Esté’s work has appeared in numerous published books and curricula, including collaborations with Fair Winds Press, Quarto Books, Epiphany Press, and Gather Round Homeschool. Yet at the heart of her practice is a quieter calling: to create art that feels like an open window — art that invites the viewer to step inside and breathe.
In her late thirties, Esté studied oil painting at the Milan Art Institute, learning from the traditions of the old masters while continuing to paint intuitively and freely. Her process is spontaneous and embodied, marked by drips, layered marks, and movement — a reflection of the freedom she finds in both faith and creativity.
Her paintings are shaped by daydreams, adventures, and long looks at the natural world. Forests, skies, and imagined landscapes become places of encounter, and invitations to step inside of them. Her hope is that each piece offers a sense of peace and wonder.
Esté Hupp is a nature-inspired painter whose work is shaped by a deep love for creation, daydreaming, and the quiet ways people experience God.
Originally from South Africa and now living in Columbus, Ohio with her husband and two children, Esté’s life has been shaped by wide landscapes, long journeys, and a deep attentiveness to the natural world. From a young age, she felt drawn to creating with her hands, beginning with sculpture in childhood and later discovering drawing and painting.During her travels across Africa, Esté learned to slow down and see. Sketching with charcoal and pencil became a way of noticing light, movement, and presence. That attentiveness eventually led her to painting, where she explored many mediums before finding her home in oil — drawn to its depth, texture, and freedom.
Esté Hupp is a mixed media painter, illustrator, and creative mentor
Other than painting and spending time with her family, Esté also enjoys listening to music, drinking coffee, and eating South African food!
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“Those places in nature that make you dream and find peace —
I paint those places, always.” - Esté
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Hello, wanderer.
I paint places where the world softens and dreams tiptoe in. A sky to lose yourself in, a forest to rest in, a river to follow wherever it leads.
Come in. Stay awhile.
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