ONLINE EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Karenlee and Chuck Spencer, Gourd Artists
by Noelle Backer

Karenlee Spencer's gourd sculpture

Karenlee and Chuck Spencer run their full-time gourd business, Goods from the Woods, from their home in a 130-acre forest of Illinois. They have no running water and no electricity, and needless to say no television and no computer. While they share a home and a business, they create their own unique styles of gourd art and sell through two different markets. Karenlee's most successful venue is the New York International Gift Fair; Chuck's is the OASIS Gift Show (Organization of Associated Salespeople In the Southwest). Few of the 600 galleries and shops to which they sell carry both of the Spencers' work.

While gourds are still a relatively unknown craft, the Spencers have managed a successful gourd business for 17 years. In this exclusive interview, the Spencers share the details of their business, past and present, and the challenges they have overcome.

TCR: How did you get started working in gourds?

KS: Chuck was growing gourds for fun, and wasn't doing anything with them. When we met, I picked one up and started doodling on it, and then he started also. The first ones we did were small and ornamental.

TCR: How did you first begin selling your work?

KS: We started selling them at a local shop, where they [displayed them] on a Christmas tree, and they sold out in a half hour. We brought more the next day, and they were gone too. Then we started driving around and walking in the cold to other shops, and gradually got farther and farther away. We went to shops we thought had good taste and quality American handmade goods, and asked them if they wanted to sell our work. Several took them on consignment, and at the time, we were thrilled about that.

The first show we did was Celebration at Eastern Illinois University, which draws a large crowd from central Illinois. But, the most important thing that came out of the show was our involvement with the Illinois Artisans Program. At the show, the dean of Eastern Illinois University's art department, Vaughn Jaenike, saw our work and took it to the director of Illinois Artisans, Ellen Gantner. That was a huge step for us. I was 30, and Chuck was 37 then, and we needed to get going! Vaughn's wife, Ruth, has always supported us too, and it has really catapulted [our career]. [That first show was] also why we got involved in the New York International Gift Fair, which I do twice a year; we exhibited at the Chicago Gift Show as part of the Illinois Artisans Program, and were then invited by George Little Management [the show's producers] to do the New York show.

TCR: Do you see any challenges specific to gourd artists?

KS: Definitely. The number one challenge we face is that many people don't know what gourds are. They think they will rot, or that they only decorate tables. If you had an experience with one of the little gourds rotting, you would be wary of spending $100 on one of ours. ... It is an ongoing challenge to educate buyers and the public about gourds, and that they are as permanent as any other [medium].

[We overcome this by] being very patient, having lots of love and respect for gourds, and talking to people. We have printed information we can give to our buyers about gourds.

I don't think the challenges are really what they were 17 years ago when we started out. Gourds are really becoming more and more popular every year.

Chuck Spencer's spirit vessles

TCR: What has been a key approach to marketing your gourd work?

KS: The key has been to find out as much as we can about gourds, and to be involved in the entire process from the beginning -- from growing gourds -- to shipping them out to the buyer. We try to learn everything we can from anyone, and to pass it on. Educate, educate, educate. We try to tell people how interesting and exciting gourds are -- that they are not just cutesy, painted things. By telling people as much as we can, by showing them examples of the many uses and styles of gourds we've picked up through research, they become interested.

We also have continued to try to improve the level of quality in our art form, and as we have, our stores and galleries have gotten much more upscale. Now we deal with some of the finest galleries in the country. I try to work on one thing a year -- the eyes, for example. As we get better and better, the market responds to it.

TCR: Each of you have your own distinct market. How do you reach them?

KS: Chuck's gourds took on a Southwestern look because of the materials he uses, so he just sort of gravitated to the OASIS (Organization of Associated Salespeople in the Southwest) show after years of doing retail shows, including some of the best in the country. ... His "spirit vessels" are upscale in price and in detail; they are elaborate and complicated. He sells wholesale through OASIS, and also by word of mouth. The galleries he sells through are in high visibility locations, so a lot of other buyers see the work there. Most shop owners are really gracious about passing on our name to other buyers who ask about us. I just got a call from a [buyer for a] shop in Hilton Head who saw my work in another shop and wanted to place an order.

I started selling wholesale at the Valley Forge wholesale markets with the Illinois Artisans Program, and sold there for many years. Then we did the Chicago Gift Show, and we were asked to do the New York International Gift Fair, which I've been doing twice a year since 1996. I show the tried and true pieces people ask for again and again, and I try to introduce two or three new characters every year.

That has been about as much business as we can handle.

