Six Upstate artists discuss how creating leads to connection, transition, and transformation
For our arts issue, we asked six creatives to join us in the sprawling, paint-splattered loft of the Greenville Center for the Creative Arts for a conversation about what it’s like to be a working artist today. The varied group included lifelong artists as well as those who made the transition to the art world after pursuing other careers; their mediums range from oil painting and collage to ceramics and large-scale steel sculpture.
Read on for highlights from the thoughtful, often-humorous discussion that touched on social media, community support, and the gifts and challenges that come with age.
Artist Roundtable
Vive: What are the benefits that come with years of experience in art and life? How does that translate into your art?
Bob Chance: Right now I’m thinking about the idea of transition, from one idea to another, one phase of my work to another. I think we all rely on skills we developed over time. I’m relying on skills I used for 50 years, so I can always go back and pull from some of that, design-wise. It’s easier now than when I was in a new phase because I’ve pocketed those ideas and I can draw them out and use them. The transition comes when you ask: Where do I want to go with what I know?
Yuri Tsuzuki: The advantage, when you’ve been working so long in the medium or as an artist, is you have developed a style. Younger people are still trying to figure it out. It’s difficult to figure out, but now we know that whatever we are creating, it’s in our style.
Judy Verhoeven: I’m at the stage where I’m doing what I want to do. All those years, I have worked for the man, or whomever. I took care of my family, and now I’m doing what I want to do. It’s a little scary because I don’t always know what I want to do. I still have a lot of questions.
Has your approach to art changed over the years? How does the aging process present challenges when it comes to creating art?
Chance: The energy level is different. You have to get used to it, especially if you have to pick up things that are heavy and carry them around. I used to work in the studio until the wee hours, but my energy is different, and I have to manage that. But I don’t mind it. I’m more selective about how I use my time in the studio.
Hans-Peter Bolz: I get up at 6am, just like I have since 1958. I don’t want to sleep in; half the day is gone! Time is one thing you can’t make up. As long as you are healthy, you can do almost anything.
Tsuzuki: My material is very heavy, and I’ve begun to think about how I’m going to continue to create in the medium I’m creating in, with the body I have, the eyesight I have, the muscles I have, and hope I continue to have. It’s different than for painters. If I can’t weld the piece, or cut the piece and put it together, is it still my piece? What means of communication am I going to utilize to create that piece? I have to think about that.
How has the business of art changed in the years you’ve been an artist? Is it difficult to put a price on your art, and is it difficult to balance art you do for pay and art you do for yourself?
Melissa Anderson: I’m not a hoarder of my artwork. With a commissioned piece, you express yourself, and it leaves, and it’s gone. But where do you fit that in with your own expression, your own project? Sometimes people tend to latch on to where you were 10 years ago for commissioned pieces.
Greg Ramsey: For me, it’s a Catch-22 thing. I left a corporate job to do the fine art thing, but I still have to depend on what I do for my livelihood. I have this constant struggle to find balance between earning a paycheck and this backroom full of still lifes that I desperately want to paint on, but I need to design logos, do freelance projects. I enjoy all of it, but I keep jumping back to the corporate world.
Tsuzuki: People ask, how did you get your first commission? How do you get into public art? And my brain is going through all the steps it took to get here.
Bolz: Or they say, how many hours did you spend on this? Sometimes 20, sometimes 40, sometimes 100. People will spend $50 to eat at restaurants three times a week, but then it’s gone, and the next week, they don’t remember what they ate. But if you have a piece of art, you can put it on the wall and enjoy it every day. It’s a strange world.
Chance: If you’re going to be a dentist, you go to undergrad, dental school, then get an office, and pay for people to work there, and everything in the office. If a filling costs $500, it’s because of grad school, medical school, building the practice. It’s the same with art. College, grad school, materials, time, skills. Someone says, ‘Why does it cost so much?’ It’s hard to explain to someone who sees this piece of clay, this canvas on the wall, and you’ve invested your life and your life’s skills into that thing.
Verhoeven: How long did it take? Since birth I’ve been working on this. This was inside me.
How about technology and social media? Is that a must in today’s art world?
Tsuzuki: To me, the social media thing is just traumatic. The public persona versus the art itself. I’m challenged by the need for art to be created so quickly. Art is not created quickly.
Bolz: (Sarcastically) But what about the feedback?
