Hi there
I have moved my blog to my Este MacLeod Website 

The next online painting course, Creative Leap will start on 1 February.
Registration on www.explorecolour.com

Spread some joy!

Gratitude

It's the last month of 2017! The world is in turmoil and at times a bit overwhelming. For me personally 2017 was a rather tricky one, with house renovation dramas and an eye illness, but it was also a very good and eventful year and I am feeling grateful for many good things that happened along the way.

I feel thankful for continued support from my family and friends, the galleries representing me in the UK and abroad, as well as people following my processes on social media and collecting my work. I love being an artist and creating paintings a bring me a lot joy!

A Special Project!

Raising funds for good causes.

The 1st December is World AIDS day. This disease affect many people worldwide, in South Africa still more than 7 million people live with AIDS. I was born and raised in South Africa and support a number of charities who do valuable work there.

Winter Morning, the painting in this post, is a special one: all proceeds from its sale will be shared between two charities working to better the lives of children in South Africa. Starfish is focussed on helping AIDS orphans and Kungweni is an organisation close to Pretoria that supports people with mental illness and runs a separate orphanage.

The painting is in acrylic on fine linen canvas. the size is 20"x24" (50x60cm) The gallery price for this size painting is £850. If you are interested in buying it, please contact me with offers above £650. The painting will go to he highest offer received by 18 December.

Please contact me at este@estemacleod.com if you are interested. You can see the creation process of the painting here on Instagram. I will be giving away one print of Winter Morning to a social media follower, see Instagram link for info.

There's more

As mentioned earlier, this year I had a serious eye illness. It made me realise again how dependent I am on my sight and how it can be taken for granted. As the third charity that I would like to support in December, 10% of all limited print sales in my ETSY store will be donated to Sightsavers this month. See the link for more information about the work they do.

A newsletter will go out on 12 December with information on enrolling for 2018 EXPLORE COLOUR online painting and creativity courses.

Colourful greetings!

Este

Black Friday!

For me? A still life painting in acrylic on linen canvas. 90x70cm.

New work

Hello!

This is just a quick post about the Black Friday special offer I will be running this weekend.
I sell limited edition Giclee and prints as well as some smaller original paintings and silk screen prints in my ETSY shop. There are new small and medium paintings available for global shipping if you are thinking about getting someone a special Christmas gift.

From 24 to 26 November everything in my store will be discounted by 24% for orders over £90.
Please use COUPON  BLACKFRIDAY24

In December I will release the dates for the next two Explore Colour Courses. After running Creative Leap three times as month long courses, I have now created a new course that will run next February.
More information in the next newsletter.

Exhibitions

Twenty four of my paintings are currently exhibited in a number of Christmas shows in the UK, information on these can be seen in my previous Blogpost. For information on shows and new work you can see daily updates on my INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK pages. I also occasionally do Live Demos on these platforms.

Enjoy the weekend!
Este

Pomegranates Acrylic on linen canvas 70x90cm

November News

Hello!

A lot is happening this busy month in the run up to Christmas. This weekend, from 9 to 11 November I will be the artist in residence at the Windsor Contemporary Art Fair that will take place on the grounds of the Windsor Race course. Over three days I will guide the creation of an interactive art project, inviting visitors contribute their marks to an artwork on a large canvas. The theme is Numbers. The canvas will be covered by numbers and shapes, created by visitors. Once covered with numbers, it will be turned into a colourful painting, using the many marks and shapes as guide for the creation of the final painting. I will be posting updates on the progress on  Instagram 

New paintings can be seen in exhibitions across the UK in the coming weeks. The first group exhibition I'm taking part in will open this Saturday at Gallery Top in Matlock, Derbyshire.

Towards the end of November, my work will be in a show at Iona House Gallery in Oxford and D'art Gallery in Dartmouth, Devon. In December paintings will also be exhibited at Byard Gallery in Cambridge.

Work can be seen at Red Rag Gallery in Bath and Stow in the Cotswolds, the Tiny Art Gallery in Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire, Golden Hare Gallery as well as Wills Art Warehouse in London where you normally can find an assortment of my still life and floral paintings.

