As an artist, I often wonder what happens to my work when it leaves my studio, my market booth or one of my retail locations and taken home with my wonderful customers. Its really quite cool to think that people are taking something I have created home to decorate their personal space! what an honor that people enjoy my work so much they want to look at it on a daily basis! This desire to see what kinds of homes my work has found led me to hold a contest in February (Yapes Paints' 4th Birthday month) that asked customers to share photos of my work (prints, cards, calendars and originals) in their space. Winning prize (a 16x20 giclee canvas prints) would go to the 'best' photo which had to show not only the work but its surroundings. I was lucky enough to get many amazing entries.. but let me tell u this made it HARD to choose a winner! In the end I asked a jury to help me choose the top 3 photos and had my facebook followers and newsletter receivers vote on which image they liked best.. the winner? Jessica Adams of Squamish BC. Here is her awesome photo: Original painting 'Out of the Blue' in her gorgeous home! 
Runners up were: 1) Laurel with her great photo of her original painting 'Urban Serenity'. LOVE her cute pup in the pic! This painting was commissioned by Laurel and her husband Ty as a wedding gift to themselves (the best kind of gift ;>).. the painting was hung at their actual wedding reception.. how cool is that?! 
Runners up: 2) Amy with her great photo of original painting 'Twilight Roots' in her living room.. how great are those cushions with the painting.. and I love the touch of the guitar, headphones.. music! another great source of art! 
Here are some of my other favorite entries from the contest: 
You can see why I had a hard time choosing!! To see more photos of my work in customers homes visit my new 'Happy Customers' page on my website by clicking HERE. A huge thank you to everyone who participated in my contest. I would love to see more photos of my work in customers homes.. if you would like to share your photos please email it to me at YapesPaints@hotmail.com and I will include it on my website! ;> 1 Comment I was thrilled to find I was chosen as last weeks 'Featured Artist' on one of my favorite artist blogs Artsy Shark! Artsy Shark is a site dedicated to sharing information for emerging artists and has endless articles that have been helpful to me. From info about art business, art licensing, retail shows and wholesale to articles about working with galleries it has been a 'go to' resource for me every since I started to take my career as an artist seriously. Big Thanks to Carolyn Edlund, author of the Artsy Shark blog for continuing to support emerging artist and featuring artist weekly on her site. Exposure, exposure, exposure is SO important for an artist trying to be seen in a sea of artists and I really appreciate you showing my art to your part of the world! Thanks Carolyn!. To read my artist feature click HERE and please leave a comment ;> 
My work at the White Rock Dental Office 01/23/2012
When the lovely Wendy of the White Rock Dental office contacted me via email saying that she loved my work and would I be interested in doing some commissioned paintings for the new office my answer right away was.. 'of course!' I was thrilled. Wendy had found my business card at the '30 Minute hit' (click here for all the deets) in South Surrey, a place I frequent to get in my high intensity workouts between nursing work, paintings and all the other things that come along with running your own biz. (check it out you..will love it!) Wendy asked me to do my largest painting to date for her conference room... a 3.5ft x 8ft painting capturing a 'west coast' feel and tying in with the new name for the office 'the wave'. The result? an acrylic and metal painting titled 'Coastal Harmony'. The metal work is done by my awesome husband Renato Horvath.. we had so much fun collaborating on this piece! 
I was also asked to do an original for the dentist's office.. another piece incorporating metal by Renato. A 24x30 painting titled 'coastal serenity'. 
