Happy Holidays!

Christmas 2016!

It's this crazy time of year again, and  I would like to take a moment to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. I hope you have a jolly time with family, friends, or a relaxing break, or just some down time if that is the way you choose to spend the holidays.

I'd also like to say a very big thank you to everyone who has supported me throughout 2016. It's been an eventful one, with more to come in 2017.

Giveaway!
See the creation process of 'Let it Snow' on my Facebook page with instructions on how to win a place in the Creative Leap course, and a print from my Etsy shop.

Explore Colour Courses
I have now released two 2017 dates for my Explore Colour online courses. There is an Early Bird offer until 3 January for both the Creative Leap, and Still life Course. 

The online courses have limited places, so book early. They also make ideal gifts for the creative one in you life, or treat yourself and start 2017 on an energetic and creative note.

All the online courses now also include exclusive live demonstrations every weekend during the course via Facebook Live. 

I will be launching new prints and products in my ETSY store in the next month. If you are still looking for a last minute Christmas gift have a look here. These limited edition prints are shipped all over the world.

With kind regards

Este

November News

Starfish Greathearts Art Auction 

Every year I donate some paintings to fundraise for causes close to my heart. Starfish Greathearts is a wonderful charity working in Southern Africa with children affected by AIDS.

Oleander is a 30x30cm original painting on canvas. During the annual London wine tasting event on Thursday 3 November, this painting will be auctioned, bidding starts at £280. All proceeds will go towards the charity. If interested please contact Starfish directly. 

Explore Colour: The Still Life Course

After spending more time this year doing experimentations with painting techniques and mediums, I launched the new Explore Colour Still Life Course in September. This five week course was focussed on exploring different paint techniques, compositions, colour and new ideas to be applied to four still life painting projects and future art projects.

I really enjoyed seeing what the students created in response to the projects, tutorials and guidelines.

This course will be repeated in 2017 with dates announced in December.

November is going to be a busy month with Winter and Christmas exhibitions starting, as well as the Windsor Contemporary Art Fair from 12-13 November where I will be artist in residence. I will guide an interactive art project over the weekend. Art fair visitors are invited to create colourful mini mandalas on a large canvas by means of drawing, printing and painting.

New work will be available at several galleries, including The Biscuit Factory the UK's largest independent contemporary art, craft and design gallery.  Red Rag Gallery, Wills Art Warehouse  Byard Gallery, Gallery Top and Golden Hare Gallery will be showing new still life, landscape and floral paintings.

Christmas 2016 - looking for something special? Limited edition prints are available in my ETSY store. New greeting cards and notebooks will be added to the site in November. 

For daily updates, follow my Facebook page and Instagram account.

September news!

Summer Projects

It's been a busy summer and I've been working on a few projects. The new Explore Colour Still Life course that is about to start, new work for exhibitions and art fairs, and work licensed for products.

The Still Life Course

A brand new four week course starts on 5 September. This course explores alternative ways to create expressive paintings with an emphasis on developing individual styles and develop colour sense through different painting techniques. Even though the course's projects are still life focussed, projects can be applied to a variety of painting themes, illustrations and design styles.

In essence the course comprises of what would normally be a course of four weekend live workshops. Tutorial summaries can be downloaded in PDF, and there are videos to demonstrate processes and techniques. The course material will be available until 31 December 2016.

See link for a glimpse into one of the projects https://instagram.com/p/BJ27zshB46V/

Registration closes on 4 September and one place will be given away for the course on Saturday 3 September on a Periscope live session at 2 PM BST. #estemacleod

To enter the draw see this Instagram link https://instagram.com/p/BJUpHqEBY4o/

Please note: Due to a very busy schedule ahead until June 2017, no further dates are set for this course to run again at this time, register via www.explorecolour.com

New things

On the top of the page is an image of Summertime. This commissioned painting is one of my images that has been licensed by Amber Lotus for calendars to be published in 2018.

Creative Leap - Book!

After running two online Creative leap courses, I am now in the process of turning the course material into a publication. I am currently working on a book to be used as a creative guide with a month of projects designed to kickstart creativity! The online course can still be done as a self paced option.