Other News

Botanica This beautiful book is the creation of Janine Vangool and forms part of the Encyclopedia of Inspiration Range. I am honoured to be featured in this colourful publication along with forty five other inspiring artists. It is published by Uppercase

The television program DIY SOS is a BBC production about home improvement for special circumstances. Earlier this year I was contacted by the producers and asked if I would like to be involved in the current series called Veteran Street. Eight of my images were used as prints by the interior designers to brighten a property redesigned for an army veteran.

In this program, the presenter Nick Knowles quoted Ronald Reagan saying We cannot help everyone, but everyone can help someone. In that light, I'd like to thank you for the continuing support received for the causes I support.  Over the last month funds were raised to buy much needed mattresses for a stimulation centre for disabled children in Shoshanguve South Africa. Another organisation I support is Starfish Greathearts an AIDS charity. One of my paintings is currently being raffled for this very worthy cause on Justgiving 

A selection of my paintings are available as limited edition prints as well on ETSY for international shipping. Look out for original paintings as well, occasionally one or two are available in my ETSY shop. At the end of the month on 24 November a Black Friday sale will contain some special offers in my ETSY shop. I will send a newsletter out closer to the time.

Giveaway

Ever so often there are giveaways on my Instagram and Facebook page. Recently one of my prints, as well as two sets of greeting cards were up for grabs on social media. 

The winners are:

• Meredith Anne: one limited edition print of Alfie and Rufus
• Daniela Glassop and Nada Delore each with a set of four greeting cards.

Follow me on social media for daily updates, occasional live demo sessions and giveaways.

Colourful greetings,

Este MacLeod

Summer!

Hello!

The school holidays have just began in the UK. I do enjoy the longer summer days and in the last few weeks I have been inspired to create new floral and bird artworks as well as bold colourful still life paintings.

Some of these images are now available on products such as dresses, cushions and scarves on Redbubble. Orders are shipped worldwide, look out for Monday special discount offers.

ARTWORK GIVEAWAY!
For those who follow me on Instagram! I will be giving away a personalised watercolour artwork created from a name. This is to be given to someone nominated by a friend. The winner will be picked on Sunday 24 July. To enter the draw find the round painting post of 8 July for details.

Hummingbirds 50x50cm acrylic on linen canvas, available as original painting, limited edition print, and on a selection of printed products on Redbubble.

ETSY OFFER:
A selection of new paintings are also available as prints in my Etsy shop. As a special summer offer, everything in my Etsy shop is discounted by 20% until 26 July. Use the COUPON CODE 'SUMMERDAYS20'

In September, new ranges of my greeting cards and notebooks will be available in Etsy as well.

I am currently working on a new body of work for two Affordable Art Fair events coming up  in September and October.  Bristol Affordable Art Fair will take place from 8 to 10 September followed by the Stockholm Affordable Art Fair from 12 to 15 October.

Summer joy 100x100cm, acrylic on linen canvas. Available from Red Rag Gallery in Bath. Also available as limited edition print and on products on the Redbubble site. 

EXHIBITIONS
In addition to the two Affordable Art Fairs where I am represented by Wills Art Warehouse, I will be exhibiting paintings in gallery shows in London, Oxford, Dartmouth, Bath and Stow. More information to follow in August.

Apart from making paintings, I am currently working on completing a book based on my Creative Leap Art Course, as well as a brand new Explore Colour painting course, to be released early 2018.

With colourful greetings,
Este

Open Studios 2017

It's that time of year again. The Henley Arts Trail takes place this Bank Holiday weekend, we have just moved back to our home and I am opening my doors to the public over the next three days.

It's been a very busy time and I have been hard at work creating a selection of new still life, landscape and floral paintings in a variety of sizes.

Opening times: 10am-5pm Saturday 29 April until Monday 1 May. If you cannot make this time I will be open by appointment until 3 May. Contact me on via email.

New prints available on ETSY:
From 29 April to 1 May there will be a discount of 15% off everything in my ETSY store.

Giveaway
A bit of fun. I'm having a giveaway on my Facebook and Instagram pages. To win a print of 'Merry May' follow the Facebook link.

The will be exhibitions in London, Henley, Goring and Derbyshire in the next two months - more information on this coming up shortly.

Enjoy the weekend!
Este

February Fun

“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes and having fun”                        -  Mary Lou Cook

Here in England it is wintery and grey with a frosty February still on the doorstep, but this one is going to be a fun one. Why? It's a month filled with little creative projects to inspire and enthuse!
The course starts on 1 February and is the only Creative Leap course offered in 2017 before it will become a publication later in the year.

