SPOTLIGHT ON… Esté MacLeod
In conversation with a local artist who has built a global creative business on her own terms.
From textile design and painting, to licensing, teaching and creative retreats, Esté’s career is a reminder that there’s no single route to making a living from creativity.
You’ve explored so many different creative disciplines. What has been the most successful?
That’s a tricky question because success can mean different things. You can measure it financially, or you can look at what has been the most fulfilling.
One thing I learnt early on was that it’s difficult to make a living simply by selling paintings, particularly when you’re just starting out. You need time to establish yourself, so I began making things that I could sell alongside my studies.
When I was about 17, I was making tiny little figures out of polymer clay. A fellow student saw them and encouraged me to approach a shop. The owner took them on, and I ended up paying for my studies by making these little creatures.
That experience taught me something important: you don’t have to be a purist about your creativity. You can explore different ways of making money while continuing to develop the work you really want to do.
I’ve always carried that approach with me, creating products, experimenting with different materials and seeing what works.
Your career hasn’t followed a straight line. Was that always intentional?
Not necessarily, but I’ve always been open to opportunities.
I studied textile design, and I actually failed one of my subjects in my final year. I’d spent too much time helping my boyfriend with his architecture project! I had to repeat that one subject, which meant I suddenly had extra time. The printmaking department was nearby, so I learnt how to print fabric, and I started selling the results. It became another income stream.
In hindsight, what initially felt like a setback opened up new possibilities. After graduating, I became a ceramicist. I made everything from dinner sets to candle holders. Eventually, I started designing products that other people could manufacture for me, rather than making every single item myself.
That was another important lesson: recognise where your time and energy are best spent. If somebody else can do something better than you, make use of their skills.
How did licensing become part of your career?
Licensing was part of my thinking from the beginning because I trained as a textile designer. Textile design can extend into wallpaper, fabrics, ceramics, and rugs.
The opportunities have changed enormously over time. When I started, production was more complicated and expensive, so you needed larger quantities to make things viable. Digital technology has opened up many more possibilities.
It's a wonderful way of extending the life of your work. You can create something original and then see it translated into products that people can enjoy in their everyday lives.
How did you get your work in front of people before social media?
I started by selling through galleries and different markets. Over time, I developed long-term relationships with galleries, and those relationships became incredibly important. Before social media, I would organise an open studio once a year. People began to expect it, and it became a way for them to discover and buy my work.
Today, social media has changed how people discover artists, but the underlying principles are still the same: build relationships, find people who believe in your work and give them a reason to keep coming back.
Tell us about the success of your online teaching.
I never actually wanted to teach! I came from a family of teachers, and I felt I was still learning myself. I thought I needed to have something genuinely valuable to share before I could teach anyone else.
It happened almost by accident. I’d been building an online presence since around 2009, and I discovered a Facebook group of artists who were taking part in online courses. I was the only fine artist in the group, and people started asking whether I would teach a painting class. Initially, I said no. Then more people asked, and I thought, well, perhaps I should work out how to do it!
Luckily, my husband works in IT, so he helped me set up a website. I created an acrylic painting course, and that was the beginning of something I hadn’t planned at all.
What does your online teaching business look like today?
I teach through my own platform, and offer a mixture of full courses and shorter mini-courses. Over time, my courses have evolved. I still teach painting, but I also incorporate collage, colour and different techniques. Everything is pre-recorded now. I do the teaching and filming, and my husband handles the editing.
I think free courses can be a wonderful way to introduce people to your work. During lockdown, I created a free course called Colour Play. It was a way to give people something creative to do at a difficult time, and more than 27,000 people took part. More recently, I've created smaller free projects to introduce people to my work before a larger course launches.
Tell us about your Substack and Coloricombo project.
In 2021, I invited other artists to choose from a selection of colours and create something using their chosen combination. I then featured their work. It was a lovely way to celebrate other creatives. People enjoyed it so much that I decided to turn it into an ongoing project.
Eventually, it developed into my Substack, where I share a colour palette each week, often inspired by a painting by an artist. I research the artist, select four colours from their work and share ideas that people can use in their own projects. Substack gives me a more structured way to communicate with people than social media alone.
What's the biggest learning you can share?
Be willing to experiment and to keep learning. I didn't start out with any business training. I learnt by making things, seeing what worked and developing new opportunities as they arose.
My career has moved through textile design, ceramics, painting, licensing, online teaching and community-building. Each stage has grown out of something that came before it, often in ways I couldn't have predicted.
It's also important to recognise where your strengths lie. You don't need to do every job yourself, and you don't need to pursue every opportunity that comes along. Give yourself permission to change direction. What you want to do at 25 might be very different from what you want to do at 55.
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