Needlepoint Designs

Look closely at the image above, Sunny is in fact a needlepoint canvas. A small selection of my paintings will be available as hand painted needlepoint designs in the US and Canada later this month from Melissa Shirley. More on this in the next newsletter.

Art Fairs and Exhibitions 

It's been an amazing year with regards to sales of paintings, I am very grateful for the wonderful galleries that represent me, and for people collecting my work globally via those galleries, ETSY and my studio.

I'm represented by Wills Art Warehouse at three art fairs this month. New large paintings can be seen at the Bristol Affordable Art Fair from 9-11 September, Decorex in London 18-21 September, and the Cambridge Art Fair 29 September to 2 October.

I will have more information on Christmas exhibitions in the next newsletter. 

If you are in the Northern hemisphere, enjoy the last days of summer, if you are in the Southern hemisphere enjoy the first signs of Spring!

With colourful greetings

Este

PS. Find me on Instagram and Facebook for daily updates on new work and online demos.

Explore more!

A new online painting course this Autumn.

As a GOLDEN artist educator I enjoyed experimenting more with painting and layering techniques in order to developed a new painting course. The online course is extended to four weeks in order to fit in more content, it replaces the sell out Chaos to Calm course of 2015.

Why do I teach art in this way?

Online courses offer a very different way of learning, with time being the biggest advantage. I am able to fit much more content in an e-course than in a weekend long painting workshop. People can view the tutorials and do the projects in their own time within the four week long course. The option to revisit projects afterwards for another eight weeks is an added bonus, allowing more time to repeat projects or use techniques for different art projects. To aid with communication and feedback, there is a dedicated Facebook closed group, acting as a virtual classroom. Students from all over the world do the course, and this is yet another added element to the course. People can post work in the group page, ask questions, and see what their fellow students do in response to the different projects.

A live element is now added with two live periscope sessions being offered where I will also demonstrate techniques used in the projects. 

See below more information on the upcoming course.

Here's the link for materials

and the link for registration on Explore Colour (please use a laptop for registration)

Explore Colour: The Still Life Course.

This four week long art course consists of a collection of still life themed projects. There is a strong focus on using drawings created in alternative ways, for inspiration and combining them with a variety of painting techniques to create expressive paintings. Colour is also a vital component of this course, used within the theme of still life painting in order to push boundaries and explore creative possibilities.

How does the course work?

Over the four weeks, students will explored painting and creating techniques within the different projects linked to a still life theme. Developing of individual artistic styles are important, with colour exploring and a range of painting techniques explained in various demos. The limited selection of GOLDEN fluid paint, as found in the principal set of 10 colours, is used in all the projects. Este will demonstrate how she uses it in her own paintings to obtain ‘visual texture’, paint in layers, do printing and stamping techniques as well as drawing, collaging and mixed media projects. Video painting demonstrations are used to explain techniques and ideas.  

Alternative drawing projects are used to discover or develop creativity in new ways. 

New projects added to this course explore composition and colour moods, different painting styles and additional applications of layering and techniques including acrylic skins.

‘The Still Live Course” sticks to a general still life theme in order to keep the focus on developing painting techniques and the basics of colour theory to discover possibilities that will be useful for individual artists; practices, regardless of their style of subject matter.

Artists of all descriptions will benefit from this course, regardless of ability and experience. 

If you love colour, want to develop your range of abilities, from colour sense to painting techniques, this month long course might just be for you.

Practicalities

A class portal on www.explorecolour.com will be accessible with a password. Video demos and instructions will be posted from this page.

A Facebook closed group page will be available to act as a virtual classroom where work can be shared, for questions and general communication.

Basic Course Schedule
5 September:  Course starts with a first week dedicated to exploring alternative drawing exercises to create reference materials. Mark making with the different paint brushes and materials will be demonstrated.

12 September: Colour and Composition. Week two, The limited colour range of the principal FLUID set will be used to create a wide spectrum of colours. A new way of exploring different compositions is introduced in this course with added projects, using elements of collage.

17 September: Let’s paint! 

Project one: Painting and colour moods.  

Project two: Paint it your way, using techniques to develop your style.

