about the artist

A woman sitting on a city sidewalk with an elevated bridge and cityscape in the background. She has dark brown hair, is smiling, and is wearing a red t-shirt and black shorts.

Esther Moorehead was born in Toronto, Canada. She has lived in Canada, Northern Ireland, and the USA. She grew up immersing herself in many creative outlets, from drawing and painting, to stage design and small theatre production, to church music and event planning.

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Art Education in South Carolina in 2005, she returned to Toronto to begin her career as a high school art educator. During that time she was married and had two children. She decided not to continue teaching, but instead began taking painting commissions and building a career as a full time studio artist.

Where There’s Life, There’s Hope.

A month after the birth of her first child, Esther faced a cancer diagnosis that reshaped her perspective of life and the purpose for her work. She realized that every moment of life is valuable. Even in the darkest places, hope always accompanies life—hope to love and learn; to work together; to build and create; to forgive and change. Now cancer-free, Esther’s desire is to create work that reflects gratitude for God-given life and love, and instils a grounding sense of future hope.

When her family relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2018, she used the opportunity to develop new relationships with galleries and arts organizations, as well as build a network of artists and creatives. She has exhibited her work in galleries and public spaces in Canada and the USA and won awards in a variety of competitions in the USA. Her paintings also reside in private collections worldwide.

Woman painting on an outdoor canvas with colorful abstract artwork, wearing black sunglasses and a puffer jacket.
Woman arranging colorful abstract artwork on a table in a studio.
A cluttered artist's desk with paintbrushes, tubes of paint, and art supplies.

Artist statement

Memento vivere—remember to live. Where there’s life, there’s hope. That is the pulse of my work. I bring bold, visual narrative to everyday human encounters.

I draw creative influence from the constant ebb and flow of people in urban centers; from stylized figures and forms from art of ancient civilizations; from pattern, order, and repetition in nature; and from artists like Mondrian, Rothko, Sargent, and Lawren Harris.

    • Walmart Community Mural Program, Designs for stores in South Carolina & North Carolina, 2025

    • Walmart Community Mural Program, Designs for North Carolina Stores, 2024

    • ArtFields Juried Art Festival, Lake City, SC, May 2024

    • Director’s Choice Exhibition, Cain Center for the Arts, Cornelius, NC, March 2024

    • TEASE Art Projekt, McColl Center, Charlotte, NC, February 2024

    • NC Artists Juried Exhibition, Contemporary Art Museum, Raleigh, NC, September 2023

    • “Reemergence” painting featured on a digital billboard in Yonge-Dundas Square, Toronto, Canada, July 2023

    • TEASE Art Projekt 2023 Exhibition Tour in Germany, one of three selected artists to represent North Carolina, June 2023

    • Public mural in “Luminous Lane” for Charlotte SHOUT festival, April 2023

    • “Reemergence” painting featured on a digital billboard in Times Square, NYC, February 2023

    • ArtPop Street Gallery Class of 2023 Artist, Charlotte, NC

    • Solo Exhibition “To the Earth and Sea,” Artisan Church Gallery, Lincolnton, NC 2022

    • 5-Artist Group Exhibition, “Intermingling,” Mooresville Arts Gallery, NC, 2022

    • Selected Artist, Up & Coming Invitational, Shain Gallery, Charlotte, NC, 2022

    • Selected Artist, Transatlantic Exhibition of Art in the Southeast, 2022

    • Interior Mural, Charlotte Art League, Charlotte, NC, 2022

    • Selected Works, National Juried Exhibition, Norfolk, VA 2022

    • Solo Exhibition, Bliss Gallery, Belmont, NC, 2021

    • Featured Artist, Museum of the Moon, Belmont, NC 2021

    • Summer Group Show, Blue Crow Gallery, Toronto, ON, 2020

    • Art With Heart Auction for Safe Alliance, Elder Gallery, Charlotte NC, 2020

    • Salt of the Earth Exhibition, AVA Gallery, Davidson, NC 2019

    • Living Stories Exhibition, AVA Gallery, Davidson, NC 2018