Local artist Ronald Martin West was born in Stellenbosch, Western Cape, in 1974 and his formal art training started in 1989 when he joined the PJ Olivier Art Centre with sculpture as his main subject.
He studied briefly at the Cape Technicon Graphic Design School while working for a very well-known office automation company. In 2002, after a vivid dream, he resigned from the world of commerce and took up his brushes and paint as a full-time career. Ronald says from that point on he never looked back (12 photographs).
“I love Italy, the Italian and French way of life, food, wine, street and café scenes, Tuscan scenery, the cobble stone streets, the vibrant colours, tango and lambada, bicycles and old cars. Although I wasn’t around to experience the 1950’s and 1960’s, I think (or dream) that it must have been an amazing era to have lived in Italy or France. When I close my eyes, I can smell the fresh roasted coffee, the freshly baked baguettes, and the sound of the chef, on his old bicycle, doing his daily deliveries.” — Ronald West
Ronald’s paintings were entered in a competition in the November/December issue of the Kaap Rapport and three of his paintings were used to create the wine label series ‘Fat Ladies’.
Ronald produces around seven works a month. His work is featured annually in two solo and two joined exhibitions and his regimen consists of a 12 hour day, six days a week. All his works are produced in oil on canvas.
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