Ad Wouters (born 1944) is a sculptor, born in the
Netherlands, who is active in
Belgium in
Leuven and the forest south of it. Wouters is known for his oak wood sculptures.[1]
Biography
Wouters was born in
Dordrecht. Starting at the age of 13, he worked in construction.[2] At the age of 22 he traveled to Africa with the
Belgian NGO
Bouworde.[3] After his stay in Africa, he went to live in
Haasrode in Belgium, where he learned the skill of
restoring buildings. Due to a work-related accident, where he fell from a church tower in the 90s he became unfit for this kind of work. From then on he developed himself as an artist.[4]
Style
Wouters creates wood sculptures, mostly from oak tree trunks or from other recovered materials.[5] He created his first wood sculpture accessible to the public, De Bosprotter commissioned by the forestry services of
Meerdaal forest in the year 2000. He created several other sculptures since then.[6]
Ad's itinerary
Map of Ad's itinerary
There is a path of 25 km one can take to march or cycle past most of Wouters' works through the woods of
Heverlee and
Meerdaal.[7][8]
Ad's itinerary leads past
Ignatius (2008)
The director (2007)
The Neanderthal man (2008)
Bat (2006)
The owl (2003)
Woodpecker (2007)
Inky cap (2007)
Baloo (2010)
The Bosprotter (2000)
Drowned (2014)
The Bosprotter (2000)
Bat (2006)
Ignatius (2008)
De Neanderthaler (2008)
List of other works on display
Common kestrel
Pootefretter (man eating carrot, which is the colloquial nickname for people from Haasrode) (1999), bronze statue in front of the community school of
Haasrode
Saint Michael (2009), brass statue in the Church of
Saint Michael Leuven
The Prophet (2012), wooden sculpture in the
Sint-Donatus Park Leuven
Drowned (2014), artwork made of litter, to symbolise how we are drowning in our own waste, located in
Oud-Heverlee between the ponds.[9]
Voor hen van toen, stone to commemorate the volunteers of natural reserve
Doode Bemde. It's right next to a bridge of the now defunct tramway line.[10][11]
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ad Wouters.