IN CONVERSATION WITH CAMERON MACNEIL

Cameron MacNeil

 

I am inspired by Cameron's warm personality and approach to design that he makes look so effortless. His spaces are eclectic, warm, and totally liveable. His new website and his blog certainly makes his design aesthetic clear; Cameron embraces rustic, worn elements that bring so much personality and patina to a space. And he seems to take great pride in finding that perfect, affordable work of art, accessory or furniture piece that he plans to give new life with a new coat of paint, an unusual purpose, or an updated fabric. He uses his blog to share his excitement in not only his recent finds, but videos showcasing one of his newly designed spaces, inspiring links, locations or images, and personal anecdotes relating to the latest trends.  I clearly remember when he was first published in Canadian House & Home, a beautiful bachelor suite in blues and browns - Back then I thought 'that is exactly the space I would love to live in'.

 

Vignette by Cameron MacNeil

 

Cameron has been blogging since 2008, but his design career started much earlier. He knew he wanted a career in design from an early age, and after graduating from the Interior Design Program at Sheridan College, earned himself a position at Canadian House & Home Magazine in 2000 as an editorial assistant. He now focuses his time on freelance design work and his blog, but is still a design editor with CH&H, where you will see his name pop up amongst various features, including the monthly 'Ask a Designer' column.

 

I am ready to get Cameron's input on the design industry, and I am sure he has piqued the interest of my readers as well, so please read on to get in on the conversation…

 

Ivan Meade - What was your first experience by design?

 

Cameron MacNeil - I'm the youngest of five children by about 13 years, I have two sist ers and 2 brothers and they're a creative bunch including my parents. When I was four or five, I remember my sisters would always be making their own clothes, and my brothers would be painting model cars.  So I followed a lot of what they did. Like most designers I played with a lot of lego too! When I was eleven I decorated my own room. It had hunter green wall paper, and the wallpaper border (of course) had ducks - it was all the rage back then. I made the bedding and curtains myself, my sisters and mother had taught me how to sew.

 

Interior Design by Cameron MacNeil

 

Iván Meade - Do you consider being young in the business as advantage or a disadvantage ? Even when we know you have been in the business for a long time.

 

Cameron MacNeil - I've never seen it as being as a disadvantage. At first people may not take you seriously but when they start to year you talk, they realize I know what I'm talking about. ha!!  My clients are typically older than me, but lately I can tell i'm getting old when my clients are in their twenties and I'm not anymore!

 

Interior Design by Cameron MacNeil

 

Iván Meade – What is the most practical thing you own and what is the most rare?

 

Cameron MacNeil - My iPhone and a wool blanket that I permanently borrowed from my mother. It's gray with a blue stripe and it must be over forty years old.  It seems to work everywhere, on the back of a sofa or at the end of a bed, it looks great.

 

Interior Design by Cameron MacNeil

 

Iván Meade - What should every room have in it?

 

Cameron MacNeil - A place to sit (and if it's comfortable - even better), even if it's a little bench in a vestibule or a bench at the end of a bed.

 

Interior Design by Cameron MacNeil

 

Iván Meade - You have become a very familiar face thanks to Canadian House & Home - What has been the best lesson you have learned as editor of the magazine?

 

Cameron MacNeil - Great design never has to have a large price tag attached to it. Contrary to some design TV shows of the past, you also can't design a living room for under $1000.  One of the House & Home signature looks is a mix of styles, with high and low priced pieces that are new and vintage. A space with all brand new stuff can be soulless.

 

Interior Design by Cameron MacNeil

 

Iván Meade - What do you think Canadian homes are missing?

 

Cameron MacNeil - Humm, where do I start? I don't think their missing much, a lot of homes I go into have way too much stuff! 

 

I find a lot of possessions people have can hold them back on bringing out their true style. I was helping a client who's husband had purchased some expensive and ugly sofas before they were married. They felt they had to work with them because they were so expensive. I told them they might have been expensive but they were not worth spending money on entire room of furniture just to make them work. Luckily the next time I went buy they were sitting on the curb. Ha! If you have purchased something that doesn't work anymore, sell it on craigslist, take a loss and learn from your mistakes.

