We were lucky to catch up with Kev Von Holt recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kev , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you manage your own social media?
Yes , I manage my own social media . I find it to be so much more personal . With art , it is straight from the heart and soul and people are buying a pc of you … so that is why I always love to get to know each and every collector and interact with them not only in person but on social media as well . I never copy and paste response messages to the people who interact with my work , which I find is usually the model for some of the companies that “take care of your social media “ I like a more hand to hand combat plan lol .
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Hello , my name is Kev von Holt and I am an artist and I am 50 years old I have been a full-time artist for 18 years and a songwriter and multi instrumentalist for the last 30 years. I am a recent cancer survivor and now look at life like a grateful explosion of color that I will continue to fully immerse myself into for as long as my journey lasts.
I started painting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania kind of by accident. I had always been an admirer of painters and paintings and sculptures I would see, and I guess it was always brewing in the back of my mind. I dabbled with making some record covers and things for bands, as I was growing up and my own bands.
One night while searching through the trash throughout Center City, Philadelphia, as I often would do on Thursday nights, I found over 100 full tubes of paint along with seven medium and large size canvases with fruit painted on them… I made two trips back to my tiny apartment on Walnut Street and from there in between my musical endeavors, I explored a new artistic medium without any thought, rhyme or reason and ironically, that is still the way that I continue to work today.
I was also a hairstylist at a salon, called Ground Zero, and the woman that owned the salon. Her name is Wendy Weinstein.(I feel the need to always shout her out.) because without her, I would’ve never had the confidence to take the leap of faith into becoming a full-time artist..
She came into my apartment one day and saw all of the artwork on my walls, and asked me “ who painted this fucking art “ I said me … reluctantly… she said Kev do you need to bring this to the salon and make a small Gallery and Sell these . After about 20 minutes of her persuading me and us both smoking a joint I said “ ok I will “ fuck it .
And that was the beginning of my crazy, artistic journey as a painter…
As the months and years went on, I kept painting, and the more that I painted the more that I started to acquire collectors (most of whom are still collecting today )
My boss and friend Wendy came up to me one day after a busy day at the salon where I was mentally exhausted and I had been walking around with a cane because I threw my back out after a pretty busy week, she looked at me and said Kev, I think you could be an artist full-time… and I said that’s a scary thing to think about… she then made me an offer that changed the direction of my life. She said she was closing down the salon in one year and moving to a different location and either I could follow her there and continue to work for her in the salon, or instead of taking 50% of my salon service totals she would let me keep the 50% for the next year with the agreement that at the end of that year I would then go be a full-time artist and if I didn’t she jokingly said she would want the 50% back . So for the next year I saved a good chunk of money as a cushion to give me a little bit more confidence while making the leap.. fast forward a few years and I was living in a loft in Philadelphia and using it as not only my studio, but my show room to bring Collector ‘s to where they could acquire my works.
Not soon after that, I developed a mold problem inside the loft. I was living and was forced back to my hometown of Flemington New Jersey not knowing really what my next move is going to be because I was so used to living in the big city…. But in Flemington, New Jersey is where everything changed on a rainy day. My father told me hey there’s a gallery space for rent in Flemington looks pretty reasonable do you wanna go take a look at it, and I said yes, and we both went down and looked at it… soon after that became my first art gallery within my own LLC. Kev Von Holt Gallery..
And the love that I receive from this cool and hip, artistic, small town has been nothing but amazing. Now I am in my ninth year of having this gallery in Flemington, New Jersey, where I have won best artist, and best gallery from the Hunterdon happening list, which I am very proud of..
So it goes to show you that you don’t always need the big city to carve an artistic path the artistic journey can work anywhere anytime any place.
Now I am in the wonderful Stangl Factory in Flemington, New Jersey thanks to two great humans named George Eckleman and frank Banische .
They approached me in my small gallery and told me they wanted me to come over to their newly renovated Stangl Factory an old pottery factory arts and culture district , with a wonderful mix of art , dining , coffee , shopping , and a diy attitude .
We are a family here and I love it .
My gallery offers over 100 works of original art along with prints to canvas art tote bags, sofa, pillows sculpture. It’s an artistic explosion of my ADHD harnessed into one building. There is definitely something for every art lover to enjoy :)
I love working with collectors and clients to give them the best experience possible when choosing that perfect piece of art for their home or office I also love working with interior designers one on one to create custom works for the perfect space.
I also create custom pet portraits that are called pop, art pets. Which are a mix of abstraction and realism, rolled into one.
I am very proud and feel very blessed to be able to continue this creative journey full-time doing what I love. I am also proud to be a cancer survivor and I’m very thankful for that, and the perspective on life that I have gained from that journey . I am also very proud to have the support from my loving girlfriend, Robyn… there have been times when I have doubted myself very much but I feel the need to give her a shout out as well , as she is as much a part of my creative journey, as I am .
As for what I think sets me apart I really think everyone is set apart, because we are all individually beautiful in our own way so that is really the only thing that I can think that sets me apart from other creative’s, as we are all in bloom together… I always feel that if you resonate with me and my work, and we resonate well as human beings that’s what matters . I set myself apart by being myself ;) I am thankful.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
While I was getting ready for a show at the gallery with a few fellow artists, I discovered that I had a massive tumor growing inside of me that was taking up 90% of my entire Kidney… upon further exploration I was told that I had cancer… It was one of the most devastating, if not, the most devastating moments of my life., I questioned everything and I had a complete mental breakdown… you see there is a double edge sword to the creative mind. It can be used to create multiple wonderful different scenarios for creativity, but the other side is that it can also create scenarios of doubt fear, uncertainty. I was in a very dark place and questioning everything, I not only wanted to quit being creative. I wanted to quit life all together… with the help of my girlfriend, Robyn I went into surgery, had my kidney removed and started the long journey of healing not only physically, but mentally after cancer. Shortly after my operation, the pandemic hit, and my gallery got shut down along with the rest of the world, but I am thankful to say that through it all I came to new perspective on the journey of my life and what matters most and that to me is kindness, love and creativity.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Coming from the old days of rock ‘n’ roll and punk rock bands were you had to do everything yourself. I looked at social media as an opportunity to reach people that I normally couldn’t so I embraced it wholeheartedly every like and comment that I receive on a post I will personally thank each and everyone individually … I always thought to myself, that yes, some people may get annoyed, but the ones that really resonated with my work and my journey will stay and that’s how I continue to build the people that admire respect and understand my vision. Also engaging and knowing more about the people who love your work is a wonderful reward. On a human level…. Social media has given me a voice to people and places that I may not ever be able to reach with the old ethics of DIY. 
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.kevvonholt.com
- Instagram: @kevvonholt @kvhgallery
- Facebook: Kevin Von Holtermann
Image Credits
Dave Norton (personal photo ) Vagrant Forever one in front of orange corvette The rest by KVH