We recently connected with Regan Bowman and have shared our conversation below.
Regan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
Growing up I was always drawing. Ever since I could hold a pencil I was doodling things and copying pictures in books, you name it. My parents will always say I was naturally talented. However, they put me in an art class (outside of school) when I was in either 3rd or 4th grade and I hated it! I’ve always been pretty stubborn and prefer to do things my own way, so the art class wasn’t for me. Around this same time, I began to play violin. So throughout middle school and high school, I didn’t take any art class electives or AP art senior year. I was extremely dedicated to orchestra. I was very good if I may say so myself. I had weekly violin lessons, I was first chair violinist at school and even played for the Georgia Youth Symphony Orchestra. When it came to graduation, I really flopped in my decision making. I chose to go to a local university, where I knew a bunch of my friends were going and I picked psychology as my major. Right? I don’t know either. I really just wanted to experience the freedom of life, having grown up in a more strict and scheduled household. I was ready to sow some wild oats. By the end of my freshman year I was checked out. I never went to class, I was on academic probation and just didn’t have any passion for what I was studying or attempting to study. I was also partied out, I definitely got the “fun” experience I was looking for but it truthfully was exhausting and unfulfilling. I took a year off and moved back home with mom and dad and worked for about 6 months and eventually got tired of that. So I made the decision to apply to Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta. I was accepted and started fall of 2016 and it was the best decision I’ve made for myself career wise. The moment I walked into there I knew that’s where I belonged.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I graduated from SCAD with my degree in Illustration and I minored in Drawing. All throughout school I did tons of freelance. T-shirt designs, tattoo designs, holiday cards, portraits, menus, invitations, fashion illustration, logos and labels, you name it. I loved the variety and getting the opportunity to mold myself as an adaptable artist. To this day I still freelance. I worked for a company as a product designer and got to learn the ropes behind creating retail products. I also started a jewelry line on Etsy that surprisingly has become quite successful. In this day, I’m designing products and jewelry under my own name and brand and currently learning how to tattoo and creating a portfolio for an apprenticeship.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
It makes me feel amazing when I get to work with someone and bring their vision to life. Just seeing a client light up and get excited when I’m able to create and execute what they needed or wanted makes me feel fulfilled, As a freelancer, I’m working with a lot of small business owners too so it’s just a great feeling to be able to support each other. I appreciate my clients so much because majority of them come back with other small projects and refer me to others as well.
Have you ever had to pivot?
I’m very proud of myself for seeing the multitudes of what I’m able to do as an artist. I’m so grateful for my jewelry shop and the income it’s brought me because it was a total pivot I made in 2023. I fell in my garage that summer and woke up the next day with the most excruciating neck pain. I thought I slept on it wrong… very wrong. But it got worse by day. Eventually the pain was shooting down my left arm and then I had pins and needles in my index and middle finger, I couldn’t hold my coffee mug. I couldn’t write my name. I was truthfully terrified, if I don’t have my right hand, I can’t make art! I’ve put so much of my identity in being an artist so I was in pain, anxious and depressed. I went to a neurologist and found out I had something called a “cervical radiculopathy”. Sounds “ridiculous” right?! Essentially it’s a pinched nerve in your cervical (neck) vertebrae, which caused the loss of function and feeling in my right arm and fingers. It took a couple months to heal, I started going to the chiropractor and physical therapy weekly, but that’s where I made a pivot and started making jewelry and opened my Etsy shop. I was able to squeeze pliers and still needed to make income, so that’s the back story behind my jewelry business. I look back and I’m proud of myself for continuing to explore creativity, especially when I was quite scared and in terrible pain because it truthfully paid off. I enjoy doing it so much and got so many more orders than I would have ever imagined.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.reganbowman.com
- Instagram: @rbillu_
- Facebook: Regan Bowman Illustration
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/regan-bowman-8196961b9/
