Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] My name is Claire Coles and I'm a wallpaper artist based in Norwich in Norfolk. And I make custom made wallpaper murals combining different processes from paint, embroidery and collage. And my work is mainly made to commission with interior designers, but it's all very botanical and floral.
[00:00:25] When I started out making my artworks, I was very much inspired by a collection of vintage wallpapers that I sourced. So when I'm building up my floral works, I kind of use these as a starting reference. I love combining different layers of textures and materials. And so I have hand cut vintage wallpapers. I use acrylic paints and then also adding in faux leathers and suedes which I hand cut.
[00:00:52] I've always loved making.
[00:00:54] I think I always gravitated towards like drawing. I thought I was going to be a fashion designer. So I used to have this collection of like models I draw with like fashion clothes. So I mean that was at an age of about like eight or nine. So yeah, you'd always find me like making and drawing. I think when as I got older, I wasn't sure whether it was going to actually be a career, but I did an art foundation and just couldn't then imagine not creating as my kind of practice.
[00:01:22] So I went to university and studied a degree in applied arts. And that was a great course because it allowed me to work with lots of different materials. And I think that materiality in my work now is kind of because I studied in a course where it was free to combine ceramics with metal or wood or.
[00:01:42] Or painting. So yeah, that's kind of where I started.
[00:01:47] And then I was lucky leaving my degree. I had some commissions off the back of my degree show and then I was like, okay, well people actually want to buy my work, so. And it's just kind of, yeah, continued from there, really.
[00:01:58] I'm always sort of referencing the natural world, but also how decoration has been used in our homes historically.
[00:02:08] I'm inspired by places I visit, like the piece behind me. I recently had a trip to Paris and I visited some amazing like, museums and I wanted to create something from that trip. Like I came away with all the colors I saw and the artworks.
[00:02:25] And so it's very much. Yeah, my collections are very evolved with like places I've been to and yeah, those experiences. But I'm not very good at geometric things. Like when I'm making my work, it is very kind of floral, gestural and yeah, that's kind of, yeah, the way I work. Basically when I got back from this Paris trip, I had to come, like, straight into the studio to make this wallpaper idea I'd had just from being in the train station and seeing all the kind of colors of the macaroon stand, I was like, I know I've got that M color in the studio. I know I've got some rose gold. So it was fresh in my mind and wanted to take that energy to then create straight away. I was fortunate enough in 2023 that I exhibited in the Making Spaces area, which gave me a chance to show my work to the interior market without having to take my own sort of stand. So it was really good for me to assess whether it was going to be the right show for my work. And that was really great because I could demonstrate my practice as well, so the clients and the audience could really get an understanding of how I made my work. And then I returned again in 2024 to making spaces. One year on, I had slightly larger area and could show larger pieces of work, and it was great just to reconnect with people who'd seen me the year before.
[00:03:44] And then in 2025, I decided to take a stand with two other makers who were both part of the Making Spaces program as well. And we shared a stand in the main hall. And, yeah, it was just really lovely to be there and having that kind of progression from starting. From starting there in 2023-25, and then now back for 2026 exhibiting at Decorex. For the last three years, I've had a really nice little friendship and relationship with Carly and Sam who run the show.
[00:04:17] And they came up to me last year, 2025, when I was exhibiting and said, would I be interested in working with them to do some. Some branding for the show? And I jumped at the chance because it's a really good platform to get other, you know, people to see my work, you know, on. On their website and on their branding. But also it was just really nice to do a collaboration with a show that I've got a lot of respect for. And I know that I wanted to return to exhibit with. Yeah, with them, basically, when coming up with the design, from seeing how they've used visuals over the last couple of years. When I've been at the show, I was like. I kind of was like, okay, they're going to need to use it on these banners. They're going to have to work it here. So that was in my mind before I started really coming up with a design. I knew it was going to be floral. I wanted something that really represented me that People could recognize. Okay, that's a Claire Coles piece.
[00:05:13] So with. With those things in mind, I. I started painting some ideas, and I wanted to create some florals that looked kind of romantic and feminine, but had a, like, a contemporary sort of feel to it as well. I also wanted a design that I knew that they could maybe manipulate and move around and combining different, like, colors. Yeah, my palette is always quite colorful, and so I wanted to use quite some quite nice, rich tones, but also with some freshness. So the design was, yeah, just meant to be a really kind of gentle, floral, whimsical design that could. Would grow across, you know, their website and on their branding and have a real kind of sense of movement and energy in it. So I'm hoping when visitors see my branding, they're like, oh, you know, how is that pattern made? I don't know if it feels whimsical, feels like it's got energy and just. Yeah, just brings a lot of kind of, like, kind of warmth and. What's the word? Romanticism. The main things I sort of have taken away from exhibiting at decorex, I think, creatively, I think, in a way, I've got more confidence in my own work. I feel when I've shown that just having.
