Meet Coucou Manou
Nell Beale, known as Coucou Manou, graduated in 1994 from an HND Design course. She became a self-employed furniture maker, creating commissioned pieces for private clients, architects, and interior designers. In 2012, she launched her collection at the London Design Festival, blending traditional furniture-making skills with modern CNC technology.
Her work has been featured in publications like Elle Décoration and the Sunday Times, and her designs have been stocked in Heals and Futon Company. The Loop Cabinet was shortlisted for a Design Guild Mark. Now based near Aix-en-Provence, Nell's latest collection, Wonderland, showcases her return to handcrafting unique, decorative pieces, using Valchromat and hand-held carving tools.
About The Work
Drawing inspiration from her previous home near Bath that overlooked the wooded Limpley Stoke valley, Nell uses techniques not dissimilar to sgraffito and intaglio, normally used with clay, to carve and incise onto her favoured material Valchromat. She replaces the CNC router used in her previous collections with a hand held carving tool. Her hand drawn imaginary trees and plants are repeated over the panels to create a balanced, harmonious design which are then carved and painted. Valchromat, a composite material made primarily of waste wood comes in several colours, allowing Nell to play with almost limitless colour and design possibilities.
