Jasmine Carey Leather Artist

Teddy Hayes: What inspired you to become a leather artist?

Jasmine: That is a long story!

I took the scenic route into leather craft. Came from a fashion background studied fashion for five years and worked in the industry as a pattern cutter for many years. I then progressed on to freelance pattern cutting for fashion brands and creating my own business as a clothing label which I was very good at designing and making clothes and terrible at selling them. I was on the brink of giving up when I won a business award in my local borough and a couple of months later succeeded in getting a studio at cockpit arts where I planned to develop my clothing label to focus on bespoke commissions for coats and jackets…failed again!!

For a long time I had been positioning Deco 22 as a Fashion Brand. I freelanced as a pattern cutter at numerous fashion brands and could see that these companies have teams of people working on different aspects of the business - design development, mass production, promotion and sales, to name just a few. I did not have a team of people, occasionally I employed freelancers , but the majority of the time it was all me on design, production, branding, photography, editing, website, marketing, social media - I did it all. My focus had always been on the craft and producing limited edition pieces . It amazes me that despite knowing this it took me years to realize that a fashion brand was the wrong business model for Deco 22. Perhaps subconsciously I knew - which is why I had struggled with a clear vision of how to promote and sell my work.

What changed for me? I cannot recall when I first started to make bags . I just remember not being able to find the bags that I wanted. Without coming to a real decision, I found myself creating patterns to make my own and occasionally making bags as gifts for relatives. People would often ask me where I got my bags but at that stage, I didn’t consider adding them to my product range.

One of the conditions of having my studio at cockpit was that I had to participate in the two annual open studios when most makers would have their work on display for sale. I moved into Cockpit Arts in 2011 and, with my first open studio fast approaching I was still developing my coats. It was suggested in my first meeting with the business support person that I could make some of my bags to test the market for my first open studios. My work started to evolve into making fabric bags. I do believe I did an excellent job at hiding my surprise when I sold my first bag!

So I began to design and make cloth bags as well as coats. I began to experiment with leather to incorporate harder wearing straps and bases to some of the bags. I was not completely happy with the results and decided I needed to learn more about leather.

I started to do short courses and luckily for me there were a few leatherworkers who had won awards that were based at the studios who were really helpful. The more I learnt the more I wanted to do and I fell in love with leathercraft. The thing that made leather become the dominant medium for my craft was after I did a week intense course to refine my hand stitching technique and later in the same year I won my first cockpit arts Leathersellers award in 2017. This meant the cost of my studio was subsidised. The following year I won a runners-up bursary from Huawei which meant I could take a step back from some of the additional freelance work I was doing to focus on leather . work and produced my first collection. I went on to win two more Leathersellers awards in 2018 and 2019. So originally tailoring was the main focus of my work but I started to have an affair with leather and leather became my Camilla!

Told you it was a long story!

Short answer…. I did some short courses in leather really enjoyed it, learnt some tips from other leatherworkers the more things I tried and made in leather the more I wanted to do. I have made loads of mistakes and have had countless failures but they all led me to now, life’s river redirected me towards leathercraft and I’m now enjoying the journey.

Teddy Hayes: How did you go about getting your training to learn the skills?

•Jasmine: My route was an unconventional one.

•I did some short courses that were aimed at beginner’s / hobbyist,

•try things I’d seen on Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube.

•My fashion background meant I already knew how to create my own patterns and had some core making skills.

•Lots of making things really badly

•getting tips and advice from other leatherworkers at the studio

•took the plunge and did a one-week course away from home specialising in hand stitching leathercraft technique which had been recommended to me by other leatherworkers helped refine my make

•I’m still a work in progress and am learning as I go along. Other leatherworkers I’ve spoken to have done

•BA degree in fashion accessories

•a course at Chapel Manor in saddlery

•trained in Italy for between six months to a year

•apprenticeships.There are lots of short courses for hobbyist but very few courses for those who want to do it professionally available in the UK

Teddy Hayes: Was developing the artistic side of your work a gradual thing, or did you start immediately making artistic things?

Jasmine: Gradual. I think it will be the same for anybody creative, development of work is gradual as creative people are always a working progress. For me with leather work, before I could start being creative and explore new ideas I needed to get to grips with the basic techniques and rules. Because I’m aware from a fashion and teaching background ( I teach pattern cutting at a University part time) that you need to know the technical rules to be able to break them and explore what is possible with leather.

Teddy Hayes: What are the most challenging part of being a leather artist?

Jasmine: I don’t know what I don’t know. So some things I create do not have the outcomes that I was expecting that is due to me not using the correct techniques. It can be frustrating to produce something and realize it’s wrong at the end or halfway through. As leather is not cheap so it can be quite expensive mistake. Impostor syndrome, not believing I’m good enough comparing myself to other people. Luckily for me I’m surrounded by other creatives who also face the same challenges. It is most definitely good to talk as we often surprise each other with some of our over critical thoughts about our own work. Business side of things, being dyslexic can be challenging for the admin side…but on the flip side it is also an advantage for my creative elements. Also as a leather worker in the UK it can be very challenging to source the materials and tools as a lot of the companies that used to exist are no longer here. And the changes with the UK leaving the European Union is added more challenges and costs.

Teddy Hayes: Is leather making a costly undertaking?