25 September: Do more with paint!  

Project three: Printing  and scraffito techniques using acrylic gel and medium.

Project four: Layering and mixed media, new ideas to be more free.

Make your own magic!

Wow, we are already halfway through 2016! This is the last call for the Creative Leap course starting this weekend. Join in this month long course to recharge your creativity and find ways to make your own magic...

Creative Leap Online Course

If you can write, you can draw! 
The course is suitable for all kinds of artists and designers with any age or experience. I'm currently working on the creation of a Creative Leap publication, a workbook or creative guide of sorts, so this is the last time the course will be run with video demonstrations and a closed classroom group on Facebook.

So join in; escape some of the madness of this world and make your own magic! 

Register now and receive a £20 discount to spend on a brand new sketchbook or treat yourself to some art materials. 

Not sure if it is for you? Here's some feedback from members of the February group:

'I’ve loved every project in Creative Leap. You’ve encouraged us to observe, manipulate shapes, think about colour and texture and see endless possibilities in familiar objects. I now realise it’s good to experiment and make mistakes as negatives can so often become positives.'

- Wendy Phillips

'This course is wonderfully balanced and productive..... and exactly what I needed right now. I am especially grateful to you for reawakening my joy in drawing, plus so much else. Many ideas to pursue.'

-Anne Howard 

Course fee now £75 including the £20 discount.

More information and registration here.
A list of materials can be seen here

Art in Action

This wonderful event happens again from 14-17 July at Waterperry Gardens close to Oxford. Come along to this unique and vast art fair, a wonderful day out for anyone interested in art, craft and creativity in the wider sense. Over the four days I will be one of the artists in residence, demonstrating techniques and materials I use in my practice as painter. I am really looking forward to be part of this energetic, vibrant event.

Art in Action information

More information on new Explore Colour Courses

Explore Colour - The Still Life Course

In September 2015 Chaos to Calm was launched as an alternative still life painting course with a strong emphasis on colour and painting techniques. This online painting course is available again in a new format, altered slightly to offer more time for different projects, and more emphasis on developing individual styles. 
Explore Colour - The Still Life course will run from 5 to 26 September.

Cost for this course is £185 and an early bird discount of £25 off will apply until 9 July.

Registration is now open

Sign up for updates here

A-Z Explore more!

This brand new course has been designed for artists and designers who are interested in the creative possibilities of modern acrylic mediums and paints. There is so much to explore with Golden's Professional paints. The A-Z full set of 30 paints and mediums in generous sample sizes will be used to create a variety of creative combinations  and brand new techniques to explore and enhance  artistic expression. This course is happening early 2017 and more details will be available by September on www.explorecolour.com
You can register interest here, to be added to a dedicated mailing list.

A new online Workshop and art courses!

New work

Over the last five months I have been focussing my attention on the creation of a large body of work for still life paintings for spring and summer exhibitions.

New pieces can be seen on http://www.wills-art.com/artist/este+macleod

and https://gallerytop.co.uk/product-category/painting/este-macleod/

I am now happy to announce dates for an online workshop and Art courses coming up in the next few months. 

Art Career Paths

Cassie Boorn, the founder of Modern Thrive invited me to present a live online workshop Career Paths for Artists. This three day long workshop will take place for an hour every day from 21 to 23 June.

If you are a painter, designer, illustrator, maker or another kind of artist, this course might appeal to you.  The workshop is about new and exciting directions you like to do more with your creative abilities, explore new possibilities and options to achieve a fulfilling and lucrative artistically inspired career? 

Book is open until 20 June, receive a $20 discount. Coupon code: EsteVIP

More information on 

http://modernthrive.com/workshops/workshop-46/

Creative leap

This popular month long course that was introduced in February will run again this July. 
Creative leap consists of 26 mini projects to get your creative juices flowing.
Register here: 

Please note, a £20 discount will apply to anyone signing up for the 'Career Paths for Artists' workshop in June.

Explore colour - The Still life Course

In September 2015 Chaos to Calm was launched. An alternative still life painting course with an emphasis on colour and painting techniques. This course is available again in a new format, altered slightly to offer more time for the different projects.

