Artist of the month: Este MacLeod

30th October 2013: Este MacLeod's vibrant and unique paintings are an ideal choice for contemporary art ranges with strong impact. This month, we go behind-the-scenes with Este!

What's been your best-selling design or piece of work to date? My colourist still life paintings seem to develop and change with the seasons and as the mood take me, this is a constant theme I work with and it relate to a variety of people on different levels and it allows me to experiment with it within the guidelines of this theme.

Which part of the process do you like most? Depends, but I really enjoy the middle of the painting stages where much can happen, I normally start of on a black gesso background but occasionally start a painting just with random colour marks and blobs and see what progresses from this. It is fun to observe the developments and how the dynamics change, at times I would turn the painting upside down during the making of it and rearrange the composition. Even though I rely on sketches to inform composition and subject, I do not typically have a clear plan when I start off.

Which part do you like the least? Probably finishing it off, deciding when it is finished and not to overwork a painting. To avoid this I normally work on a number of paintings at any time, and this helps me to observe them without a paintbrush in hand.

What would your dream project be? Ooh! I actually am trained as a textile designer specialising in silk screen printing and surface design. This specialism informs much of my sensibilities with regards to colour, form and composition. I have however not done textile design in 20 years and would love to transfer some of my newer patterned bright paintings onto fabric. Creating a range of textiles and seeing them in upholstery or apparel would be a real treat.

What's on your drawing-board/ in your kiln / on your easel / etc. right now? I am completing an interactive painting that was started at a Business day event in September, I occasionally do projects where members of the public get to join in the mark making and painting. I normally have a theme or topic to give guidance. After participants have made their contributions I turn those marks into something more cohesive by adding background colours shaping and sharpening forms and finishing it to a professional standard. This painting is to go on silent auction at an Open day/Art day at a new hospital in Reading. Proceeds to go to a local children’s Hospice.

Above image shows Este with her painting, created as part of an interactive project, which recently sold at auction for £1000 with all proceeds going to charity. So far in 2013, Este has helped to raise over £3000 in interactive painting projects - Great work Este!

Who or what is your biggest source of inspiration? I cannot think of only one single thing that inspires me: Colour, form, domesticity and nature, the world around us, many things excite and inspire me to create. Travel is also an important factor in discovering things new and different.

Which is your favourite Yellow House Art Licensing artist & why? Heather Flynn’s work appeals to my textile design background, Heather’s strong sense of colour and form makes her striking, bold designs stand out.

 

Which is your favourite Yellow House Art artist & why? (www.yellowhouseart.com – our closely associated site selling original artworks) Hard to say, but I think Jane Muir’s ceramic sculptures are just such fun, her work is original and happy. I do have a soft spot for ceramics. I also love Lindsey Mann’s perfect, tactile jewellery pieces.

Jane Muir ceramics

Do you have your own work at home? Not really, I live in constant company with the work that I create, as a professional artist I make work to sell. Apart from a few favourite pieces I am happy for the ones I make to go to good homes. I love seeing where they end up in public and private collections.

When designing your studio, what was the most important factor? Space, natural light and being dry and warm.

What's been your biggest mistake/cock-up?! Not sure, there must have been many along the way, but that is how you learn. When I was a studio ceramicist I moved to a bigger workshop, this regrettably meant I had to work harder to pay the rent.  It’s however important to remember what Scott Adams said: ‘Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.’

What is the last book you read? Marks out of 10? Alice Munro: ‘Dear Life’ a collection of short stories, I love the way she writes, concise sketches and unresolved storylines inviting one to ponder them. Perfect to escape for a little while, as supposed to a long story or novel that draws you in over days. I give it 9/10.

What is the last exhibition you went to? Marks out of 10? Last week I was in Oxford, saw Friederich Kunath’s ‘Raymond’s moody blues’ It is an installation and film focusing on humour, melancholy and pathos. Occupying a vast space, the disparate selection and arrangement of oversized objects failed to grip me, I managed to relate more to the film. 4/10

If you could own a masterpiece, what would it be? Hard one: I love the energy and colour of Wassily Kandinsky’s landscapes in the  ‘Blaue Reiter’ period. So any of those, or Mark Rothko to go in a massive double volume living room would be just perfect.

What’s your proudest achievement? I have had sell out exhibitions and received a first class honours degree, but I am very touched by the fact that the Duke of Devonshire bought one of my paintings it’s is currently included in the Chatsworth collection.

What’s been your biggest challenge? Probably completing my MA degree in contemporary crafts, I specialised in jewellery, very conceptual but within a traditional craft based context. In retrospect also just sticking to my resolve of being an artist must have been challenging over the last 25 years, but one do not view it like that really.

Este is also fascinatied in other types of art media, including ceramics and glass-blowing! Here she is at a local glass foundry...

Thanks Este! Your work is fascinating and we admire your paintings hugely, great to hear about the Duke of Devonshire owing one of your pieces - Congratulations!