Chuck also started creating jack-o'-lanterns; a gallery in Houston asked us to do a Halloween show, and Chuck had gotten a book on antique Halloween decorations, and created his interpretation of them. I took them with me to the New York Gift Fair, and showed them in my booth. He has a whole other thing going on now in addition to his spirit pots. His jack-o'-lanterns sell retail from $35 to $100. Some are more elaborate, with parchment faces, and sell from $100 to $200.

When Chuck first started doing the jack-o'-lanterns, people started copying them. ... But he has created gourds that are very stylized and very recognizable as Goods From the Woods, Chuck Spencer. As we keep trying to grow as professional gourd artists, we have to seek out new niches because right behind us are people who are doing things similar to what we're doing, but cheaper and faster. We keep trying to stay ahead of them, and come up with more "wowie zowie" stuff to continue appealing to the people who seek one-of-a-kind work.

I'm also licensing some [of my designs] to Sakura, a dinnerware company. They're using them in 3-D pieces -- like gourd-shaped cookie jars, salt and pepper shakers. They're launching the first collection of many, I hope.

TCR: You said you have your work in about 600 galleries and shops nationwide; how do you keep up with the amount of work this must entail?

KS: [I contracted] several people to do background coloring. I draw it, and they do the large area of color, and then I do all the detail and finishing. The actual laying on of color is time-consuming. We also have someone who does the shipping. We used to do it all ourselves, but now we have two kids, so that became impossible. We have more help from August through November, our high season.

TCR: Over the 17 years you have had a gourd business, how has your market changed?

KS: The [gourd market] has changed -- it has grown. People have seen more gourds, they're being talked about more, they're getting more notoriety, more media attention. You still have to educate people to get them to recognize gourds as an art form, but it has definitely changed.

TCR: What challenges have you faced working together as a couple?

KS: There are many, but the main challenges are about spending 24 hours a day together. We are both very opinionated about art, and a lot of times, we'll ask the other for a critique, but we don't always like what we hear.

We try not to take things personally and remember that we're in this together, that we're on the same team, and it helps us. ... Our lifestyle keeps us side by side a lot -- we have to chop wood and carry water. But we've chosen it and continue to choose it. ... Sometimes I just have to back away and give the guy his 130 acres!

TCR: Has living and working in such a rural location affected your ability to sell your work?

KS: It has both negatives and positives. We don't have access to close venues, so we always have to travel. It's not really a problem, it's just that everything involves travel.

The positive is that is has given us the opportunity to get as far away as you can in America from the speed at which everything moves. There are no power lines. It's a mile to our mailbox down our private road. It offers the opportunity to get what's inside of you out onto gourds. There is nothing standing in the way of doing that. When it ceases to be that for us, we'll both move quickly into town -- it would be nice to be able to have a shower every day!

I do a lot of marketing research. I subscribe to like 30 magazines. I don't read them cover to cover, but I browse through them so I can be aware of what's going on in my world. I want to know who's buying gourds. We have no TV, no electricity, no running water, so in order to stay in touch with the rest of the world, I read.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Goods from the Woods Karenlee and Chuck Spencer 6575 Snake Trail Road Charleston, IL 61920 (217) 345-4389

TCR: Can you offer any suggestions or advice to gourd artists who are aspiring to make a full-time living from the sale of their work?

KS: The first thing would be to be unique. Be yourself, and do your own thing. We have all been inspired by artists -- I've been inspired by van Gogh, Georgia O'Keeffe, but when I saw a gourd, I put a Santa on it. I've always done my own thing, and it has worked. I truly believe that if you follow your own vision, it will be good. It may take a while, but it will get you the best you are able to do.

I believe that if you are honest and true and good, good things will happen to you. We have had only one bad check in 17 years, and I believe it's because if you do good, you will get good. [In other words], if you don't copy, don't get into it for the money, you will reap the benefits of it. I know it probably sounds lofty and idealistic, but it's true!

Also, only use the best quality gourds. We encourage growers to grow only good gourds, and we don't accept inferior gourds. If you accept them, that's telling them it's OK. If you're going to use the word "professional" with your name, you have to have high standards. Don't accept mediocrity, and certainly not in yourself. When I first met Chuck, he told me to finish the bottom of a piece just as you would the top -- the bottom isn't the bottom, it's another part of the piece. When you pick up a finished piece, there is no part unfinished, and it really affects the look of a piece.

Noelle Backer is senior editor of The Crafts Report.

NOVEMBER 2000: TABLE OF CONTENTS