Soon after Rachel Cope befriended New York lighting designer and artist Lindsey Adelman, the cofounder and creative director of Calico Wallpaper was struck by Adelman’s passion for fine art and nature. “She was painting watercolors of flowers, and I found them to be unique and beautiful,” recalls Cope.
The enchanting motifs aligned with the Calico aesthetic, and Cope sent Adelman a message with her idea to turn them into wallcoverings. The timing was fortuitous. Visiting Belle-Île, an island off the coast of Brittany, France, Adelman was surrounded by inspiring foliage that spawned Eden, her mural-style collection for Calico that launched in 2020.
The Eden wallpaper shown in Dahlia
Amid the rugged landscape, Adelman and a friend explored mediums outside their main practices. “It was only one week but seemed like such a radical and rebellious move to commit to work with different intentions,” she says. “We felt so connected to the land and went foraging for plant material each morning. I ended up painting what I found.”
Ultimately, Calico collaged those paintings into botanical portraits and then digitally printed the images, showcasing grounding, hand-applied metallic accents that lend the wallcoverings an organic sheen. Whether it’s a light sculpture like the handblown Branching Bubble chandelier that put her on the map or an experimental painting, “I tend to follow a craving or yearning and then begin to make shapes to understand what is drawing me in,” Adelman explains.
Earlier this year, Eden’s dreamy lineup of PVC-free, clay-coated papers expanded with seven rich new colorways. Much of the planning for the initial release, although hatched virtually during the pandemic, was seamless.
This time around, Cope and Adelman “were able to bring that rhythm back in person,” Cope says, deepening their relationship. “Lindsey taught me how to go with the flow and to trust my intuition,” while Cope, Adelman says, illuminated “the path of being true to oneself.”
This article originally appeared in HD’s October 2024 issue.
