Today we’d like to introduce you to Reagan Bitler.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My story with gourds started with a pear sitting on a dining room table.
I was visiting a relative who had a simple pear made from a gourd as the centerpiece on their table. After hearing the rather ridiculous story of how they found and purchased it, I looked at it and said, “I probably could have made that for you.”
I had always been creative and excelled in art growing up, but when it came time to choose a career, becoming an artist didn’t seem like the most practical choice. This was before computers, digital graphic design and many of the creative career opportunities that exist today. It was still very much the “starving artist” mentality, so I went into education and became a middle school history teacher.
About 15 years into my teaching career, education was changing, and I started thinking seriously about a second career that might eventually allow me to retire earlier. I kept coming back to art, but I knew I didn’t want to simply draw or paint. There are so many talented artists working in those mediums that I wanted to find something different that might give me a chance to create my own identity.
Later that same year, I went to a local farm market to buy pumpkins for our annual pumpkin-carving party and came across some dirty, dried apple gourds. I remembered that pear, bought several, put them in my garage and started searching the internet for how to clean and color them.
I was mostly self-taught until I discovered the Pennsylvania Gourd Society, a chapter of the American Gourd Society. Through them, I began learning about the specialty tools, coloring agents and techniques that worked on gourds. I started with the craftier side of the medium and eventually moved into pyrography, carving, intricate cutwork and more detailed work influenced heavily by my love of nature.
My work became successful faster than I anticipated, so I decided it needed an identity. I didn’t want an obvious business name and took my inspiration from Heluva Good Dip. That’s how Godahavom Gourds (“Gotta Have ‘Em Gourds”) was born. People don’t always know how to pronounce it the first time they see it, but once they figure it out, they usually remember it.
I became increasingly involved with the Pennsylvania Gourd Society, eventually serving several terms as President. That led me to the American Gourd Society, where I ran for a Vice President position because I wanted to learn how a national nonprofit operated. One month into my first term, an unexpected leadership change moved me into the President’s position. I’m currently serving my sixth year as President.
As my artwork became more sought after, I also wanted a studio/gallery space. My first attempt didn’t exactly go according to plan, but eventually an opportunity brought Godahavom Gourds to York City’s Royal Square District. That opportunity grew into Creatives on King Gallery and Studios.
Today, Godahavom Gourds LLC operates Creatives on King, where we represent the work of about 30 artists in addition to my own studio and artwork. I’ve also become actively involved in the Royal Square District, helping create events that encourage people to explore not just my gallery, but the other galleries, studios and unique businesses around us.
With Godahavom Gourds successful, Creatives on King established, and my work with the American Gourd Society, I was eventually able to do what I had started thinking about all those years earlier. I retired after 31 years in public education and made art and the creative community my second career…and all because I thought I could make that pear.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Definitely not.
My first studio/gallery was on the second floor of the i-ronic coffee shop in York. My first official day open also happened to be the last day before businesses were mandated to close because of COVID. Eventually the coffee shop reopened, only to announce shortly afterward that it was closing permanently. I had finally taken the leap into having my own space, and almost immediately I was back to square one.
Some of the other challenges have been less obvious. I’m a self-taught artist rather than a classically trained artist, and my chosen canvas happens to grow on a vine. At times I’ve felt like I’ve had two things to prove, that I belong in the conversation as an artist and that a gourd belongs there as an art medium.
When people hear “gourd art,” they sometimes immediately picture a birdhouse or a cute fall decoration. There is certainly a place for those things, but I’ve worked hard to push my own work beyond that expectation and get people to look at a gourd differently.
There is also the reality of owning a small business. Investing hard-earned money into a gallery coming out of COVID was a big decision. Today’s economy and changing consumer spending mean that getting people through the front door of a brick-and-mortar gallery is an ongoing challenge. I’m constantly thinking about events, collaborations and new reasons for people to come into Royal Square.
Then there is time. I’m an artist, but I’m also a gallery owner, event planner and President of a national nonprofit organization. The American Gourd Society position is a volunteer one, so there is always a balance between time spent giving back to an organization that has given me a great deal and time that needs to generate income. On the other hand, that position has given me national recognition, introduced me to people from around the country and taught me a tremendous amount about leadership and management.
Probably the biggest irony is that the more successful I’ve become at building a creative career, the harder I sometimes have to work to protect the time to actually create.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I describe gourds as canvases from nature. No two are exactly alike, and unlike starting with a blank rectangular canvas, the shape, texture and imperfections are already there before I do anything to it. Part of the challenge for me is figuring out what that particular gourd wants to become.
My work is heavily influenced by nature, which probably goes back farther than I realized when I first started. I use techniques including pyrography, carving, cutting and a wide variety of coloring methods. I enjoy experimenting, and I don’t necessarily want every piece I create to look exactly like the one before it. The gourd itself usually has something to say about the direction I take.
One of the things I enjoy most is watching someone’s reaction when they realize what they’re looking at started as a dried gourd. I want people to see beyond the material and recognize what is possible with it as an art form.
Godahavom Gourds has also allowed me to remain an educator, although I didn’t really think about that when I was planning my escape from public education. I teach gourd art, demonstrate techniques and share what I’ve learned with other artists. Apparently I retired from the classroom but never completely stopped teaching.
Creatives on King has expanded that role even further. The gallery isn’t just about having a place to sell my own work. We represent about 30 artists working in different mediums, and I take a lot of pride in providing a place where their work can be discovered as well.
I’m also very proud of what is happening in York City’s Royal Square District. I’ve become actively involved in planning events that give people a reason to explore the district as a whole. Of course I want someone to walk through the door at Creatives on King and discover Godahavom Gourds, but I also want them to walk down the street and discover another gallery, artist studio or independent business they didn’t know was there.
If there is something that sets me apart, it may be that I never chose just one role. I’m an artist, but I’m also still an educator, a business owner, a gallery owner, an event planner and a nonprofit leader. Somehow they have all become different parts of the same creative life.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I grew up on a small farm in rural northern Pennsylvania, and I think more of that childhood shows up in my life today than I probably realized when I was younger.
I was always creative. I liked to draw, but I was much more interested in building things and making sculptures. I liked taking an idea and turning it into something three-dimensional. Looking back, it probably makes sense that I eventually chose an art medium that wasn’t flat.
My parents divorced when I was 10, and my mother, older brother and I moved from the farm into a small town. That was a major change for me. Art became one of the ways I expressed some of what I was feeling during the divorce, the move and the change in the lifestyle I had known.
Fortunately, I didn’t completely lose my connection to farm life. A neighboring farm family essentially became my “adopted” family, and I continued spending a lot of time there. I participated in 4-H, raised sheep and showed them at the local fair. That connection to nature has stayed with me and certainly influences the artwork I create today.
I also became very independent at a young age. I learned pretty quickly that if there was something I wanted, I needed to be willing to work for it.
Sports were another big part of my life. I played AYSO soccer growing up and eventually became captain of my high school team my senior year. At Susquehanna University, I discovered volleyball. When I moved to southcentral Pennsylvania after college to teach for the Hanover Public School District, I continued with both sports as a coach. I became head coach of the newly re-established soccer program and later led the girls’ volleyball program, which developed into one of the stronger small-school programs in York County. I was fortunate to be named Coach of the Year twice.
When I look back, there were probably signs of where I would eventually end up. I liked creating and building things, I loved nature, I was independent, and I eventually discovered that I enjoyed teaching, coaching and leading people.
I certainly never pictured myself growing up to become a gourd artist, gallery owner or President of a national arts organization.
But apparently the raw materials were there.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.godahavomgourds.com www.creative-on-king.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GodahavomGourds
