Rachel Hazell is a book artist who makes beautiful things out of paper and words, and is possibly as obsessed with paper, washi tape and adventures as I am. As you might imagine, we get on pretty well! Rachel splits her time between a book-lined house in Edinburgh and a croft on the Scottish island of Iona, where the sea and seals provide constant inspiration. Rachel also has experience of what I think is one of the coolest jobs in the world – postmistress at the only Post Office in Antarctica, on a tiny island shared with penguins. I went there many years ago and always said I’d love to do that job. I never thought I’d be friends with someone who had done it. Besides being an incredibly well educated (read ‘three Masters degrees’), highly talented book artist, Rachel is also one of those lovely people who laughs a lot, always has chocolate on her person and sends the most beautiful handwritten notes in the post, just because. It is my very great pleasure to share this interview with you today, and let you into a little secret that Rachel and I will be bringing out a brand new online course together later this year entitled PaperLove. You will absolutely love it and we cannot wait to share it with you! – Beth
PS If you ever get the chance to take a workshop with Rachel I urge you to go. You will love it. In fact she has some spots left on her upcoming ‘Personal Geographies’ workshop in Venice in October (details below). Sounds dreamy. If I weren’t quite so pregnant I’d be going myself!
Portrait at The Scottish Poetry Library, Malin Widstrand
1. How are you leading a life ‘doing what you love’?
Edinburgh studio shot (and tidied) by Hannah Nunn
Each day is filled with paper work; whether writing or making or teaching (and the inevitable admin…) I get to do this in the splendid city of Edinburgh, or on the Isle of Iona, looking out to sea, or at an inspiring workshop location, such as a lighthouse or a boat.
Iona view
2. What did you do before this?
For fifteen years I have worked as a bookbinder and bookartist.
After studying English Literature at Edinburgh University the book form became an object of fascination, as much as the contents. There was a bookbinding course at The London College of Printing, so I signed up for a thorough grounding in the craft. Half way through, I swang over to a bookart programme at Camberwell College of Art, for a more creative education in narrative sequences. Finally, having moved back to Edinburgh and set up Hazell Designs Books, feeling slightly isolated and lacking in direction, I found confidence and consolidation with a Masters degree in Printmaking at ECA.
Ha – so mostly, I am quite well qualified…ahem… and still love to top up skills and learn more.
The two most momentous achievements of Hazell Designs Books have been:
Amygdala commission, at the exhibition opening of ‘Mental’, Copenhagen
Constructing a two metre high book for the designer Helen Storey and working in Antarctica as ship artist in residence and as Assistant Post Mistress and Penguin Monitor at Britain’s southernmost Post Office.
A sparkling Port Lockroy (from the top of the aerial mast)
3. Is the way your life is unfolding different to what you expected when you were younger?
The careers advice questionnaire I filled in at sixteen (with a pencil – it was a while ago…) came back with two suggestions: be a librarian or work in the glamour profession (whatever that meant.) I like to think that my present reality is a blend of the two….with the meticulousness of a librarian and opportunities which take me to teach a luxury Valentine’s workshop in a vineyard in the Napa Valley.
The amazing lighting at The Colour of Love workshop, Napa, 2012
4. How do you think each of us can live the fullest life possible?
Good morning!
Get up early! Those quiet moments first thing in the morning are so full of possibility. A few minutes of meditation and stretching help me to be mindful. (Light a candle in the winter.) Trying to pull back to the present instead of worrying about the future or indulging in past resentments is a constant tussle.
Take risks! Don’t be afraid to jump. Even little steps into uncharted territory can result in very positive changes. Get on that trampoline when no one’s about. Conventions and averages are just that.
Read J. P. Flintoff’s book “How to Change the World,” published by The School of Life https://www.theschooloflife.com/
“How to Change the World”; one of a brilliant series from The School of Life
Please don’t be concerned about what other people think; you’re the one that counts.
Be open. Say ‘yes!’ to any opportunity which will help you to do what you love. Blow bubbles. Go to the circus. Hang out with people who make you feel good.
