Renate Grünewald

Renate Grünewald: Drawing and painting are her life

Recognizing and capturing the expression of a face, the beauty of nature, the things of everyday life, tracking down the unspectacular, the insignificant and making them visible - that is the main concern of her art.

Many Lüdinghausen residents will remember Renate Grünewald's work from the Volksbank calendars that Grünewald designed for ten years, or from the bookmarks she illustrated for the Reminghorst bookshop.

Studying art with two daughters

Renate Grünewald was born in Herne in 1941. She started her professional career at a business publishing house, for which she was already illustrating. This is also where she met her husband. She already had a studio in her small apartment in Bochum. Together they first moved to Würzburg and then to Hiltrup, where her husband worked as an advertising manager for the agricultural publishing house. "When we were living in Hiltrup, I happened to read in the newspaper that there was an art college in Münster," she says. She took the entrance exam and began her studies.

More than 100 canvases, numerous watercolors and countless drawings are the result of her work. She prefers to draw with a soft pencil or pen, she paints with oil, watercolor and pastel. And recently also with acrylic. Renate Grünewald has illustrated for many publishers and gave painting and drawing lessons for many years.

Savior of Hermannstrasse

Renate Grünewald has lived on Hermannstrasse since 1979. You could even say that she and her husband saved the street: Initially, the family had lived on a farm, but then the Grünewalds wanted to move to the city with their two daughters. "We immediately fell in love with the little house on Hermannstrasse. We bought it even though we found out that the street was earmarked as a redevelopment area," recalls Renate Grünewald. "We renovated it well and quickly, and set up a small gallery in the front part." They then invited the city's dignitaries to the opening. "We thank you for opening our eyes to the charm of Hermannstrasse, they told us afterwards."

Love for Lüdinghausen

"I feel very much at home here. The neighborhood is also great," Grünewald continued. She had her 80th birthday in February, a celebration was not possible due to Corona, nor was receiving guests. And yet the doorbell suddenly rang. When Renate Grünewald opened it, she found a huge bouquet of tulips and a full champagne glass. And all the neighbors were standing in front of their houses on the other side of the street with a glass of champagne, singing her a birthday song. "I had tears in my eyes," she remembers. Nadine Wenge

Info: Renate Grünewald printed the watercolor "Fairytale Lüdinghausen" (dimensions: 52x30). She sells the prints at Lüdinghausen Marketing, Borg 4, at a price of 15 euros. Renate Grünewald would like to donate the proceeds to a good cause.