The Artist

Hi , I'm Esther :)

Shadowlux Art is my new glow in the dark project. For over a decade I’ve painted glow in the dark decals, stickers and murals for my studio Stella Murals and now I'm returning to more traditional art again. The murals I used to paint were blank and white during the day so they could be placed almost invisibly on ceiling and walls and then appear like magic - brightly glowing skies for the night time.

These new Shadowlux Art paintings also glow brightly in the dark but they are painted for the daytime as well, with colourful animals and night skies. Shadowlux Art paintings are two paintings in one. 

I’m originally from New Zealand. My father was a commercial artist specialising in photo-retouching so in the 70’s and 80’s as kids we always drew and sketched on paper at home.

I was an art school drop out in the 90’s, I majored in film. I loved being at art school but I had no idea it wasn’t the place commercial art was taught so I drifted on.

Life took over as it does. I learnt to paint from books and sold paintings sometimes in cafes and galleries. It wasn’t until my son was almost at school that I started to make art a full time job.

In 2012 I started painting glow in the dark star posters for my studio Stella Murals. 'Stella' because it was Latin for star and sounded just right.

It was a project that began at the time of the Christchurch earthquakes in 2011. It came from becoming inspired by surreal nights without city light pollution and discovering the night sky for the first time. It turns out, when the world shakes, the stars still hold their ground, and glow even brighter for it.

STELLA MURALS was a cutting edge glow in the dark artisan studio for night sky decals, star stickers, bed canopies and murals.  I painted over 10,000 artworks and sent them to over 85 countries. Altogether I painted over 4000 glowing moons, countless millions of stars and enjoyed many fun custom art commissions from my customers. I have over 1500 '5 star' reviews on Etsy collected over the last decade. 

The last 13 or so years painting glow in the dark star murals have gone by in a flash but I've always craved warmer weather and now also something different with the art. I love to paint galaxies and night skies but painting them on blank decals as invisible during the day limited me from making the art I feel I really need to make. 

I moved to Australia and started again to paint with colourful acrylic paints on canvas. I’m returning to the fantasy art I loved as a teenager, and animals who I’ve always been connected with. Stella Murals no longer describes the art I make, so six months ago after moving to a beach town in Western Australia Shadowlux Art started. Slightly terrifying (yay) but here I am redefining my art and it has to be like that. 

So a new adventure begins and just like when Stella Murals began way back when, I don't know where it will go...except I know there will always still be stars.

I'm having way too much fun painting these canvases now, especially of animals and starry landscapes. It's an entirely new experience to blend colour and glow together, it's like asking day and night to play nicely on the same canvas. The best part is when the glow is fully charged and the light fades just enough to see both. It's not a lasting effect but that's part of the magic. 

I’m really happy about where my art is right now. It’s feels I'm exactly at the last part of my whole art journey, all the influences from since I was a teenager are in tiny little ways there …from books and places and art.… I have worked so hard to get to this part of the journey and it feels completely right in my soul. 

"Possibly the best thing I've ever purchased! There's incredible talent in this artwork, and I never imagined it could look like a legitimately real (amazing) night sky. Even the extra individual stars look completely real, and placing them is kinda fun - like creating your own little constellations. Esther is wonderful to work with and had it shipped out the next day. Highly, highly recommended!"

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐  Previous Etsy Glow Art review - 12 April 2016