This course will run from 5 to 26 September, registration is now open.

This course cost £185 and an early bird discount of £25 off will apply until 9 July.
Register here:
Sign up for updates here:

A-Z Explore more!

This brand new course has been designed for artists and designers who are interested in the creative possibilities of modern acrylic mediums and paints. There is so much to explore with Golden's Professional paints. The A-Z full set of 30 paints and mediums in generous sample sizes will be used to create a variety of creative combinations  and brand new techniques to explore and enhance  artistic expression. This course is happening in October and more details will be available soon on www.Explorecolour.com
You can register interest here, and information will be sent to you in August.

Sent from my iPhone

Open studios and art auction

Henley Arts Trail

I take part in one Open studio event every year, as part of the Henley Arts Trail, which takes place over three days during the first bank holiday weekend in May. It is the one time per year where my studio doors are open to the public, there is always a selection of new paintings, work in progress, as well as prints and cards. Visitors are welcome to browse and buy or discuss commissions or specific requirements.

This year is proving to be a bit tricky, our house is undergoing a major building renovation. My studio at the back is not accessible because of the current building work. The plan was to have it watertight and suitable for an open studio with a difference. It was going to be housed in a space with a slightly industrial feel, consisting of the newly built shell.
As it turns out, Open studio 2016 will be in an industrial setting, but with the house built a bit behind schedule, one of the two remaining rooms in the house will be turned into a space to house new work. So, with the house being a building site, I am using one room that will be filled with fresh new colourful work.

So,  I would like to welcome visitors from Berkshire and beyond over the coming weekend,between 11am and 6pm and apologise in advance. Open studios 2017 should be back to normal.

Retro mug 40x50cm (16x20) acrylic in canvas. Available.

Pink room 40x50cm 16x20" acrylic on canvas.

Summer storm 70c70cm (30x30") acrylic on linen. Available.

Sight is priceless

Along with my open studio event, I am once again auctioning an original painting for a wonderful sight restoring. £2 buys a virtual raffle ticket via Justgiving No limit on individual raffle tickets bought. 100% of the proceeds go to Sightsavers. The winner of the painting will be drawn once the target amount has been reached. The raffle is open worldwide and the painting will be shipped at no cost to the winner regardless of location.

Bright morning 12x12" (30x30cm) acrylic on canvas. 

A busy start to 2016.

This year has had a busy start. 

Creative Leap: 

A new online month long course started on 1 February. 

An alternative mini projects based program linked to the alphabet where letters are used as the inspiration for a wide range of subjects. Creative leap developed from mini projects and exercises I've used in different workshops to stimulate creativity. The course is mainly drawing focussed and the daily mini projects and It is suitable for all levels of art experience and disciplines.

Have a look at these time lapse videos to get an idea of the process. 

I really enjoyed putting this course itogether and seeing the creativity flow from reaction to the prompts was a thrill.

Based on the positive responses I will be offering another course in June.

Art Fairs:

A large body of work, mainly still life and floral paintings were created for the Affordable art fairs In February and March I was represented by Will's Art.at AAF Brussels and AAF Battersea. 

Artist of the year contest:

In February Summer's Eve was exhibited at the  Mall galleries along with 49 other paintings shortlisted for the Artist and Illustrator magazine's artist of the year contest. I was awarded the Great Art prize of £500's worth of art materials, what a treat!

Upcoming events:

On 23-24 April I will be artist in residence at the Reading Contemporary art fair an interactive art project linked to Queen Elizabeth's 90th birthday, consisting of 90 individual star shapes will be created by visitors. 

Open Studios:

In April it is time for the Henley arts trail again. This annual open studio event is the only one I participate in, and it offers a rare chance to see work in progress as well as buy directly from the studio or discuss commissioning pieces. 30 April to 2 May.

Periscope a social media platform that I enjoy doing live demos or painting sessions on. If you would like to receive notification of these broadcasts, download the app, my tag is #estemacleod

Follow my Facebook art page and Instagram for regular updates, news on events and giveaways.

