape hold fascination as well. Her recent drawing “Solace” demonstrates the maturity of technique she now brings to a weekly life-sketching studio at Eva McCauley’s Glen Lammond Studio.

June 3 to July 5, Rosalinde will have a show at William’s Mill Creative Art Studio, Glen Williams, where 32 artists gather to work and exhibit. The lower floor of the “Mill Run” building houses her space, where whitewashed rough stone walls are broken by a large deep window with squared panes, looking out on a hillside of sturdy trees.

Rosalinde’s exhibition will focus on the “power of two” and human form. These are explorations of the compassion and sympathy and depth of vision, which are visible priorities throughout Rosalinde’s work.

by Beverley Cairns, Winter 1998

UPDATE – 2005

Since 1998, Rosalinde has had two shows at the Cannington House Gallery in Oakville. In the show “Love and Other Difficulties”, she used the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke as a theme for creativity. This area is one of continuing interest in her development. The other show, entitled “Mansions of Colour”, presented large oil paintings.

The show “Gentle Reflections”, at the Williams Mill Gallery, was shared with Guelph sculptor Hanna Boos in 2000. In 2004 Rosalinde exhibited at the Toronto Art Expo. She takes part in many juried exhibitions, such as INSIGHTS and those in Mississauga, Brampton and Toronto.

Rosalinde is now working at home in her studio near Belwood. A newly acquired Praga printing press is the fulfilment of a long held wish. She is developing and reworking drawings on this press. Life-drawing studios with Nancy Farrell and at the Elora Centre for the Arts are ongoing touchstones of Rosalinde’s artistic development.

Rich changes of style and subject matter have taken place over the years in Rosalinde’s work. We hope someday to follow her evolution through a retrospective exhibition of her work.

Rosalinde is represented at the Barber Gallery, Guelph, and Eldon Gallery, Waterloo, Williams Mill Gallery and Cannington House Gallery, Oakville.

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