Esther Haywood

Esther Haywood is a mother of three, nanna of two, wife, sister, artist, friend-to-many and the grand daughter of one of Australia's most beloved artists; the late Gloria Petyarre.

When she was a young girl, her mother died in a car accident and so she and her younger brother split their time growing up between Ali Curung with their father and Utopia with their grandmother.

Esther started painting when she was 16 years old under the guidance of her grandmother's family in Utopia. This was when painting was a booming industry for desert artists and Utopia artists led the scene.

Her paintings would represent her Awelye (women's ceremony) or the Arnkerrthe Dreaming from her grandmother's country. It wasn't until after her grandmother's passing in 2021 and at her behest, that she began painting leaves.

Leaves

Esther's grandmother is the original creator of the leaves style that has swept the desert art industry, and it won her grandmother the Wynne Prize in 1999 for best Australian landscape.

Originally, the leaves were inspired by those that had fallen to the ground and swept across the landscape in swift passing zephyrs. But, over time, they evolved to encompass important medicinal leaves that can be collected for making bush medicines.

One bush medicine that Esther was taught to make was an ointment, derived from crushed leaves and fat from kangaroos and echidnas, and applied topically to faces and hair so that its powerful aroma would linger and aid in the relief of colds.