Then it was time for some decoration in the waiting room and the bathroom. I had 2 large limited edition Giclee prints on canvas done and they turned out beautifully! 'Valley Views' and 'Among the birch' 
A big thank you to Wendy, Dr Gaudet and team for choosing my work for their gorgeous new office! If you are interested in some work (originals, canvas prints, framed prints) to decorate your office I would love to chat with you about it! Please contact me at yapespaints@hotmail.com. ~ April 2011- A year in review from Yapes Paints 01/05/2012
New Years resolution #1: Blog more!. Since this is my 1st blog post since April of 2011 it wont be hard to make an improvement! lol. With the start of a New Year comes a time for reflection on the last year. It certainly has been a great year for 'Yapes Paints'. Here is the year in review: * I created many new paintings and have expanded my themes to include my popular 'loft birds', cityscapes and have worked with my husband Ren on more paintings incorporating metal which have become more intricate. * I married the person that supports me most in my art career. Ren and I eloped July 23 in Deep cove and spent our honeymoon in Hungary and Greece ! * 39 of my original paintings found new homes this year *I sold my most expensive painting to date for $3600.00 * I painted my largest painting to date which was 3.5ft x 8ft. * I painted for the first time ever on a concrete floor. Check out my leaves and branches on the floor of 'The Eco Floor Store' in Langley * I took my first ever art class since high school in 'encaustic painting' (painting with wax) and hope to do more of this in 2012 *I had my own solo show at Lut Boutique on Main st in Vancouver including wine and cheese opening night! so fun! * I participated in many great art events including the Make it Market Vancouver, The Arnold Mikelson Festival of the arts White Rock, The Bloom Market Fort Langley, The Out of Hand show Victoria and the One of Kind Show Vancouver. *Online store sales have doubled since last year. More people are shopping at www.YapesPaints.bigcartel.com. Yeah! *I met so many wonderful customers. Their kind words of encouragement are what keep my creativity flowing * I have met many other inspiring artists that I hope to continue to to grow relationships with. Looking ahead to 2012 Im excited for new work, new events and continuing to grow my business... but I think thats another blog post all together:> For now some Pictures of highlights from 2011! 
Ren and April elope in Deep Cove July 23 2011. 
Opening night of my Solo Show at Lut Boutique Main st Vancouver 
Painting on the floor of 'The Eco Floor Store' in Langley! 
Some of the finished project at the 'Eco Floor Store' 
Photo Shoot for the 'Bloom Market' in Fort Langley. Amazing photo by awesome Langley Photographer Desiree Patterson. www.spiritwestphotography.com I have been meaning to work on my artist statement for quite a while now ... it can be such a hard thing to nail down since it is such an evolving thing... it really has changed so much since I started on my artist path over 3 years ago. Here it is as it stands now... will be interesting to see how it changes over the years! April Lacheur- Artist Statement 2011 I love the feeling of creating a flowing line with ink and a brush, the excitement and emotion bold colors evoke and the place I loose myself too each time my brush hits the canvas. It starts with an inspiration from a life experience; something small like a lovely walk outside or something huge like a life lesson just learned. I choose a color signifying the feeling of that experience. I’m not much of a planner when it comes to my paintings. I have the general concept in my mind and let the piece progress organically as I’m working with the acrylic paint. One of my favorite parts of painting is that the end result is often a pleasant surprise. I may also add other mediums including fabrics, metals and papers to my work giving life to some elements such as tree trunks or bird feathers. My work is always finished with clean lines of acrylic ink. My style is unique and has developed over a long time, ever since I was a child. Bold colors, crisp lines, trees with twisting roots, birds with long legs and florals with dancing petals are common themes in my work. The message in my work is always positive and may be different for every admirer. I use painting as a positive balancing element in my life and I think my true love and passion for it is reflected in my work. I am most well known for my whimsical trees with twisting trunks and reaching branches. They signify deep roots, strong growth and tall ambition. I show my work in art fairs, galleries, cafes and retail locations around BC. My original paintings are part of private collections in Canada, USA, Australia, Asia and the UK. I plan to continue to create and share my work and am excited to see how my style and skills develop. It’s the start of a long and creative path ahead! THE DRIFT on Main st Oct 2-3 2010 10/05/2010
