WTHR |Local grandmother welds metal to dreams

Local grandmother welds metal to dreams

Andrea Morehead/Eyewitness News

Indianapolis - The age-old art form of welding, before the hammering, soldering and sanding, requires the artisan to wear the proper gear. From the gloves to the goggles, this job is not for the faint of heart as the metal rain showers fall from the hands of The Torch Queen.

Bonnie Wynn Ramirez has been getting praise for her metal work since the nineties with commissioned work in the public and private sectors. The national recognition is the result of a desire for fire. It all began when she took a summer class.

"Summer in Texas, triple digits, welding, yeah. You sweat in places you didn't know you could sweat," Bonnie said.

The part-time course sparked a full-time interest for this grandmother. She then enrolled in the arts metal program at Austin Community College.

"It was my mid-life emancipation you know. No crisis for me. I'm like hand me a torch, I'm good," she said.

She traded in her professional contrator's hard hat for a torch, becoming the oldest and first woman to graduate from the welding program. Then she taught others.

"By the end of my teaching stint there at the college, probably 85 percent of my classes were women," she said.

Two years ago, Bonnie brought the Texas heat to Indianapolis to be closer to her family and hoping her fondness for manipulating metal is reflected in her student's work.

It only takes one spark to fuel the fire and the passion within.

Welding student Candy Brisson-Monteith said, "She kind of thinks outside the box in terms of what she can use and what she can do."

Another welding students Nancy Lee said, "I just flipped over the quality of her work and I've just been amazed by her every since."

Bonnie even amazed her teachers back in the day with the "make a cup" assignment.

"I already had grandchildren and my grandmother was still living so we had five generations of strong women, strong women."

So she welded what they all have in common.

"I thought well we all wear bras and that's a cup."

And on display at Boca Loca Beads in the city's Fountain Square District is her ensemble of metal lingerie.

"The lace is steel and the clasps are made out of silver. It even has a silver rose right here," she explained.

So what was the response to her cup?

"I got an A!" said Bonnie.

Bonnie is passing the tradition on to her grandchildren.

"That's what I have to give them. That's what I got, silver or gold have I none, such as I have, here it is," says Bonnie.

As Bonnie unselfishly lays out all of the tricks of the metal trade, she in return receives smiles -
for she knows what her students make during their first class could very well become their favorite piece. It happened to Bonnie.

"This is the most beautiful thing I've ever made. A tool," Bonnie says.

It's also a visual reminder that the sky is the limit.

"You can do whatever you want to do. That there's no boundaries. No limitation," says Bonnie.

Like metal, life can be molded into whatever you want it to be.

It all begins with the fire within. It's a lesson she's taught her own children who often remind her to follow her dreams.

"Follow after bliss mama, find your bliss," Bonnie says.

Andrea Morehead asks, "Have you found your bliss?"

Bonnie says, "Over and over and over. Over & over."

Torch Queen

Sign up for classes at 317.423.2323 through Boca Loca Beads.