Jasmine: Oh yes! Is not just the obvious of the leather. It’s also the tools and equipment you need to create pieces. I’m lucky where I’m based there is a leather hub where I can use some of the large machinery which means I can work in a smaller space and have less machinery costs. The largest element of cost for my pieces is the time it takes to make work. Some pieces can take at least 10 hours to make.

Teddy Hayes: You have your own studio, why it is necessary to work in a studio rather than out of your own home?

Jasmine: For me the connections I have made and the people I have met have helped me move forward with my work.

If I have been working out of my own home, I probably would have given up a long time ago. Also my work would never have evolved into leather work

It was interacting with the other leather workers at the studio that helped spark my interest in leather work. It was a conversation with a ceramicist at my studios who saw one of my early leather pieces that suggested I apply for the Leather sellers awards. Also I don’t have the space and I’m lucky to have access to the larger machinery in the shared leather hub.

From a productive point of view it’s better for me to have a separate workspace for making and I do my admin work at home. So when I am in my studio I focus on the making creative process.

Teddy Hayes: Are you getting any problems with people who don’t agree with using leather as a material for art? If so what is your response?

Jasmine: Not at the moment. There is a lot of misinformation out there about the leather material. Although I am noticing that more people are being educated and understanding that the only reason that leather exists is because people eat meat. The leather I use is a by-product of the meat industry if the skins were not made into leather they will be thrown into landfill .Leather products last for years and can be passed down to generations.

Teddy Hayes: If A young person wanted to become a leather artist what advice would you give?

I can only speak for the UK. Try a short course first to see if you like it. Avoid those offered by large universities . First aim for a short course that focuses on teaching you the basic skills.

•Make, make , make.

•Except that you are going to make lots of mistakes and keep making.

•If you still have the bug then see what area of leather craft you want to follow…shoes?Bags and accessories? Saddlery?

•If you can get an apprenticeship in leather work go for that as you will learn more making skills. However if you are more interested in a creative artistic route probably best to do an art foundation course first and go through the academic degree route.

Potentially there might be some T Level options for leather craft soon which could be a good starting point if they happen.

Teddy Hayes: I imagine that leather art is a very old tradition among many different cultures. I know in the Native America culture in the USA leather work has always been a part of some tribes’ cultural traditions, can you discuss a little about the history of leather work?

Jasmine: Leather arts and leather craft has been part of humanities creativity throughout history. All cultures throughout the world have leather work entwined in their historical past Archaeologists are continuously finding pieces from ancient people the world. Leather workers been found in the tombs of Ancient Kemet and closer to home in the UK mudlarks is always finding leather shoes and bags along the Thames giving a small insight into U.K.’s past.

Teddy Hayes: Where can people go to see artistic works made of leather in the U.K. or Online?

Jasmine: Museum of Leather craft in Northampton is a must! Also Walsall Leather Museum is still on my list to visit. The Horniman museum in South East London have a selection of pieces some of their bags were lent to the Victoria and Albert Museum for the recent Bag exhibition.

Cockpit Arts has a selection of Leathersellers awardees past and present and both of the sites and will have the annual winter open studios.

Keep an eye out craft exhibitions as there’s always elements of leatherwork in those shows.

The Bloomsbury site has a few leather workers and will be open 24th – 27thNovember https://cockpitstudios.org/whats-on/cockpit-makers-market-bloomsbury/

The Deptford site where I am based has the most leather workers spread across the first, second and third floor and we will be open on 2nd- 4th December https://cockpitstudios.org/whats-on/cockpit-makers-market-deptford/

Teddy Hayes: Do you do special bespoke orders for people wanting to have something made from leather maybe for a birthday or anniversary present?

Jasmine: Yes I do special bespoke orders of original leather products (but not copies of other work). I also offer variations in size and adaptions of pieces I have designed in collaboration with my customers. I usually recommend to allow 3 to 4 weeks for bespoke orders. https://www.deco22.co.uk/

Teddy Hayes: What is your favourite kind of leather to work with and why?

Jasmine: My favourite leather vegetable tanned leather. Vegetable tanned leather is referring to the method of turning the animal skin into leather. It is called “vegetable” because of the natural tannins used in the process taken from vegetables or tree bark and is one of the oldest methods of tanning leather. This process is slower than the more commonly used chrome tanning methods used for mass produce leather products. Vegetable tanned leather also tends to age better, and overtime develops a rich Patina This is my favourite leather to work with , because it is what predominately I use for the saddlery hand stitching techniques and hand burnishing. I enjoy the process of this work, the slowness. Marking the stitching and then the peaceful calm of pulling linen thread through the beeswax then positioning the product in the stitching clamp and the rhythm of hand stitching.

Teddy Hayes: In the 1970’s the trendy thing was Italian leather, especially for shoes and jackets; is Italian leather good for the work you do?

Jasmine: Currently I am using Italian and British vegetable tanned leather for my hand stitched leather pieces. For my machine stitched leather work I used chrome tanned leather from Germany at the moment.

Teddy Hayes: What is the best kind of leather for the kind of work you do?

Jasmine: It really does depend on what I am making. Generally I use vegetable tanned leather for hand stitch work and chrome stitched leather machine stitch pieces

Teddy Hayes: On your dream list what are 3 things you would like to achieve with your leather making in the next ten years?e.

Jasmine: That’s a really good question but the thing is I found with me when I talk about what I would like to achieve often I don’t do it. So what I will say is to watch this