Tsuzuki: I don’t want feedback. I already know I’m doing the right thing! (laughter)
Verhoeven: I am trying to sell, so I find social media useful. But I don’t want to be a spokesmodel. I don’t want to have to pose or whatever. That part bugs me. We didn’t grow up with social media, so we don’t know about all that junk. To (young people) it’s just second nature.
Ramsey: I have people telling me I should be on TikTok telling stories about my work. How in the world do you find time to do that? There are days when I’m embarrassed, because I spent 30 years in the marketing world, and I have no idea how to market myself.
Bolz: It takes time to maintain all of that stuff.
Anderson: If you want to create at a professional level for people who might be interested in buying, or if it’s public art like Yuri does, you have to look good. You need something on social media, you need a website. But if the goal is just your personal creation, then maybe you don’t.
Chance: I’m a refugee from social media. To me, there’s just too much going on to distract me, and too much negativity on social media. I abstain. I’ll go back at some point. I know it’s important to market your work, but at this point, I’m just making work and people can come by if they need or want something.
Tsuzuki: Also, with social media, artists can become instant successes overnight, when you have other artists who have been plodding along their entire lifetime. It can be destructive for artists who are serious, and it’s a daily, meditational practice to create artwork, and then suddenly, someone else pushes a button and poof!
Do you think Greenville does a good job of supporting the arts and providing resources?
Bolz: They try their best. I expect more, but it’s my life, anyway, so it’s never enough.
Ramsey: I feel like I’m making up for lost time. I knew they were there, but I didn’t check out MAC (Metropolitan Arts Council) until recently. I think the community is very supportive but I’m missing it. I crave more building and nurturing relationships with other artists.
Verhoeven: We are going to get the experience we want with the effort we put into it. I could be way more involved with the opportunities that are here for me, but I’m not. The opportunities are there.
Chance: Greenville has made a tremendous investment in the arts. Greenville has a museum that was built by the citizens of this town, in conjunction with Arthur McGill. You have the Fine Arts Center, the Governor’s School . . . look at this place (Greenville Center for the Creative Arts)! How did this happen? So Greenville has made a tremendous investment in the arts, more so than any other city in South Carolina.
Has the purpose of your art shifted over the years?
Bolz: You never know what statement your art is making. You do something, and then you find out if it was a statement or not.
Chance: A couple of years ago, we had the bronze figures (Wings of the City), and the uproar happened (segments of the community called for its removal). Yes, we’re a more conservative community than some, but it goes to show that your audience can be really tough. You think it means one thing, but some audience members will interpret it a different way.
Verhoeven: For the longest time, I felt embarrassed by my work. I didn’t have a lot of education, and I felt inferior. I still struggle with it a little. I didn’t want to define a purpose for the work. As time has gone by, I have started to define it. It’s not intellectual or educated, it’s just personal. I do have a clear mission for the work, and do people take that in? I don’t know, but sometimes I think they actually do.
Anderson: We are all trying to figure out our purpose, and how to fulfill that artistic pull to make something. There is that challenge to keep making these creative connections; whatever feeds you, to keep your work feeling connected.
Tsuzuki: As humans, the main thing is, we want to express ourselves and communicate. And as artists, what we do is we create in order to communicate. And that’s what ties all of us together.
Meet the Artists
Melissa Anderson
- Paints landscapes, people, and objects of the South
- Specializes in large-format art installations
- Former employment lawyer
- Took an art class that changed her life
Hans-Peter Bolz
- Grew up in Germany
- Toolmaker and engineer for decades
- In 2006, achieved his dream of becoming a painter
- Focuses on oil paintings so he can “push the paint around”
Bob Chance
greenvillearts.com/arts-directory/bob-chance
- Taught art at the Fine Arts Center for 14 years and at Furman University for 34 years
- Retired two years ago
- Makes pots and non-functional ceramic objects
- Has focused on raku and porcelain; currently exploring the electric kiln
Yuri Tsuzuki
- Primary medium is steel
- Creates large-scale public art projects
- Has worked for Japanese public television in NY and as a pastry chef’s assistant
- Learned welding in a motorcycle repair shop in South America
Judy Verhoeven
- Graphic designer for 10 years
- Homeschooling mom for 10 years
- Mixed-media artist since 2006
- Creates collages using found papers that she paints and stains
Greg Ramsey
- More than 30 years in marketing and graphic design
- Switched to fine art two years ago
- Illustration major at UGA
- Known for fish paintings and unique pet portraits
Photography by Will Crooks.
