Ad Wouters

Ad Wouters in 2014

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
• Arum lily wooden sculpture located in the orangerie of the Botanical garden of 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

1. Miradal, Erfgoed en Heverleebos en Meerdaalwoud. Davidsfonds/Leuven. 2009. ISBN 9789058266248.
2. "Achter d'oechelen (Local newspaper of Oud-Heverlee)" (in Dutch). 2006. Archived from the original on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
3. "Article in a Flemish newspaper" (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 22 March 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
4. "Ad Wouters' own web site (Dutch)". Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
5. Saartje Vandendriessche (2013). "Saartje wanders around Zuid-Dijleland (Jump forward to 7 minutes)". Vlaanderen Vakantieland VRT (Flemish television), 2013 (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 22 April 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
6. "2fast4u.be". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
7. "Tourism services Flemish-Brabant". Archived from the original on 13 March 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
8. "Touristic services Leuven". Retrieved 3 June 2014.
9. Erik Roosens (23 March 2014). "Zwerfvuilkunst siert Zoet Water". Nieuwsblad (in Dutch).^[permanent dead link‍]
10. DVA (2011). "Nieuws UIT Doode Bemde" (in Dutch). Vrienden van Heverleebos en Meerdaalwoud. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012.
11. Doode Bemde, Nieuwsblad, 19 February 2009 http://www.nieuwsblad.be/articulo/detail.aspx?articuloid=4U26M2UG_16^[permanent dead link‍].