Rindlisbacher enjoys a mutually beneficial relati onship with a number of prominent historians, who prov ide him w ith historical details and in for mation which he uses to produce paintings that grace their publications. Perh aps his strongest asset, however, is his lifelong love of boats and boating, for he is a m arine a rtist who knows well the ways of w ind, wave and water. Rindlisbac her applies that knowledge in a unique context because, for m ore than two decades, he has been an enthusias tic historical reenacto r. H e owns a twenty-seven-foo t replica Royal N avy longboat and has participated in reenac tments portrayin g moments in No rth Am erican ma rine history from the Seven Years W a r to the Wa r of 1812 throughout the Great Lakes a nd in A tlantic coastal wa ters. H e was on the board of a group that wa nted to reconstruct HMS D etroit, the British fl agship at the Battle of Lake Erie. U nfortunately, lack of fundin g doom ed the proj ect a nd the steel hull procured for the vessel was, iro nica lly, purchased to becom e the hull of the sa ilin g school vessel Oliver H azard Perry, currently being built in Rhode Island. Peter Rindlisbacher never lets reenac tin g interfere with the real wo rld; he once returned home to proudly info rm his fa mily th at he had just been promo ted comm ander in his reenactment unit, only to be told by his Am erican wife, Ellen: "grea t, now C omma nder go and ta ke out the ga rbage." In 201 2, the Rindli sbacher family moved from their resto red late nineteenth-century farmho use on the shores of Lake Erie to a hom e near Houston when his wife accepted a job in Texas. H appily, their new home is on a sm all lake, where the a rtist keeps up his sailing in a sm all din ghy. Better still, Texas A & M U niversity, with its extensive library of m aritime publications, is only an hour's drive away. With the assista nce of that institution, Rindlisbacher has just completed a commission for the State of O klahoma, depicting a
(above) Closing Moments, 1500: The fina l act of the battle, as the N iaga ra p ounds the enemy while hove to under their lee. The British surrender shortly after. Oil on canvas, 3 0 " x 40 " (below) Farewell to the Fallen, 19 00: Sunset following the battle, as the survivors bury their dead at sea, and p ut emergency repairs to the damaged rigging. Oil on canvas, 3 0 " x 48"
fa mous steamboat that sank in the Red River in 1837. Although far from the locales featured in m any of his paintings, Peter Rindlisbacher continues to produce high-quality n autical art and will do so fo r the fo reseeable future. ;t
Be sure to look for the artist's new book, War of 181 2: The Marine Art of Peter Rindlisbach er (ISBN 978-1-55082-3646), available directly from Quarry H eritage Books; Ph. 613-548-8429 or online at Amazon. com. Return of the Victors 0900: On the morning after the battle, victors and vanquished return to Put-In-Bay Harbor, fifteen ships in all. Oil on canvas, 3 0 "x48" 22
SEA HISTORY 144, AUTUMN 2013