Interested? Here's some more information:

Welcome to Creative Leap. 

This alternative art course consists of twenty six mini projects and four bigger art projects designed to kickstart creativity and promote original thinking.

For the month of February, creative projects linked to a wide selection of themes connected to the letters of the alphabet will be shared on the Explore Colour course page daily. Familiar symbols and shapes are the links to promote out of the box thinking and enticing ideas to expand your creative practice.

Key elements in this course are observing and drawing. The course is designed to expand concepts of thinking and observing by means of bite size daily exercises.
Over the weekends Este will also be offering live demonstrations of the bigger art projects explaining different art techniques. These are linked to the precious week's mini projects and are an optional addition to the basic course.
The live demos will happen every Saturday during February for an hour, within a Facebook private group exclusively for Creative Leap participants.

This course is suitable for artists and designers of all levels and experience.
The course is created to promote individual development and experimentation, useful as a daily exercise or to be done in more depth over a longer periods.
PDF documents can be downloaded to do the projects at a later stage.
Creative Leap costs £95 and registration closes on 31 January.
Sign up: http://www.explorecolour.com/course-info
If you have any questions about the course please email me at creativeleap@estemacleod.com

Other February news:

Over the last few months I have been working on new paintings for exhibitions and events coming up. 

In February my work can be seen at the Brussels Affordable Art Fair from 17-20 February where I will be represented by Will's Art  I am also taking part in the Winter exhibition at Iona House Gallery 

Other galleries where my work can be seen at the moment include Red Rag Gallery, Golden Hare Gallery, Gallery Top and The Biscuit Factory.

Prints are regularly added to my Etsy page, and cushions are available from Wraptious. I am doing a year long creative challenge, posting daily drawings on Instagram along with new projects and paintings.

With colourful greetings

Este

Welcome to 2017!

Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering, 'It will be happier.'  - Alfred Lord Tennyson

Wishing everyone a Healthy and Happy 2017!

(Here's a video of the creating process made from the words 'Love, Peace and Joy')

The Year Ahead

2016 was a very productive year, and 2017 will probably be similar: apart from several gallery exhibitions and fairs in Europe and the UK where I will be represented by Wills Art Warehouse, I am having my annual Open Studio event over the last weekend of April (the Bank Holiday weekend in England). I am very excited about the hand painted needlepoint designs from a selection of my images that now available from Melissa Shirley.

Wraptious will shortly be releasing their new catalogue where six of my paintings will be available as cushions. There are a few more collaborations in the pipeline, including wrapping paper, textiles, kitchenware and a book publication... more on this later. 

Apart from bigger projects I will also be doing daily postings on my Instagram account of little drawing based on random facts, notable dates, people and other things that take my fancy.

Explore Colour Art Courses

Always be open to inspiration. You never know where it may come from. Begin with an open mind, end with an inspired heart. - Sheri Fink

Creative Leap and Explore Colour: The Still Life Course can now be booked with an early bird offer until 3 January 2017. I am also working on a new course to focus on new art techniques and different acrylic mediums using Golden's A-Z paint sets. Dates for this course will be released in coming months. 

Creative Leap is a month long course suitable for anyone regardless of artistic ability. The course can be done in a sketchbook with pencil, pen, watercolour or ink, but it can be done more intensely as well using materials demonstrated in artworks. The course will make you explore alternative ways to observe and create. You will develop your drawing ability and artistic vigour. In addition to the twenty six daily mini projects I will be giving live demonstrations on the weekends within the exclusivity of the Facebook closed group. 

Booking via Explore Colour

Comments from two previous students:
Este, thank you ! Your 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... -  A HThank you Este for creating a wonderful course. I have enjoyed every day. It has certainly given me food for thought, lots of new techniques and inspiration for my stained glass painting. Its also been fun being part of the Creative Leap Facebook community and sharing and seeing all the work. - J L

Prizedraw!

On Christmas day I created a prize draw on my Facebook page - I invited people to comment on the video post of the day and have drawn the two winners. Congratulations to Debbie Carter who said she'd like to do the course with Carolyn McGill. Both win a place on the upcoming Creative Leap course.

I will be giving away another place on my Instagram account. Follow #estemacleod for daily updates.

Colourful greetings,

Este