E X P L O R E  A B S T R A C T S  I

About Explore Abstracts I

Hi, I'm Esté MacLeod and since 2015 I've been sharing my passion for art and creativity through online courses. These offerings have covered a wide array of subjects, from still life and collage to florals and botanicals, showcasing various techniques with different materials.

Over the past years, I've spent my time experimenting, exploring creative processes, and mastering techniques in acrylics and a selection of water-based media. This journey has led me to develop this course, a course that is focused on the captivating world of abstract art.

As an artist and designer, abstraction is an essential element of my creative process and it's the foundation for everything I do. From still life, landscape and floral paintings, all artworks go through a process of abstraction where shapes become stylised and simplified. Limited colour palettes and strong compositions help to create works with impact regardless of their genre and theme. I developed this course that will teach artists at all levels new techniques, will develop their use of colour and will expand their creative horizons.  

Explore Abstracts I is a transformative six-week journey. Each week, we'll delve into different themes and immerse ourselves in colours. Within each module, you'll find four projects, presented in easy-to-digest portions, one per day, building up to a bigger assignment at the weekend. 

We'll explore a multitude of techniques in acrylics and other media, each tailored to the theme of the module. This structured approach is designed to not only build your skills, but also to guide you in strengthening your own artists voice and foster a closer connection with your unique creativity.

Why join?

New Possibilities

Transform your art in six weeks. In Explore Abstracts I there's a focus on developing and refining individual approaches with an introduction to the Creative Leap Method™ where handwriting and letters are used to develop a vocabulary of shapes, textures and forms unique to you.

Comprehensive Content

There are six modules in Explore Abstracts I. Within each module, you'll find four pre-recorded and edited projects, presented daily in easy-to-digest portions, building up to a larger assignment to end the week. So that's thirty projects in total, each designed to kickstart ideas and to promote original and imaginative thinking. 

Simplified Processes

Being both a pragmatist and a visionary, the decision was made to focus on simplified concepts for composition, with a broader list of materials that will enable the discovery of different creative processes and concepts to create rich, layered paintings.

Colour Moods

Colour is an essential element of all art and colour is at the heart of this course. I'll be guiding you to make new discoveries, with different colour moods explored in each module. 

Challenge Yourself

Explore Abstracts I is filled with content that will push individual creativity and strengthen your own unique way of seeing and creating. 

Permission to Play

"We are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything than when we are playing."  - Charles Schaefer 

Playing is the best way to learn, allowing yourself to make mistakes is essential in finding your way to be a better artists. In this course 'happy accidents' are embraced and the lessons in each project have been created as building blocks to be expanded upon. 

Finding Inspiration

A variety of techniques are shared and materials are introduced that will allow you to explore creative processes with renewed enthusiasm.   

Suitable for all levels of experience

As a teacher I like to break bigger concepts and techniques down to make them easily doable, thereby enabling artists of all levels of experience to expand their art practice. By doing each module in sequence, you'll develop a stronger sense of colour, feel more confident in mark making and how you use both to draw and paint. Discover how pattern, form and colour can be used in expressive ways.

Amplify your Voice

 You have a unique artistic voice and by diving in and working through the Explore Abstracts I program you'll have a visual portfolio of your creative vision to build upon.

Boldly Go, Express Yourself

The concept of abstract art is broad. I built this course around the theme of abstraction but it's in essence a course about expression, a program that will help you to expand and refine techniques and processes you can apply to all kinds of art.

By understanding the basics of composition, mastering painting techniques and practising layering with mixed media you will feel renewed enthusiasm to apply what you've learnt in your own practice.

Comprehensive Professional-Level Training

You'll gain access to Esté's extensive expertise in layered painting techniques using the same professional paints and materials she uses in her daily art practice. In the course you will  learn how to create a complete vocabulary of new shapes, expressive textures, and innovative painting techniques that combine fluid, watery methods with solid, chalky surfaces - skills that typically will take ages to develop independently.

Structured Yet Flexible Learning Experience

Unlike overwhelming self-paced courses, this "live" format releases projects daily in digestible prerecorded videos, building systematically over six weeks. You get the benefit of a structured learning path with direct access to Esté via the learning platform and a dedicated Facebook group, all with the flexibility to access all content for a full year - allowing you to learn at your own pace and revisit projects while staying connected to a supportive community.