[00:06:27] Making connections with people and then the way they respond to my work, I've gone like, okay, they really understand that piece. They really love that piece. That's the collection I want to maybe push more, or if I've had one piece that maybe was on the stand that people didn't really get and need to explain it or present it in a different way. So it's really helped sort of guide where I see my work going, but also given me strength to realize people do really love the handmade nature of my work, and I don't need to think about, I don't know, manufacturing it in a different way. I want to keep it in house. I want to keep it being made by me. And I think, yeah, just there's this one lady I've been talking to recently who met me at the show, and she said it was her favorite thing she saw at the show. And, yeah, we're going to be working together on a piece for her home. And they're the things that someone's connected with my work, and that wouldn't have happened if it was just someone seeing it online. It's someone physically tactile coming to the stand and, like, touching the work and feeling it. So I feel that connection with people is sort of invaluable.
[00:07:34] The level of brands and artisans that are exhibiting there.
[00:07:39] There's a lot of people showcasing brand new work.
[00:07:43] I'm hoping that people are going to come onto my stand and see, maybe see my work for the first time and be like, oh my God, I didn't even know I needed this for my next interior job. And I think that it's a great platform for a lot of and original designs that are being shown and a great inspiration for interior designers and their projects.
[00:08:02] I'm hoping when clients go around Decor X and see the visuals I've created, they're going to be intrigued and inspired to try and find like, who is this artist? You know, what does it look like, you know, on a whole wall? Because you've just got these small kind of florals that are just growing, you know, across the visuals. And yeah, I hope that they'll be like, that looks really intriguing, really romantic, you know, who's made it and they'll come onto my stand and hopefully be blown away. I find as I'm an artist, I work on my own. I love working in collaboration not only with interior designers and meeting those at Decorex, but actually having conversations with other makers and other brands about maybe how they commission or what projects are they doing. Or it could be just be like what colors are in like in trend at the moment. So it's not just about having those one to one interior design conversations. It is also about that community that Decorex brings together.
[00:09:00] So when I've had the opportunity at Decorex to get off my stand and have a look around, I'm always really drawn to things that are handmade or maybe maybe some humor in the pieces. Like I'm just drawn to things that are just a bit kind of quirky. So I love looking at color inspiration. So it might be seeing some really beautiful braided chairs and maybe what colors they've used or looking at stands where they've used materials in a different way. But I'm always sort of seeking out maybe the smaller brands. So looking, going to the making spaces area first.
[00:09:33] But yeah, just having something tacked like that's the thing about Decorex. You can most of the time touch and feel things which you get a sense of the materials. And I think it's really important to get the clients to see my work in person because it's so, it's so layered and tactile.
[00:09:49] You're not going to get that just seeing it on an online image. I think actually getting onto my stand, seeing the layers of texture, seeing how I've embroidered things. Seeing as how it's painted, I'm hoping I might do a bit of live painting on the stand as well. So I think that getting that experience is really important with my work because everything's sort of custom made. I feel it's really important that I create a piece of work that, like, takes you to another place or you get a sense of how it's going to be used in a room.
[00:10:22] My work can be.
[00:10:24] I can have them as framed panels, they can be put into wardrobe doors, it can be as a mural. So I'm really hoping on my stand, I want to kind of really tell that story to the interior designer as this. It doesn't have to be. You wallpaper a whole room with my work.
[00:10:39] My work is kind of wallpaper art. And I really want to get that idea over on my stand.
[00:10:44] When I was at college, I studied applied arts and it was very much like that was the name of the course. And we didn't really use the word craft, but there's, you know, there's nothing wrong with that word. And, you know, luxury, handmade, crafted things, you know, are some of the best things you can have in your home.
[00:11:03] And I think people are getting their head around it. So there's a whole spectrum of craft. There's this craft from, you know, someone at home as a hobby, loving to knit, and then there's someone that has spent their life, I don't know, working how to. How to carve furniture and is, you know, making things that, you know, exhibit a pad or, you know, amazing art shows. So there's just. There's a. There's a whole spectrum.
[00:11:28] But I think what you'll see at Decorex is artisans that are very good at what they're making. They've studied a course, whether that's at a university or an apprenticeship, and they are skilled at making.
[00:11:43] When I was approached to do the collab with Decorx, I mean, I was really blown away that they approached me and thought that my work was of a level to be representing the brand. And that's. Yeah. I mean, to tell myself. Yeah, myself that you are going to be, you know, the forefront of the show in 2026.
[00:12:07] Yeah. I mean, I wouldn't believe it, really. And. And I think a lot of the time when I was. When I was making, when I was younger, I never really thought. I thought my art was just going to be a hobby. I didn't really think, you know, people were going to be commissioning me and wanting. Wanting it in their homes and that's the best joy of making is when I just finished a commission last week, and the clients were just, we're over the moon with the finished piece and were excited about sharing it with their friends and family. The space that we'd created, and that's the best thing. So, yeah, I would tell my younger self that, just have more confidence in yourself and you can be an artist. It is a great career.
