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!

DO-IT-YOURSELF!

Soon on the blog we are going to start doing some D-I-Y posts, to give you some ideas of small things that you can do yourself to add small (or big!) personal touches to your bedroom, your studio, your whole house!

We will also be announcing some workshops too, including dying pattern techniques, pompom making and paper decoration making.

If you'd like to receive emails with details about these workshops before anyone else, then please sign up to our mailing list here.

Lulu Hankin - StudioUp

Our next maker that we want to tell you about is Lulu Hankin, designer and maker creating work under the name StudioUp. Lulu's work combines beautiful traditional textile manipulation, alongside more unconventional components such as copper piping. We wanted to know what is behind her contrasting use of materials.

  
What is the overriding theme or drive behind your work?
To combine these three aspects:
Geometric

Minimal
Texture

What draws you to work with interiors and furniture?
Being able to physically create something that when placed in a space can completely alter it.

What are you favourite materials to work with and why?
I’ve become really fond of copper pipe recently, the way it changes colour the more you handle it, aging quickly in front of you. The simplicity of only having a few types of fittings to work with which the dictate the shapes you can produce and design.

What materials or processes are you interested in exploring next?
I really want to start expanding into weaving & macramé so I can utilize more textures in my pieces. 

What is the best part of being immersed in a community of artists and makers?
Pushing me forward.

Who are some of your favourite artists and makers?
François Morellet is always at the top of my list, after seeing his reinstallations exhibit at the Centre Pompidou in 2011, I completely fell in love with his light instillations, geometric forms, the simplistic patterns and grids he creates and mainly the use of constraints & rules that he sets himself. Morellet’s work is probably the main influence for my own designs and work structure.
Also my pals over at London Cloth Company are a constant inspiration, they seem to be relentlessly creating & expanding, having spent some time with them last year I realized the magnitude of what they are doing & how important it is. They are basically rescuing & protecting textile history. Try and beat that!



You can see more of Lulu's work on our website.
StudioUp is based at Islington Mill in Salford.