Rebecca Gazzard on Weaving with One Hand & Holding Everything Else with the Other

Parents Who Create Interview

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Here’s my conversation with Rebecca — on Weaving with One Hand and Holding Everything Else with the Other

Give us a snapshot of your life as it actually is.

I am a stay at home mum to a 5 year old, 3 year old and 7 month old who fits in her creative pursuits in nap times and odd moments throughout the day.

Where can we find you?

Instagram | Substack

Why do you create?

I create because I'm unbearable when I don't! I have realized that having a creative project to let my brain work out is incredibly healthy for me. Otherwise, I have a tendency to ruminate on negative thoughts or, during pregnancy and postpartum, let the intrusive thoughts become too loud.

Weaving is perfect because it's slow and meditative but it requires a lot of thought and concentration. Before starting a tapestry or a bookmark, I have to have a very clear idea of what I'll be weaving.

Since tapestries are woven from the bottom up, any pattern, border or decorative element I want to add to the main ''drawing'' has to begin at the same time as the work of the main ''drawing”. Choosing the colours, the texture of the yarn and all the fun stuff is secondary to the work of getting the structure just right so everything I want to weave will fit.

What does the inside of your creative mind actually feel like?

It feels exciting because the creative process is where I'm most comfortable. I love having an idea and thinking about it almost obsessively, gathering the materials, making sketches and then finding the way to sort out the inevitable challenges that come with every project.

Yarn, paper, pencils, paint and books- these are the objects that make me happy.

What has parenthood changed about your work, and what has it refused to change?

Becoming a mum changed the way I expressed my creativity. Before I had my son, I mostly wrote, drew and painted. I had never even seen a loom but there was something about the tactility and the repetitive motion of textiles that seemed to call to me.

I bought my first loom online and started learning slowly by watching YouTube videos and reading blog posts.

I guess what hasn't changed is the need to be creative, parenting makes it even more intense. It's important to have a project that is unrelated to my children, a space for me to breathe without them.

Describe the conditions under which your work gets made.

I've been weaving for almost 6 years and for most of that time I have had a baby in a carrier strapped to my chest. I don't have an allotted time in the week in which I get to be creative so I take any chance I can get, even if my neck and shoulders get sore!

I weave in the kitchen or dining room with a child on my lap or having a snack watching me work. When I'm inspired by a piece, I weave a few rows every time I have a minute- while the pasta is boiling or while the washing machine finishes. It's slow but just weaving a few rows does wonders to my mood.

What kind of work becomes possible when your children are nearby, and what becomes impossible?

I am teaching my son (5) how to weave so sometimes we have craft sessions where we're both weaving and my 3 year old is drawing or playing with yarn. These moments don't last long but I love them.

Most of the time, it's me with the baby in the carrier and the children playing or doing something else close by.

The most challenging parts of weaving with them around are warping the loom and trying to work out a difficult problem while they're talking or asking me questions. I didn't fully understand the phrase ''I can't hear myself think'' until they started talking.

What have you had to become in order to keep creating?

I've had to become more laid back and comfortable with discomfort. If I had to wait for a perfect moment to present itself, I'd never make anything.

Even as I answer these questions, my baby is asleep on my left arm while breastfeeding so I'm typing with my right hand. I do everything like this, I think most mums do, one handed and with astounding perseverance.

What is the part of your creative life that no one sees?

I think people don't realize how important being creative is for my mental health and how much quiet joy it brings me, except for my husband.

If my husband notices I haven't warped the loom or a piece isn't progressing over a few weeks, he'll ask me what's going on and offer to do whatever he can to help me get back into it. He knows it's beneficial for all of us if I'm happy and I'm happiest when I'm making stuff.

Who or what has most shaped the way you create now, not at the beginning, but in the reality of your current life?

The way I create now is shaped mostly by my family and the books I read. I feel like in both cases, they give me the freedom to experiment and take my writing and weaving seriously.

I find my children inspiring because they follow what interests them without questioning it. By reading a lot of books about artists and their process, I have noticed it's a trait they share: not questioning, just following what lights you up and letting it develop until it reaches its natural conclusion. It's part of a healthy creative process and a great tool to develop in order to live a fulfilling life.

What have you had to let go of (willingly or not) in order to keep creating?

I have had to let go of thinking I can get everything done, so I've learnt to prioritize.

At the beginning of the day, I choose one thing I really want to get done: sometimes it's a house related task, others it's substack or weaving, and focus on doing it.

Everything else on my to-do list is left aside until that one thing is completed.

What does “a room of your own” actually look like in your life now?

My room of my own is a corner on the kitchen counter. It's where my loom, yarn and tools live, together with some botany books I find inspiring. It's next to the sink so I'm always a bit worried that something will splash onto the piece I'm working on but it hasn't happened so far (fingers crossed!).

What do you want to create that your current life doesn’t easily allow?

I'd like to create an infrastructure for my life in which I could continue to be available for my children and dedicate time to creative pursuits while also earning an income.

I wouldn't say my current life doesn't allow for it but it doesn't allow much time to work on it, which feels contradictory - I need more time away from my current life to create a way of spending more time living my current life.

I am currently starting a business in which I'll sell digital templates and other book related printables on Etsy. I also dream of starting a YouTube channel but I wouldn't want my children to be in it so it'll have to wait until they go to school and I have some time alone.

PARENTS WHO THINK TO THE COMMENTS 👇🏻

Rebecca weaves one-handed, with a baby strapped to her and a child nearby, fitting it in wherever she can.

What’s the most makeshift way you’ve managed to keep something creative going?

Next week: I’m bringing you Kendall Marie Platt 🌱 of The Seed. Thank you so much for being here.

This interview was written up while listening to A Toast, watching the rain, with a cardboard sun-cover for my laptop on standby.

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