Published 01 March 2020 in Publications
Art Times
In the words of Carla Bosch
What motivated the Bosch family to leave for America?
I was not always so excited to live in America. SA is a fantastic country and I love my country very much. And don't even talk about my family and friends that I had a dream of living abroad for a season and giving us and more importantly our children the opportunity to broaden our worldview. America was simply the place where the doors opened for us. It was not an easy move, but i'm grateful it happened. We learned a lof and grew tremendously.
What impact did this change make on your market in South Africa
It is hard to say with certainty, because the SA art market has changed a lot over the last four years and we were not in SA to experience the changes. I can say that we still send a lot of work to SA. Most of our anchor galleries who have represented me for the last 20 years, still market my work and we are grateful for that. Maybe our SA market has grown less because of our absence, but on the other hand, we have opened a US market that we could not do without being based here.
How was your work perceived in America?
We are blessed. This country welcomed us with open arms and we received permanent residency within the first year and a half. It's a great opprotunity and it allows us to do business like any American citizen. My work has been accepted very well and sales are good. Make no mistake, the competitions is amazingly high. California alone has nearly 40 million residents with fantastic artists among them. In spite of this, I have received numerous awards and this year, for the second time, I was included in the Festival of Arts, one of the most significant art festivals in the world. More than a thousand artists apply to be part of this festival while only 140 are selected to participate. It is a great honor to be part of this show and the exposure has greatly impacted my career. We sell my work right across the country and abroad in Europe.
Furure Plans?
For now, we would like to take the opportunity to work here and make sure we establish my career in the US as well as possible. It does not happen as quickly as we always want it, but we are thankful for the progress we have made already. There are plans we cannot say too much about, but hopefully we have more good news in a year or two. We can always live in SA again, but for now we need to be here.
Has America affected your style in any way?
The move did not really affect my style so much. The Americans love my bold brush strokes and strong impressionistic approach. The "Plein air" method (to paint outside in the open) is vey popular here. I enjoy it a lot, but it's a bit more restrictive and my plein air work is something a little more realistic than our SA collectors might remember.
Carla, the family woman.
Just like in SA, I still choose to work from home so I can be near my family. Daniel is 13 years old and Sarah is almost 15. They have adapted very well, but they miss their grandparents, SA friends, the Cape and the Game Reserves a lot.
What is the family's contribution to your art?
My career is a family project. Everybody works together to make the wheels spin. My husband handles all the business and paperwork while I am only focussing on painting. I do not like admin work.