San Jose visual artist Nathaniel Verbeck set aside his nomadic ways during the coronavirus pandemic and ended his worldwide wandering to settle as a professional artist in the Bay Area.
As a child, Verbeck showed interest in art by sketching and dabbling in photography.
“I remember taking an art history class in 7th grade and then left to go on this trip and see all these things in person,” he said. “Ever since then, I’ve been super into what makes something beautiful or what draws someone to something.”
Verbeck’s trip took him from an American classroom to Eastern Europe and the Middle East, where he spent
four months. The experience taught him to appreciate different cultures and ways of life.
While other children spent their middle school years in history class, Verbeck said he spent time traveling and walking the halls of the world’s finest art museums.
“It was a fantastic experience and I’ve definitely kept a lot of the lessons I’ve learned from that desire for adventure,” he said.
Verbeck said he did not fully commit himself to seriously pursuing art until the COVID-19 pandemic hit, even though he lived a life surrounded by art and beauty.
He was born in Detroit but grew up in the Bay Area and attended De Anza College.
During the pandemic, Verbeck realized he was uninterested in his classes. So, he began taking courses at RayKo Photo Center in San Francisco until it closed due to local shelter-in-place orders.
Verbeck said he interviewed for a serving job at a seafood restaurant around the same time, but management said they were no longer hiring because of the shutdown. He then turned to art for comfort after having no other option but to isolate at home.
Verbeck ruminates how being an artist would be easier if he made art that people want him to produce, rather than creating art at his own desire.
“In art, it’s important to be out there,” he said. “It’s important to challenge things and not be comfortable with everything we do and not just do something because it’s easy.”
Verbeck’s first venture into the professional art scene was a series of charcoal drawings featuring hands, which he displayed for sale during a Downtown San Jose South First Fridays event – an outdoor art market held on the first Friday of every month.
As he explores his career, close friends and family have recognized the creative spirit that guided him his whole life.
“From his aura, I detect massive potential,” said Ryan Toulouse, a close friend of Verbeck and music education senior at Sonoma State University. “Nathaniel can, at times be humble, but has grown to become more confident in his ability.”
Verbeck said much of his confidence stems from his hiking trip on the Appalachian trail from 2016-17, which he describes as a turning point in his life.
He said he felt more mature and humbled by the experience, especially after fracturing his foot more than halfway through and taking a break to work at a ski hill in Reno.
Verbeck’s identical twin brother, Hunter Verbeck, who lives on the East coast, said his brother’s drive and passion in his latest art endeavors would be a catalyst for his success.
“I knew he was very different from me since high school,” Hunter Verbeck said. “He would make drawings here or there that would make me take a step back and ask how he did it.”
Hunter Verbeck admits art is a difficult field to pursue but believes those who stick with it and have a unique perspective tend to succeed.
“If I know anything about my brother, it is that if he wants something, he will work hard and be excruciatingly stubborn until he makes it happen,” Hunter Verbeck said.
Nathaniel Verbeck sees a future for himself as a full-time artist even though he’s spent much of his life jumping between jobs and projects.
“I might not be doing the same thing day-to-day, but if I can tie it all back to art, that seems like a great path that I can keep going down,” Nathaniel Verbeck said.
