Home...

Our house has an office and a studio in it. Here we live, dream, work and play. Having our home function like this has taken a while, but it feels like a creative and hardworking place that complements every side of our lives.

We have been collecting our friends' artwork for the last couple of years, and recently moved into a house where we can present it in the way it deserves. Having the space and a place we can spread out in has been one of the contributing factors to me starting up Covet, and I feel proud to have friends making such beautiful work that I want to surround myself with! Because of this I actually wanted to share some images of our home, where there are some really lovely pockets of artwork.

 

Our hallway is lined with a diverse array of prints, from L- R we have a Dazed and Confused magazine cover, Aliyah Hussain, Callum Higgins (Yes Blythe artwork) Giorgio Moroder record sleeve, my glitter box art work, and Mr Hass. Then above the door is a Supermundane print. I love the diversity in the types of image here. The colours and textures are really appealing to me, which is why they fit together so well, despite how different they are.

The front room is framed by curtains that I hand dyed. They make you feel like you've been dipped in the ocean in the day, and at night they brighten up the room, making it feel a lot more summery than it is! (The curtains, pad cushion and day seat can be custom made for you - order through the Covet website.)

This little corner, complete with a Covet day seat for reading is headed by an incredible piece by Maurice Carlin, which is from his Temporary Custodian project. This piece is a fragment of a much, much larger artwork which has been divided up and distributed (temporarily) to individuals and collectors all over the country, and explores ideas of lending and the value of art.

 -details from Maurice Carlin's piece.

The piece above the fireplace was a moving in present (as I LOVE mermaids) and is by Alex Frazer.
The Mountain pompom was made by me for a photoshoot and I will do a tutorial some day soon, as the shapes, patterns and characters that you can make with them are endless, and I want you to be as obsessed with them as I am!

 -risographs and glitter boxes by me.

-detail of Austra tour poster

Our dining room has a few select pieces, again with a slightly tropical feel!

From L- R Silent Barn listings from 2013, poster by Steve Hockett and Daniel Pickles for their marshmallow based exhibition, DR ME poster, gig poster by Lucy Jones.


The print in our bathroom is by Rob Bailey from his exhibition in Common in Manchester, last year.

Their wobbly legs are so cute, and I made some vinyl splashes to enhance the watery theme of the room! I really love this idea of adding fun and decorative detail to plain walls, so I would like to do some more soon. I will add a tutorial up here too as it is so easy and they also don't damage the wall at all, so you can add a bit of fun to a wall even if you are renting.

Our house actually contains quite a lot of work by the Covet contributors. I guess that's why I asked them to be involved in the project from the beginning, as I knew how well some of it already went together! John and Aliyah's illustrations in particular are playful and colourful and we have quite a few of their pieces up, including "Natural Selection", John's first risographed piece.

- illustrations by John Powell-Jones.

We don't have loads up in the bedroom, but to carry on my plant obsession, above our bed we have a cactus print by Caroline Dowsett which I adore! And you can also see here the wiggly Matisse style plant cushion that was made for me as a Christmas present!

We have a way to go, but having a house with lively walls makes everything better. Nice artwork and plants. That's a step in the right direction!

What I find strange, is that blue and green are the colours that I used to be least drawn to in my work, and the whole house is full of them. Maybe I'm coming around!

Introductions...

Hi!

So I thought that it was time to give a little bit of background and context to Covet, to explain a bit more about what it is and why it is...

At the moment, Covet is just me... Mariel, although there are select pieces on the website that are made by other artists and designers, the site and brand is run by me.

Inspired by the wealth of creativity and productivity of the independent artists and makers around me, I wanted to create a place where people can look at and buy pieces for every aspect of their home - for comfort, beauty and unique styling. Being based at Islington Mill in Salford means that I am surrounded by people whose work I genuinely want to fill my home with, and more specifically, the way that their aesthetics all work together is very important to me. I asked illustrators Aliyah Hussain and John Powell-Jones, textile printer and upholsterer StudioUp, framer Manchester Framing Company, and concrete fixtures maker Constructions by CSH, if they would be involved from the launch, and luckily they all loved the idea! I felt like my home ware pieces and their art work and furniture would go so perfectly well together to style a home, that Covet seemed to come together quite organically.

As for me, I have a background in 3D textiles, prop making, still life styling and costume, and the need for hand made processes in my work is incredibly strong. Recently I have been drawn to a lot of Melbourne based makers and designers, and it has unleashed a use of colour within my practice that I thought had died long ago. Creating unique textiles for the home feels like a really great place to explore texture and colour together, as it gives personality and warmth to the space in your life that is the most personal to you.

For the first Covet collection, I have started from scratch with just white fabric, dying and hand painting all of my fabric, and hand making all of the trims. I really love very textural and intriguing pieces, and I also place a high importance in the skills of craft and the hand made. Because of this, it is my intention that Covet will always have this tactility and care within the pieces and the designers that are chosen for the site too.

So. Our manifesto.
The most important things about Covet, that make it what it is.

• Curating textile products, interior design and artwork together - Covet helps you style your home, not just furnish it.
• Concentrating on sumptuous texture and intriguing designs.
• Focusing on the value and importance of craft and the hand made.
• Supporting and promoting the work of inventive independent makers and designers. 

So now, go and visit our website, where you will find illustrations, hand made frames, bespoke cushions, figurines, hand knitted throws, concrete light fittings and copper framed seating all sitting alongside one another, complementing each other.

You can also follow us on instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

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We are currently looking for stockists, so if you would like to stock our products, please get in touch!