Book

Ronald A. Westerhuis

Artist

Vision

His love for stainless steel blossomed when he worked as a welder on an offshore platform. It was there, on that huge weather-beaten structure in the sea, that Ronald A. Westerhuis found his inspiration. Inspiration which led to art. And this art subsequently led to social commitment. “I used to focus on arranging things for myself. Now I want to give back to society.”

Believe in the

Power of the Landmark

From welding on rigs out at sea to designing the 2008 Olympic flame, china. Westerhuis has demonstrated how moxie can determine one’s own destiny. He has developed skills along with design from day-to-day work, which is now exhibited and collected across the Globe.

Summary

R.A.W

Ronald A. Westerhuis was thrown out of school and left home at age 17 to travel Europe for one month with an internal pass in his pocket. In Venice, he met a girl who invented him to the USA; this was the start of a seven year journey around the globe. He is very fond of travel and says it is not unlikely that he may sell it all one day and set sail once more. On arrival back to his home country, Holland, he found himself unable to find work with no qualifications. However, there was an opportunity with the job centre to gain qualifications in welding. He completed every welding qualification you could get in just five months. Following this, he negotiated his way onto an oil rigger without any previous experience.

Working on the oil rig was balanced two weeks on, two weeks off; during his two weeks off, Westerhuis rented a studio space in a disused building which artists had repurposed as a squat and workshop. He experimented with designs and made sculptures to, one day the art committee from Dalfsen visited and picked his work for an upcoming exhibition. This was the beginning of a prolific sculpture making career with no signs of slowing down after 20 years. He is currently working on a commission which will be no less than 300m tall for Hardanger Fjord in Norway.