Giovanna Imperia is the author of Kumihimo Wire Jewelry and many articles on braiding and weaving. Her work has been exhibited and is included in private and museum collections throughout the United States and internationally. Giovanna’s work focuses on the exploration of tactile and organic nature of fiber while pushing the boundaries of the expected […]
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St. Petersburg, Florida Adrienne Gaskell’s innovations explore the ancient Japanese art of kumihimo. Her jewelry incorporates gemstones, pearls, and beads and has been featured in “Showcase 500 Art Necklaces” by Lark Books, Bead&Button’s BeadDreams competition, and the Toho Design Challenge. She exhibits at juried art shows and galleries across the county. Her teaching resume includes […]
Read MorePittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA Carolyn has been a jewelry artist for nearly twenty years and has studied braiding for over a dozen years. She has taught braiding and bead weaving in the Western Pennsylvania area for over a decade. She has led online classes and braid-abouts for AKS and had a project published in the 2016 Kumihimo […]
Read MoreRosalie Neilson has been making kumihimo braids for more than 35 years. In 1980, she visited a Tokyo kimono factory, became enamored with kumi braids, took a private class, and came home with a marudai, kakudai, and two instruction books written in Japanese. Throughout the years she has developed into a true master of the […]
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Japan’s Makiko Tada is largely responsible for the growing international interest in the art of Kumihimo braiding. She creates designs from both traditional patterns and from her own original designs and is an expert on the long history of kumihimo. After restoring ancient national treasure braids from the Kyoto National Museum, she dedicated them to […]
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Shirley loves to teach kumihimo and other narrow wares workshops. She is particularly interested in basic kumihimo and its myriad variations: texture, thick and thin, distortion, adding bumps or beads, beginnings and endings. With time, she has come to appreciate that the foam disc has more possibilities than she first thought. Shirley has been braiding […]
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Rebecca Ann Combs has always had a passion for adventuring, creating, and teaching. The combination has led her around the world to her new home in Tucson, Arizona. There she founded Design & Adorn in 2008, a jewelry supply store specializing in Kumihimo and beadwork. A well-respected instructor, Rebecca has over twenty years of teaching […]
Read MoreJacqui is a maker, teacher, author and researcher of braids, having specialized in the subject since graduating from a BA(Hons) degree in woven textiles in 1985. Her work as a practicing craftsperson is known worldwide, and her knowledge shared through teaching and numerous publications. While studying for her degree in textiles, Jacqui discovered that weaving […]
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Following in the footsteps of her mother, a serial crafter that would change obsessions every few months moving from rug hooking to embroidery to decoupage, Carol Wang enjoys many crafts including beading, braiding, knitting, and crochet. Sparked by the gift of a book, she has been studying decorative knots (and collecting knotty books!) for nigh […]
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