Rachel Craven
Designer/ Owner Rachel Craven & Co-Founder Echo Park Craft Fair
@rachelcraventextiles
Where were you raised? Has the landscape of that place influenced your work in any way?
I was raised in Manhattan - I’m a New Yorker. The way my mother saw life, work and creative expression is the same lens I see through. Both of my parents were artists and they each had a studio space in our loft. My dad made our furniture and did the plumbing; my mother made our plates, bowls, and vases. My parents’ artwork and their friends' artwork decorated our walls. We didn’t have much, but we ate well and were surrounded by beauty. Our things were simple, practical and well made. Nothing was fancy. My mother taught me to live this way: make everything, especially art; create your environment; simple is luxurious; invest deeply in your community. When I design, I design for her.
How do you re-charge your creative battery?
Being in the ocean changes me. The sea brings me peace.
What book are you reading?
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
What was the last thing that you fell in love with?
Personal protective equipment. Our community has a great need for PPE, so I designed a double layered 100% linen protective face mask that's machine washable and has an insert for a filter. If you buy one, I can make two masks: one for you and one to donate to a community organization serving the front lines of the pandemic.
What do you love most about yourself?
That I don’t give up.
I am an artist and I can pass that on to my two children, we can all connect thru making. Making brings joy, serenity and connection. I love being a mom. I connect to my mother when I paint. I am good at being a mom because my mother was good at it too.
What do you think is the most important quality in a human?
Empathy.
Do you have a spiritual practice?
I start and end the day praising my ancestors - I thank all the women who came before me and ask for guidance.
Who are your role models?
My mother. She was a powerful, self-reliant and supremely artful woman.
If you could change one thing about our world, what would it be? Is there an individual or an organization doing work in this area that you want us to know about?
I would make women safe. Please learn about Downtown Women’s Center and A New Way of Life.
Before I die I want to…. Fill in the blank
Be kind, and more kind, and remember to be even more kind.
All photos courtesy of Rachel Craven
