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Jacqui Carey
Summercourt
Ridgeway
Ottery St Mary
Devon,
EX11 1DT
England
Tel&Fax: 01404 813486
e-mail Jacqui Carey
Whilst attending a foundation course at Winchester School of Art, Jacqui Carey discovered that weaving combined her love of mathematics and art. This lead to a degree in Textiles at West Surrey College of Art and Design. Here, Jacqui studied a whole range of related subjects, including braidmaking. But it was working with complex weave structures that enabled her to start unravelling the mysteries of Kumihimo, Japanese braiding.
When Jacqui Carey completed her degree in 1985, her work space was limited so she focused her attention on the Japanese craft. This was intended as a temporary detour but soon extended as the potential of braidmaking was revealed. Although Jacquis work stems from the traditional, it is the creative possibilities that inspire most of her braids. The braiding process, with its aesthetics and sense of continuity, is an integral part of Jacquis work. The joy of making is enhanced by exploring a wide range of materials and playing with structure, colour and pattern. The results cover a broad spectrum of uses and have been widely exhibited, both in the UK and abroad.
This enthusiasm for Kumihimo and a willingness to share her knowledge lead Jacqui to start teaching and lecturing. Later, prompted by the lack of written material on Kumihimo, she set about writing an instruction book- Creative Kumihimo. This was to be the first of many publications in article and book form. In the early 90s she helped to establish the Braid Society and subsequently served on the committee. She organised their first exhibition entitled- Samurai Undressed . This was based on her research into the historical development of Kumihimo and its relationship with the Samurai. Her research work continues expanding to involve all aspects of the braid world.
an article explaining the grid system used in Creative Kumihimo. This is an aid for designing Kumihimo Braids.
the same structured braid is often called several names (some names are attributed to several structures). This table gives comparisons to show which 8-bobbin Kumihimo braids have the same structure.
a paper presented at the Bridges (Maths/Art) conferance in 2006. It details a method of recording ALL 3-D braid structures in a simple 2-D format.
