A hand-painted floral universe: Enter the Möllard artist duo's airy Stockholm home studio

For the past year, 33-year-old artist Madelen Möllard has been itching for more than paint and a canvas to express herself. “I’ve been thinking about how I can make my art more three-dimensional,” she says, as she shows me around her apartment situated on the top floor of one of Stockholm’s best addresses, Sköldungagatan – a street she shares with multiple embassies, buzzy boutique hotel Ett Hem and Vogue Scandinavia’s offices.

We move through the flat, passing a nook painted top-to-toe in burnt ochre, Madelen’s signature poppy paintings scattered around the room. “We’re thinking of making this into one of the girls’ bedrooms when they grow older,” she comments before leading me past hand-painted murals in the kitchen and up the stairs to her attic studio. Light, airy and bright, the space is filled with a pleasant smell of fresh paint and coffee brewing. Madelen’s pieces are scattered around a green velvet couch on the landing, ‘Poppy’ rugs in bright colours layered one atop the other and ‘Poppy’ vases holding a rainbow of tulips.

Born into a family of creatives, Madelen’s life has been laced with art and splashes of paint. “My grandfather was an art restorer and a skilled artist in his own right. I think he was pivotal in me becoming an artist,” she explains, noting how he would encourage Madelen and her brother Robert to spend time in his small garage-turned-atelier. “We were introduced to pen, paper and paint early on in life.” A trio she has “not been able to live without” ever since.

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We make ourselves comfortable in the atelier and Robert offers me a box of pale cookies covered with pink sugar. “Our mother made them,” he says. The artistic sibling duo share the space, and they both agree that the “number one priority when moving in was the coffee maker”. “It was the first thing we bought for the studio,” says Madelen. And then the cake tin, currently perched on top of the table between us.

While in the studio, the two rarely speak. “I would say it's quiet,” Madelen says. “Sometimes we play music.” Each sibling has an easel set up on different sides of the studio, nestled under skylights, with the large table and sofa separating them; spaces available for when the two are working on a project together. “Or for meetings, naps or wine evenings,” says Madelen. “We are used to each other's presence so it is very rare that one of us bothers the other.”

Robert is an artist in his own right and the two Möllard siblings frequently find themselves collaborating. When we meet, they’re preparing the layout of Madelen’s exhibition at the Stockholm Furniture Fair. “Our brains work similarly; we often have the same ideas about things. It is like working with an extension of yourself – a pair of additional hands,” says Madelen. “It can be difficult to divide the work because we both know the same things,” Robert adds. That said, what differentiates between Robert and Madelen is that Robert “experiments more with themes and concepts” whilst Madelen focuses on the painting itself and has developed a more “coherent style”. Plus, Robert is bad at keeping time, so Madeleine frequently has to wait, while “Madde is messy”, resulting in Robert having to keep the atelier tidy.

“It has always been a family affair,” Madelen says, explaining how Robert even introduced her to her partner, Julius Petersson. Her hope is that it will continue onto the next generation. “I love having the kids in the studio, and [my daughter] Lilly-Ann is always up here painting, although you have to keep an eye on her as it can get quite messy,” she says.

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Despite her creative upbringing, when it came time to apply to university Madelen took a more practical route. “I think there were these generations before us where you needed a ‘real job’,” she says. And so she pursued a career in graphic design, always “painting and illustrating on the side” whenever she had the time. “Four years ago, I got to the point where I was able to let that go and become a full-time artist,” she says. At the time, Madelen had recently given birth to her first daughter, Lilly-Ann. She attributes much of the courage to pursue her passion to becoming a mother. “I realised I had no reason to be afraid of putting myself out there,” she says, explaining how she began posting her work to Instagram. “[Giving birth] gave me perspective. I wanted to show my daughter that you should go after what you want.”

Throughout the last four years, Madelen’s brightly coloured work has spread worldwide. Not only has she been tapped by beloved poster stores, she has also collaborated with the likes of Zalando, Stockholms Bränneri and Designtorget. “I think my favourite was IKA, a French fashion brand,” she says. “I got to create scarves with them. It was the first time I worked beyond the canvas.”

The birth of her second daughter, Maj, coincided with a second significant shift in Madelen’s career: the launch of Studio Madelen Möllard. “I started thinking about what to do next and how to turn my art into objects,” she says. Mere months away from giving birth, during the summer of last year, she came across the solution. “I grew up in Karlshamn, Svängsta to be precise, and close by, it turns out there’s a fabric that produces Svenskt Tenn’s rugs,” Madelen explains. “The rest kind of fell into place,” she says, while we’re sinking our toes in a large plush terracotta-coloured rug in the shape of poppy flowers.

Madelen’s first stab at three dimensional design, the sumptuous shag that currently holds pride of place in the family’s living room, was completed in August 2023, around the same time the artist was decorating the new apartment for herself, Petersson and their two daughters. Since then, she has dabbled in vases, mirrors, and cups. Objects which have already earned accolades, with Madelen receiving the prestigious Best in Show award at 2024’s Formex fair. “It has just come so naturally to me, translating my art into these pieces,” says Madelen, pin-pointing her signature poppies as her main inspiration.

When painting, Madelen enjoys working within rigid restrictions. “I usually pick my palette before I sit down to paint, usually no more than three or four colours,” she says. “They have to look slightly odd together, and there is usually an ‘ugly’ colour in there. Something with a brown base: a mustard yellow or a muddy colour.” Beyond the careful selection of colours, Madelen dislikes planning her paintings. “If I sketch it out, I feel like I have already finished it,” she says. Instead, she goes straight in with paint, working with acrylics, a forgiving medium that allows the occasional mistake.

Clearly, the 1970s influenced Madelen not only in her work, but in her day-to-day life. When we meet, she’s wearing a striped shirt and brown corduroy trousers, her hair worn down in naturally textured waves. “I am weak for the impactful round shapes and the funky style of that time,” she says. She also finds inspiration in old French chateaus, churches, fresco paintings and heritage embroidery. “Monet and Andy Warhol”, she says, summarising what inspires her Pop Art poppies.

As for her fascination with flowers? “They have always held a special meaning to me,” she says. “When I found the poppy I kind of found who I was as an artist. I couldn’t stop painting them again and again.” Poppies may be headlining Madelen’s career, but flowers as a whole have followed her throughout life. “My mum grew up in a flower-rich home with lots of garden flowers and forest flowers. My grandfather always had such beautiful flower beds and there were always wild flower bouquets indoors,” says Madelen. “She decided to assign everyone in the family a seasonal birth-flower, you know, to dress up your birthday breakfast tray.” Born in July, Madelen received the red rose, Robert the crocus, and her two older sisters Sofia and Charlotta a yellow rose and a snowdrop respectively. “It is a tradition I want to continue with my own children, but since Maj was born in the autumn we’ve been struggling picking her flower,” Madelen laughs.

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As if on cue, Madelen’s youngest begins to wail. It is a firm reminder that the artist gave birth only four months ago. It must be full-on with a newborn and a furniture fair, one after the other? “I think I don’t mind it because I work with something I love,” says Madelen. “And I have a pretty flexible schedule. Like when I paint, I have her [Maj] on the floor in one of those baby swings bobbing up and down next to me.”

“Life is a bit of a puzzle,” she continues. “Sometimes I think I am an absolute idiot for trying to do everything all at once. But I think stopping has never been an option for me; it is just about pushing through. To keep going.” Madelen thrives in the chaos, finding energy in new challenges. And there’s always a new challenge beyond the poppy hill. “Next, I think I want to explore wallpaper...” she trails off. “I want to make my mark on a whole room, top to bottom and everything in between.”