We recently connected with Shaun Marshall & Carl McGowan and have shared our conversation below.

Shaun & Carl, appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

Carl – Shaun and I both came from very similar backgrounds and even share similar childhood stories. We were raised in small rural towns in Texas by struggling single mothers and attended public schools where our creative talents and artistry made us both stand out, but also occasionally feel left out.

The pulse of many smaller communities in Texas are often so connected primarily to football, cheerleading and band as a sort of joint function most of the students choose to participate in, in some way. We never felt comfortable or interested in those groups. Following our own interests became a sort of rebellion against what was typically expected and that meant exploring artforms rather than sports. Exploring our connection to nature and beauty through painting, sculpting, crafting and theatre arts taught us a lot about art as well as ourselves.

Shaun – The things that made us unique were also the things that helped us stand out as different in school. A byproduct of those early struggles is that it pushed us into eventually building our own way to creative fulfillment and financial stability by sharing our art and design and working for ourselves. Thankfully, the desire for freedom from the “average” or what is “normal” has never died out in either of us.

Carl – Yes, we’re much more interested in helping others express themselves because that’s where we have found happiness and know that that is often the case with others as well.

Shaun – We have come to see our ability to live beyond or outside the norm all these years as an incredible strength and it was a path that from an early age was always guiding us to be artists. It’s really difficult for either of us to imagine being happy doing anything less.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Shaun – Originally I was a model and a graphic designer for a prestigious design firm in Dallas.

Carl – I was an actor, model and set and costume designer at several studios in Dallas and also in Branson, Missouri.

Shaun – When Carl and I met, I was already working successfully for myself and Carl was working as a Visual Merchandising Designer and painting scenery as a freelance artist part time.

Carl – The connection between us and our work happened practically overnight. in a few short months we were working together full time.

Our joint love of art, architecture, historical beauty, timeless classical design and nature itself constantly informs our work, perspectives and designs while attending to any period or look our clients desire. From the most modern, to the most traditional looks, we believe our greatest asset as artists is to bring our own skill, creativity, knowledge and experience to the client along with a sincere desire to understand what it is the client dreams of without overshadowing them.

Shaun – We understand our own ideas are often better received and accepted when our client feels truly seen and heard. We know very well that a client’s home is frequently one of the greatest expressions of themselves and their family that many will ever have the chance to create. There is an intense psychological connection between many clients and their homes. We seek to protect that connection and create sanctuaries that meet and ultimately surpass what the client originally imagined.

Carl – Doing our best to help navigate clients towards designs of the client’s vision that they will not only love, but classic designs that will stand the tests of time beyond what is momentarily trendy or popular is very important to what we hope to accomplish with “Shaun Christopher Designs.” A home’s interiors should be capable of growing and evolving with its family and not feel quickly dated or dull shortly after its rooms are finished like many more trendy designs often do. It’s so much better to have beautiful spaces that have the ability to grow and evolve with you rather than rooms you quickly grow out of.

Shaun – Our work for homeowners and designers ranges from something as small as a single refinished piece of furniture to as large as creating finishes in every room in a 20,000 square foot home. We create decorative finishes both new and historical, hand painted murals, fine art, large scale stenciling, chinoiserie, Venetian plasters, hand painted wallpapers and installation, sculpted wall scenes and textures, gilt metal leaf finishes and the restoration of existing murals and finishes. There are truly more types of finishes we have created over our joint 66 years experience than even we can remember. We are eager and happy for that next unique design challenge.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Carl – I think what most people don’t get, or perhaps relate to well about creative people is mainly how we see things. The way I see the world is all about details. I don’t walk in nature, or into a room, or even watch a movie without seeing lots of the finer details. the shapes, the colors, the play of light, are all details that scream for my attention. Our ability to reimagine something we want to create from nature into a pattern on the wall, or a color combination, comes from being a witness to details we’ve seen and seen perhaps more keenly than a non-creative. I believe we are all creative in some way, whether you are a painter, sculptor, or something not traditionally labeled creative, like an accountant or a politician. It is all about the way we see things and how that information is repurposed in a new or useful way.

Shaun – We often see ourselves as problem solvers as much as artists, because so many projects are a series of several large and lots of small problems for which we have to find creative solutions.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Shaun – Something I had to learn early on, is how to listen to the client more carefully, listening not only to what they say, but also what goes unsaid. It is an intuition that grows with experience. We see this frequently with other vendors or even with younger designers, where the client is new to working with artists or designers and having a difficult time expressing clearly what it is that they want. We can show them samples, sketches and even look at photos with them of rooms they already love, but many clients can’t imagine clearly what standing in that room in real life might be like. How will the sunlight make it change as it shines through the windows. What will having a party or conversation with many people be like; will it be like I imagined or even better when it’s all put together. Most importantly, “how will I feel in this room day after day?” We have seen designers push to convince clients to accept choices that they really weren’t sold on because the designer liked it best, but then the client was disappointed and wanted to make several changes afterwards. It wasn’t a true expression of them, it was an expression of their designer instead. So, as should be obvious to anyone in the business of satisfying a clientele, we do our very best to really hear and get to the heart of what our client wants, even if they may not be very good at telling us.

Carl – We have actually had moments where we were able to learn more about what the client wanted for their home than their Interior Designer was able to hear, because we spent weeks in their home casually listening to them while we worked. The designer had only gotten a few meetings with them, and clients unfortunately aren’t always as forthcoming in meetings than they are in the comfort of their own home. We do our best to keep our communication with the client and their Interior Designer, when there is one, as clear as possible. It helps everything go more smoothly and everyone feel happy and satisfied with the final result.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.Shaun-Christopher.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/shaunchristopherdesigns?utm_medium=copy_link https://instagram.com/shaunchristopherdesigns?utm_medium=copy_link
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/ShaunChristopherDesigns/ https://m.facebook.com/ShaunChristopherDesigns/