5. What has prevented you from doing this in the past, and how did you move forward?
It has not been easy to maintain a balance between work and not-work, because this job is not a Monday to Friday, nine until five existence. It’s hard to schedule in downtime and stay mindful of the bigger picture.
Still learning how to say ‘no’ to the distracting, flattering and time wasting. Took on too much and spread myself too thin.
Shameful as it is to admit, I have a hoarding habit. This means that trunks, boxes and cupboard-fulls of real and emotional baggage need sorting through. This will lead to an uncluttered mind. Apparently. You can sense the resistance can’t you?! Progress continues, one pile at a time.
‘Before’ and ‘After’ shots of one small corner
I used to go to bed whirling with all the things not finished that day. Now I say ‘thank you’ for all the good stuff, and that simple gratitude somehow leads to better sleep.
Also, reading about a palliative care nurse (in the excellent Flow magazine https://www.flowmagazine.com/) who noted down the main five regrets of the dying. They included, as you can imagine, not working so hard, saying sorry and spending more time with nearest and dearest. I don’t want to have any regrets.
6. What is the best advice you have received?
‘The harder you work, the luckier you get.’
The sassy lady who gave me this nugget, lived on an island attached to another small island by a spit of sand. Twice a day the high tide cut the island off. The few times I stayed there, it felt safe and benign. Rhondda listened well and made a space for me for me to create.
The view from Gugh over to St. Agnes, Isles of Scilly
It’s easy to envy success without knowing about the rejections, knockbacks and failures behind the scenes. Rhondda’s maxim helps me to remember that luck rarely drops into your lap uninvited.
7. You seem to get so much joy from the medium of paper. Where does that come from and why do you love it so much?
The reason I love paper is because that’s what books are made of! From dictionaries to escapist novels, poetry to instruction manuals, books surround me. A book token was always a very popular present.
My father was very bookish, and would often be found in his shelf-lined study (guarding the stairs to the television room.) We related mainly through literature. He was self-appointed music librarian in the church choir, where we both sang. I remember new sets of music, spread out, ready to be rubber-stamped with St. Cuthbert’s cross.
I get extreme satisfaction from transforming a flat sheet of paper, by folding and cutting, into the intimate personal space of a book. Or forming a fortune teller from an advertising flyer. Or a box out of a magazine page. I have been known to leave tips in restaurants….altered…by origami….
Fortune tellers…
And the reason I love books so much, is their power of expression – learning, sharing, describing, illuminating, escaping…
8. This month’s theme is ‘Love life’. You are a woman who seems to love her life very much. Where does you enthusiasm and energy come from?
Parents’ wedding day
My mother: Though she has been dead for twenty years, her spirit and joie de vivre continue to propel me along. My dash-it-all attitude comes from a woman who did impromptu cartwheels, wore unconventional clothing combinations and got up early to chase hot air balloons. As a fifteen year old, she sent me off to West Africa to visit a pen pal (fortunately realizing in time that the flight she’d booked was to the wrong West African country…)
My father: A passion for learning and an intense attention to detail are a small part of his legacy. I remember a day trip to visit an exhibition in London: We spent four hours in the hallowed galleries, reading every single information board.The biggest consequence of my father’s suicide is a determination not to waste my life.
It’s strange what the effects of loss can be – grief does have a silver lining.
9. Finally, what do hope your life holds in store for you in the years ahead?
Have you ever done that exercise to illustrate how goal attainment is about knowing where you want to be? It involves describing the perfect day, from dawn until dusk. Mine always starts sitting on a veranda looking out past the dewy green lawn to still water, sipping peppermint tea, whilst those I love still sleep inside…. Now that my life is shared with a man on an island, with white beaches minutes from his door, the view of water is the shifting sea, and I hope to see the seasons change there, over and over.
A misty morning on Iona
As long as there is water, islands, chocolate, book writing and book making I will be happy.
Also, my desire to teach is inescapable. I love making bespoke creative retreats happen, and look forward to travelling and finding inspirational workshop locations, bringing people together, playing with paper and words.
If you would like to find out more about Rachel you can visit her at her website, or you can follow her via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.
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