Germany – Ole West

Ole West was born in 1953, the son of the painter Gerhard West in Wedel near Hamburg. He got the first art lessons as 12-year old boy with the Wedeler painter Albert-Ludwig Glaser. In 1975, he began to study at the College of Further Education in Hamburg and finished in 1979 with a diploma in design. After that he created different designs for house fronts, exhibition stands, large graphics, film, project and ships painting, amongst others for the Studio Hamburg of the NDR and the Ernst-Deutsch-Theatre. Since 1984, he lives as a free painter and drawer on the island of Norderney (Germany), with a main focus on etchings, oil watercolour painting and mixed technics. His works are in public and private collections all around the world. Ute sent me this pretty card of the Lighthouse Dicke Berta off Cuxhaven paited by Ole West.Ole West is quite a popular artist in Northern Germany. He combines beautifully nautical maps with his paintings of ships and lighthouses. As characterised by this drawing on the card.

Built in 1871Dicke Berta has been Inactive since 1983 13 m (43 ft) round cylindrical steel tower with lantern and gallery. Lighthouse painted white, lantern and gallery black. The lighthouse carried the front light of a range; the rear light was the 34 m (112 ft) cast iron Osterende-Groden Oberfeuer, nicknamed Schlanke Anna (Skinny Anna). Between 1915 and 1918 Dicke Berta was taken down and rebuilt a short distance away because of a change in the range line. The range was replaced in 1968 by the Altenbruch-Wehldorf range, but Dicke Berta remained active until 1983. The lighthouse was then transferred to a preservation society, which has restored the building. The building has since become a popular site for weddings. Located near the Altenbruch harbor.