What a incredible weekend I had! This was my first year participating in THE DRIFT on Main st Vancouver and what a cool event! 100 local artist along the entire st in boutiques, cafes and studios showing off thier amazing talent. I was lucky enough to be able to participate this year at Two of Hearts Boutique on Main near 21st. Love love this store. Owners Tabitha and Jenny are all about local. They themselves are local clothing designers and make thier awesome lines TOGS, CICI and Two of Hearts. They also carry handmade jewelry and accessories and regularly carry my art cards, prints and calendars. For the Drift weekend we displayed my original paintings around the store and the girls gave me an amazing sunny spot in the front window to set up my easle and paint for the weekend! I will say i was nervous about this at first but as the weekend went on I was enjoying myself more and more! What a great way to get exposure and meet wonderful new people! My Original paintings 'Good Friends' and 'The Lofty Chick' found new homes and I finished a new peice titled 'Driftin' which i though was appropriate. Check out the pics from this great event.. cant wait till next year! For more info on the drift go to www.thedrift.ca      Post Title. 09/15/2010
I have been meaning to write this post for quite a while now... with all the work of selling our house and moving to White Rock time has gone so fast! While living in the Comox Valley I was lucky enough to meet some truly inspiring artists and I wanted to share some of my favourites that I will truly miss! 1) Jennifer Weber www.jenniferweber.ca Jennifer's gorgeous acrylic paintings make me smile. I met her on the Comox Valley studio tour and had the good fortune to get to know her and share artistic ideas over many cups of tea! Her Peice 'Lilies' is one of my Favourites! The print is hanging in my bedroom!  2) Lucy Schappy www.lucyschappy.com When we first moved to the valley it was Lucy's work that first caught my eye. Her unique style is well.. awesome.. and so is she! I love many of her peices but' 'April Showers' is one of my favourites (and not just because of the name)!  3) Gail Neuls. www.gailneuls.com Gail's unique abstact style is one I love! She paints landscapes that are different ( i love different!) and remind me of many place i have been. Her peice Osooyos area is one of my favourites... it reminds me and driving thru the Okanagan like we do every summer!  4) Melissa March www.amudesigns.com Her realistic oil paintings are incredibly life like! how does she do it? I have been lucky enough to get to know Melissa at art shows in the Valley and will miss her great company! One of my favourites is 'Chilean Dream'. I have this print in my kitchen and love seeing it everyday! One of the other gorgeously creative people I got to know is Naomi TeWinkle. Her whimsical paintings can only make you smile! I cant wait to stay in her super cool B&B in Mulberry land! www.mulberryland.com . Another creativley Cool chickita I got to know is Ms Simone Thompson. This girl has many talents including gorgeous photography, handmade cards and memory books and graphic design. She was also patient enough to teach me some of the ins and outs of photoshop and illustrator! www.creativesimone.com I sure will miss the Comox valley and all of its artistically inspiring people! Dont worry.. ill be back to visit! Thursday, January 7, 2010
Art + cafes = success!
When I started out on my venture as an artist in 2007 the first place I ever hung my work was Blighty's Bistro on Oak Bay ave in Victoria. I was thrilled to see my work on the walls.. but never did I think I would sell 15 original peices in 6 months! From there I hung my work for a 2 month show at Mo:le resturant on Pandora st in Victoria. I sold 12 original paintings! wow! At first I did not think that cafes and resturants would be a great place to sell art but quickly learned I was wrong! And why wouldnt people buy art from these places? unlike galleries and art shows, people get to sit with the art for a long period time (most people spend at least an hour going for dinner)... and really ponder over the peice .. where will I put it?... how will I pay for it?.... can i convince my husband to buy it for me for me birthday? ect... Its a great deal.. the artist gets exposure and the Cafe gets great art on thier walls for free! Its a win win! Since then I have done several resturant/cafe shows with great success! At the moment I have my work hanging in Serious Coffee Cook st Village in Victoria and am looking forward to hanging my work in Pedros Cafe on granville island in February 2010!  Pedros Cafe Granville Island Feb 2010 Serious Coffee Cook st village Victoria Wow! what a beautiful show! The 2009 One of a Kind show took place at the Vancouver Convention center under the sails at Canada Place Oct 8-11. The new venue brought forth new challenges in setting up.. but once that hard part was over the fun began! Met tons of great people, made great connections and found some new fans! yeah!... I felt special to be amungst over 200 amazing north american artisans. Being part of the visual arts district allowed me to rub elbows with some very talented artist from Vancouver, Toronto, Oregon and Montana! The experience was one that helped me learn about being an artist and a bussiness women and made me realize how lucky I am to have such a fun job!.. back home now and working on upcoming christmas events which can be found at http://www.yapespaints.com. Cant wait for next years One of a Kind show!! Check the pics of my booth below!  |  April LacheurAcrylic painter living in White Rock BC ! ArchivesMarch 2012 Categories |
RSS Feed