Her creations are inspired by the art of living a colourful life: meet Maca, our new DeSerres ambassador! Originally from Venezuela, Maca moved to Montreal in 2010 with her husband and cat. Inspired by the city's vibrant energy and art scene, the designer decided to start her own DIY brand/company here, known as Hey Maca. “I’m a maker. I love to make beautiful things: sticky note pads, art prints, a mug to drink my coffee, an agenda.
WELCOME TO HER STUDIO
Even though she describes herself as a rather well-organised person, Maca says her studio is a “beautiful mess”. Having moved into it four years ago, it has become her creative sanctuary, a place where she can fully unleash her imagination. However, in this “joyful mess”, as she calls it, there is still a golden rule:
“Every Friday, I clean up the mess so that I come back to a freshly organized space on Monday. It’s a kind of natural reset”
WHAT CREATIVITY MEANS TO MACA
For Maca, creativity is a series of actions: from finding ideas to choosing materials to understanding new practices. She believes that creativity means not being afraid to fail. Failure is part of the process and helps you grow, as her relationship with pottery shows: “It’s a very satisfying art that I’ve managed to master … but I failed so many times! According to Maca, creativity requires perseverance, it invites us to go beyond our limits and allows us to get out of our comfort zone.
“Even failures are beautiful, they reveal our inner, most authentic art.”
THE ROLE ART PLAYS IN MACA'S LIFE
When speaking to the role that art has played in her life, Maca looks back on her childhood school memories: she already preferred creativity to theory. She remembers the excitement of turning everyday items into something even more beautiful: recycling pencils and creating with paper were some of her favourite projects. Her relationship with art began in this way, with an ever-growing desire to create little things that bring joy. The key to creative happiness, she says? Colour! Through her pastel creations, she has only one objective: to encourage people to bring colour into their lives, and above all, not be afraid of it.
“Pastel shades are 100% me: for their softness, their passion, the magic that these colours give off.”
MACA'S INSPIRATIONS
Maca is a very visual person. To stimulate her creativity, she feeds on photographs, videos, but also on readings: The Secret Life of Colours by Kassia St Clair or Dream First, Details Later by Ellen Bennett, to name but a few. Magazines too: Domino, Frankie, Dinette. Maca is also very attentive to packaging details, which she feels should be both cute and well designed, right down to the smallest detail: “I like small, well-designed things, every detail counts.” Not to mention music, which is an integral part of her creative process: “I can’t function without music!” In fact, she’d love to share one of her carefully compiled playlists with you: listen here.
IF MACA HAD TO DESCRIBE THE PERFECT OBJECT, IT WOULD BE...
“Beautiful, colourful, refined, well designed, well structured. Not just functional. Meaningful.” These are the words used to describe Maca’s dream/favourite creations. She believes that functionality and artistry must be one and the same for a product to be perfect. Maca also values eco-friendly techniques and the use of upcycled items: “Using recycled materials to design things is a great way to give objects a second life … for more conscious creativity!”
