Make way for the torch queen

This sculpture sits on the Hobart Institute of Welding Technology campus in Troy, Mich.

There was no midlife crisis for Bonnie Ramirez. There was, however, a midlife emancipation. It didn’t involve purchasing a new car, getting a facelift, or updating her wardrobe. Instead it was a celebration of finding herself after devoting much of her youth to raising a family by herself and assuming all the responsibilities that came with being mom, dad, and sole breadwinner rolled up into one person.

In her midlife emancipation, Ramirez left her job as a contractor and enrolled in welding classes, and by extension tapped into a previously unknown metal art talent and desire to teach welding to others.

It’s one of the best decisions she’s ever made.

The Torch Queen Is Born

Spend five minutes talking to Ramirez and she’ll either captivate you with her boundless enthusiasm, have you hunched over in laughter, or engage you in colorful banter that will leave you thoroughly entertained. She’s the type of person who has never met a stranger and has never had time to doubt herself or believe anything is too difficult to master.

In her earlier years Ramirez was a single mom who had no problem working jobs that earned a “man’s” wage. She had her first child three weeks before she graduated from high school and lived the life of a much older person—one in which she didn’t have the luxury of putting herself first.

By her early 40s her children had grown up and were having children of their own, leaving Ramirez with a golden opportunity to begin exploring what it was she wanted to do with the rest of her life.

“The age itself might not sound old, but I had already raised a family by myself and had grandkids. I had lived a lot of life by then because I got started early. It wasn’t until everyone was grown that I could figure out what it was I wanted to do for sure, and do it with the intent of finishing and getting a degree,” Ramirez said.

She never particularly considered herself to be an artist—there just wasn’t time for that—but having a keen eye for aesthetics did come in handy during her career for a contractor. But the first time she lit the oxyacetylene torch, Ramirez’s artistic instincts came alive.

“The fire, the flame itself is mesmerizing. It’s a control thing. You can take a cold, unfeeling piece of industrial metal which is unforgiving, apply the flame, and it changes color, properties, and becomes malleable right before your very eyes. You can make it whatever you want it to be, and it stays that way until you choose to make it into something else. Now if only that would work on my husband.”

She excelled in the art metals class at Austin Community College in Austin, Texas, which ignited her fire to learn more. From there she took more and more classes, eventually earning an Associate of Welding Technology degree with a specialty in art metals from the college. It was a particularly gratifying accomplishment because she was the first woman to complete the program there. She left with more than just a degree; she earned the nickname the “Torch Queen.”

Bonnie Ramirez lived a lot of life at a very young age. It wasn’t until her early 40s that she had the opportunity to explore what she wanted to do. When she discovered welding, she discovered her calling.

She immediately moved into a teaching role at the college while completing an interdisciplinary BAAS degree at Texas State University, and quickly became a respected member of the already well-established metal art community in Austin and a fierce advocate for women in welding.

“I enjoy seeing people get excited, even when they are scared to death the first time they fire up their torch. I tell them, OK,

you can’t scream and you can’t drop it. Those are my two rules. You have to hold on to it even if you’re scared.”

Teaching Is Everything

Several years ago Ramirez and her husband Lali relocated to Noblesville, Ind., to be closer to her children and grandchildren. She’s forged relationships with other women welders in the area and teaches evening welding classes at J. Everett Light Career Center in Indianapolis.

While she’s a talented artist, Ramirez tends to direct all focus on her students because, simply, it’s not about the money or the fame or the glory. It’s about celebrating finding something she is passionate about and passing on that knowledge to other people.

“That’s the everything of it. To be able to share with somebody the ability to make things by teaching them the welding processes or how to work with different kinds of metal, then that’s the absolutely best thing. That part of me lives on forever too. It’s just something that lasts.”

Ramirez was tasked with fabricating a commemorative cup for a sculpture assignment. She chose to fabricate a metal bra to honor the five generations of women in her family who were alive at the time. “My grandmother was still living at the time and I had just become a grandmother, so we had five generations of women. Whether we burn them or wear them, every one of us is going to own bras. So that was my commemorative cup … a bra cup.”