 

Interior Design by Cameron MacNeil

 

Iván Meade - As the editor of a very popular design magazine, you must have seen several interior design trends come in and out of fashion. Do you have any that you miss? Or, any that you are very glad have not returned?

 

Cameron MacNeil - I miss the popular bar code stripe of the the early 2000s. It sounds funny, but I don't think you really see much of that any more.  I saw that in a lot rooms and I loved the graphic quality and colour it added. It was usually on a pillow, or wall treatment. It's been about 10 years, perhaps I'll bring it back! 

 

Interior Design by Cameron MacNeil

 

Iván Meade – You seem to really enjoy blogging, which is part of what makes your blog so much fun to read. What is your favourite thing about blogging?

 

Cameron MacNeil - I do like to blog, but I find it can be really hard to come up with an interesting topic which is why I don't do it as much as I should.  A lot of bloggers will use a bunch of images from magazine articles or other blogs to fill a blog post but lately I tend to shy away from that on my own blog.  My favourite thing about blogging is receiving comments about a post.

 

Interior Design by Cameron MacNeil

 

Iván Meade – It’s great that you share some of your personal life with your bloggers as well, such as your own personal projects. What has that process been like?

 

Cameron MacNeil - As I mentioned receiving comments on the blog are nice to see and they are always quite positive. It's fun to see that someone from across the globe has been reading your blog.

 

Interior Design by Cameron MacNeil

 

Iván Meade - What is the best advice (design related or otherwise) that you have ever received?

 

Cameron MacNeil - As cliché as it sounds - to trust your instincts. I've learned to offer a client edited options of what I know will work in the space. I'm best when I tell them what I think, not what I think what they want to hear. Sounds obvious but it took me a few years to figure that out.  ha!!

 

Interior Deign by Cameron MacNeil

 

Iván Meade –  What is next for Cameron MacNeil?

 

We are most likely going to sell our house in September and move - not sure where but It's time to work on a new project for myself.

 

Interior Design by Cameron MacNeil

 

Iván Meade - Lastly, you have created a stunning body of work in a multitude of mediums – what would you like your legacy to be?

 

Cameron MacNeil - That sounds so serious! I'm not sure if I fully know what I'd like that to be just yet - in a few years I may be able to elaborate on that. For now, I'd like to be known as a designer who offers a contemporary style with an appreciation of classic elements and materials.

 

I invite you to visit Cameron MacNeil’s website and blog at:

 

 

Potography by Michael Graydon, Kim Jeffery & Angus Fergusson

MEADE DESIGN GROUP - THE BLOG. Copyright 2007-2011

CANADIAN HOUSE & HOME - Blogs

 

Canadian House & Home has named our blog [Meade Design Group -The Blog] in their Great Canadian Blogs Volume 2.  We were really excited to be selected by one of the most influential design magazines in Canada as one of the best interior design blogs in Canada.

 

Blogging has given us so many rewards as an Interior Design Firm in Victoria BC,  but it is so great to receive national exposure.

 

Click on the image to check out our mention:

 

 

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MEADE DESIGN GROUP - THE BLOG. Copyright 2007-2011

Interview with Richard Roblin

I have always seen Vancouver Island as a very unique place; an island that is surprisingly full of design talents. You can find internationally recognized architects, interior designers, graphic designers, artists, set designers, sculptors and so on. A place where the inspiration doesn't get insular but rather is creating a unique voice in its final approach. Because of this I have decided to call my colleagues and friends and interview them and then in this way I can share their secrets, their works, their favourite things to do, their inspiration and most importantly share who the design talents on our island are.

Artist, architect, sculptor, and overall naturalist Richard Roblin is one of the island's talents that I have the great opportunity to know. Who can resist an invitation to his place - a place that will be soon featured in Boulevard magazine? I have always had a fascination with artists' studios. When you see an artist's studio you can begin to comprehend the extent of their work and so when I received a lunch invitation to Richard's new house I could not refuse. After having a wonderful Bouillabaisse soup perfectly prepared by Eve (Richard's wife) we went to his studio and had a fascinating chat about his art, his work, and his inspirations. Here are excerpts from our conversations.

