John Powell-Jones

Illustrator John Powell-Jones has an obsession with texture, mark making and colour that makes his work very appealing to us here at Covet.
Using mono printing, screen printing, risograph printing, paint and clay, with many multiple layers, John's work is complex, playful, intricate and beautiful. 

"Wish you were here"

Your illustration has a focus on different print techniques. What is it about this process that appeals to you?

Traditional print gives an error margin the digital doesn’t, I like the fact the each process can inform the result of the image. 

Learning a new process and thinking how this can effect my process is something that really excites me. 

untitled piece

Is there a technique/process that you haven't worked with yet? If so, what is it, and why haven't you yet?

There’s a lot of processes that I haven’t done much of, I’ve only ever done a very small amount of etching, it’s something that I’d love to do more of.

John's latest exhibition "Abyss" in February at Islington Mill showed a lot of his characters which have moved into the 3D realm.

Your illustrations have also been mainly 2D, what made you start clay work?

The first piece was for an exhibition I was in alongside Barry Steadmund and Alex Humphreys, I wanted to try something I’d never done before. Seeing you’re work in a totally different dimension is really interesting, it makes you think about it differently, gives it a different life. 

What is the best part of being immersed in a community of artists and makers?

Collaboration and inspiration.

Who are some of your favourite artists and makers?

George Condo, Philip Guston, Gary Panter, Steve Hockett, Aliyah Hussain, Corita Kent, lots but they’re a continual source of inspiration. 

"Saint Mike"

You can see more of John's work on his website. Also, some of John's beautiful, one off figurines are available through the Covet website.

John is based at Islington Mill in Salford and his exhibition "Into The Abyss" opens tonight at 38b in London

MR

MR is a collaboration between Mariel (Osborn) and Rivca (Burns) spanning different mediums and formats. For Covet MR focuses on Modern Recycling, where the pair specialise in reclaiming materials or furniture and fixing them up in a beautiful way, or making something totally new from them.

Their first pieces for Covet have been the sofa seats and pallet shelves, which are custom made, to order, so you can have a bespoke up-cycled piece of furniture that fits perfectly into your house.
 

Looking forward to renovating some chest of drawers, and also some cane furniture (swoon!) the pair wanted to show us how easy it can be to make new and useful things for your home.

Here we are featuring their new project - a coat rack, and you can make one too!

To make this coat rack you will need:
2x pieces of fairly wide, flat wood. (We are using old bed slats!)
4x screws
doorknobs with screws (we have used 11)
4x rawlplugs
paint
a paintbrush
a drill
a screwdriver
a saw

 

1. Paint your pieces of wood whatever colour you want your coat rack to be. We just used some leftover white paint that was in the cupboard. You may need to do a few coats, and if you do, you'll need to let the paint dry in-between layers. We did 3 coats.

 2. Lay the pieces out how you want the coat rack to look.

3. Draw along both of the edges of the top piece, to mark on to the bottom piece.

4. When you take the top piece off, the bottom piece will look something like this. These marks are where you need to saw this piece of wood.

5. Once you have sawed that plank, you can glue your pieces together to make a flat cross. When we made ours, we added a short coloured piece on top afterwards as a decorative feature.

6. Now you need to mark out where you'd like your "hooks" to go.

7. You need to drill holes in these points...

8. Then poke the back screw bit in...

9. Then you can screw the fronts on...

10. Drill holes in the wall where you want the rack to go, and pop the rawlplugs in. Then screw the coat rack into place!

Now you can have a go at this yourself! We didn't measure anything out on ours as we didn't want it to be too symmetrical or perfect. We loved the idea of just whipping this together too, and it is a very fast project to do.

Though if you don't want to make this yourself, get in touch via email, and we can make a custom order for you. (Email us at hello.covetinteriors [@] gmail.com)

Aliyah Hussain

Continuing our (slightly drawn out!) series where you get to know our featured designers and makers a bit better!

This time is artist extraordinaire, Aliyah Hussain. An illustrator, painter, costume maker, flag maker and performance artist.  

What materials or processes are you interested in exploring next?

I’m really interested in working with wood. I’ve used it quite a lot in other projects but only really in one particular way and as more of a structural tool. But as I’m working with it, I’m discovering more and more properties to the material that I really like. Recently I’ve been starting to use it in a sculptural way, I got an awesome Japanese Ryoba saw for my birthday and it’s totally changed the way I work. Now I want more tools and bigger pieces of wood to work with.

What is the best part of being immersed in a community of artists and makers?

Sharing ideas, materials, processes, equipment and food.

Who are some of your favourite artists and makers?

My newest favourites are these guys -

Jonathan Baldock

Anne Harild

Tauba Auerback

Chyrum Lambert

What are you currently working on?

At the moment I’m in research mode, trying different things, experimenting with materials and figuring out ideas for a new body of work. It’s really nice to be working in the studio without the pressure of exhibitions or projects. Alongside this I’m working on a new range for Covet, which will be a series of hand embroidered pieces inspired by mathematical symbols and systems.

You can see more of Aliyah's work on her website, and also visit her pieces especially for Covet here.
Aliyah is based at Islington Mill in Salford.