2015 - The year thats been

"You can't use up creativity, the more you use, the more you have" - Oscar Wilde

This inspiring quote proved true in this amazing year that has just been. At the end of 2015 I have to say that it has been one of the most incredible years, jam packed with opportunities and I am grateful for the wonderful new creative experiences that came my way.

My New Year's resolution on 1 January 2015 was to STAY OPEN. Open to new ideas and opportunities and developments. I knew it was going to be a busy, special year with new challenges, to include a New York licensing fair and giving a presentation at an art conference as well as a whole new direction for my practice: online teaching.

After much thinking, and with the encouragement of my fellow artists and designers, in February I finally decided to offer an online art course. I developed a still life course, and over the next 7 months I worked on, and reworked and recorded video tutorials for the first  Explore Colour course. The courses sold out within days and I will be offering more options in 2016.

The Affordable Art Fair in Battersea is where I have an exhibition every March, represented by Will's Art Warehouse. The gallery also represented me at the Hong Kong AAF and Hampstead Heath AAF later in 2015.

In April I was artist in residence at the Reading Contemporary Art Fair where I guided visitors in the creation of an interactive painting.

Open studios: I have only one event per year when my studio at home is open for three days to visitors. During the first long weekend of May I take part in the Henley Arts Trail. New paintings, work in progress, and items such as my glass casts are available directly from my studio.

In May I also travelled to New York for SURTEX, the licensing fair. It was a new experience to me, and new directions  and licensing outcomes will be realised in 2016.

Work further afield: Adairs, a department store in Australia licensed three of my images and these are now available as  limited edition prints in their stores.

There are two new UK galleries now representing me as well, information on exhibitions with them to follow in the coming months.

Last summer I was a demonstrating artist at Art in Action, a wonderful four day long creative event promoting all kinds of art disciplines. I demonstrated alternative acrylic painting techniques and visitors were involved in creating interactive paintings. A very energetic and enjoyable event and I loved being part of it. I will be demonstrating again in 2016.

Once again I did a community project involving children and adults for BIG DRAW 2016, the theme was Every drawing tells a story. I used letters as inspiration for a large greeting card drawing project called #lettergardens. Around 1000 people participated in this project, including local schools, visitors to the Windsor Contemporary Art Fair, and art clubs and schools in America and Argentina. Wonderful and original artworks were created using the same template, see blogpost below.

The highlight of this year for me has to be the GOLDEN Gathering, a conference for GOLDEN artists-educators in Fort Lauderdale in early December. As an Artist Educator for this outstanding professional artists' material, I did a presentation about interactive art projects. There were over eighty artists from around the world, a fantastic and unique event and I learned much from it as well.After the conference we attended Art Miami and Art Basel over four days. I exhibited in the Square Foot exhibition with Projects Gallery. Thisvisual overdose was followed by a trip I took down the Florida Keys ending in Key West. I have an inkling that my impromptu visit to the Audubon Museum will result in an interesting body of work based on his inspiring copper engravings of American birds.

As the new year is just starting out, I am looking forward to another busy and eventful year. The last surprise of 2015 was the nomination of my painting Summer's Eve for  Artists and Illustrator's: Artist of the Year contest. It made the shortlist of 50, and here is the link for voting online. http://www.artistsandillustrators.co.uk/MacLeod2015

The paintings will be exhibited at The Mall Galleries in London in February when the winner will be announced. I say this is a surprise, as I have no idea who nominated me and only learnt of the contest when I was told I had made it to the shortlist.

I supported two charities with three small paintings being auctioned and raffled this year, and thanks to the support from many they raised over £1000 for Starfish Greathearts and Sightsavers.

Kicking off 2016 I created another #drawwithletters painting. 

A timelapse video of the creating process HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The end result is Tom cat. This 30x30cm acrylic on canvas painting is now available with all proceeds going to an animal charity in Cape Town South Africa. (Offers over £200)

Some news about to happen in the next few months: In February my work will be exhibited at the Brussels Affordable Art Fair through Will's Art Warehouse. I've worked on a brand new month long e-course Creative Leap, this will start in February. More exhibition dates will be announced in January.

I look forward to see what 2016 will bring and I wish everyone a colourful and happy new year.

Warm regards,
Este