Richard Roblin
http://www.richardroblin.com/

Richard Roblin's Studio

Ivan - Can you give some background on yourself?

Richard - To start with, I’m not an architect, but I have always held architecture as one of the great arts. My choice when I was in my teens was to go to architecture school or develop myself as an artist. I decided to do both. Direct from the early days I started to paint and what I painted was primarily the structure of nature and how it translated into the structure of creation itself, the creation of buildings and the creation of environments. That’s always been my primary interest in life, discovering new ways of creating environments that instil contemplative and inspirational spaces with a passion for beauty.

I guess my passion for beauty was instilled through my love of nature. I was inspired by Frank Lloyd Wrights’ philosophy of integration which is primary to my point of view as well, that there is nothing separate from nature.

Roblin Residence 2008 - Duncan, BC

Ivan - What do you think dominates your art? The use of colour or the use of form?

Richard - Atmosphere. I don’t believe we are separate from the atmosphere we are in. The information, knowledge and inspirations that are there are compounded by being in a specific place and you are drawing the energy of the place. It’s the energy and response of a given place, it’s always shifting, it’s ephemeral.

Art in Context - Private Residence Montreal
http://www.richardroblin.com/

Ivan - Is your art influenced by architecture or your architecture influenced by art?

Richard - I think one informs the other.

House and Home Article
http://www.richardroblin.com/

Ivan - Because you are coming from an architectural background, do you think you have an advantage in the use of scale and proportion and also do use this knowledge in your art pieces?

Richard - I think the aspiration of every artist is to find equilibrium. In nature, everything is very well balanced.

Stephen Haller Fine Arts, New York

http://www.richardroblin.com/

Ivan - When you do commission work, how do you keep your integrity as an artist?

Richard - I think there is direct naturalness that goes into the process and a love for the activity. It’s always a unique event.

Awakening - Art in Context
www.richardroblin.com

Ivan - Lately you been translating your art to area rugs, why this media?

Richard - I love to design everything: tables, lamps, sculptures and textiles. I’m interested in creating things. The creative desire is always there.

Untitled
http://www.richardroblin.com/

Ivan - As an artist, who has influenced you form the artistic world?

Richard - Luis Barragán from Mexico. His use of colour, form, and the uniqueness of his designs.

Untitled
www.richardroblin.com

Ivan - Since I first met you over 2 years ago, your work has taken an interesting development and moved away from being very linear to being more organic...

Richard - I tend to work in series. Every form is worth trying, whether it’s organic or linear.

Rosentzeig Collection, Montreal
http://www.richardroblin.com/

Ivan - It is difficult to show your art to full effect when you are showing pictures on the website, how do you try and deal with this?

Richard - I try and present my work on their own, and often in context. I believe that the environment that the work of art is integrated into is part of the artifact because it’s not in a museum. Often when I am presenting my work over the internet I will present it as an idea or inspiration of how it would appear in a living environment - that we live with these artifacts. It’s an everyday experience.

Ivan - We were discussing how technology has influenced our lives, how has technology influenced your art pieces now?

Richard - Well I’m more and more using the computer as in instrument to help in the creative process. I can use the computer to integrate pieces and then alter them to create new inspirations.

It’s all process. There is not a beginning or an end, it’s a continuum. We are always playing in that continuum, in that dance. So I don’t see a beginning or an end, I see the dance. As a dancer I just dance. As a painter I just paint.

Ivan - Coming from Montreal and having travelled extensively, how has your transition to life on Vancouver Island been?

Richard - It’s been a beautiful experience actually. There are no accidents. I always thought one day I would be living here. There is no shortage of inspiration , it’s a great place to be.
So many of my primary inspirations have come from my beautiful wife. Also inspiration comes from mediation which I try to practice every day.

Ivan - Thank you Richard, it's been a pleasure learning about your art and sharing the afternoon with you in your home and studio.

MEADE DESIGN GROUP - THE BLOG. Copyright 2007-2011