Rebecca Chaperon
Rebecca Chaperon is a local artist living in Vancouver BC. I have many of her pieces and am looking forward to filling my walls with many more.
Rebecca enjoys having people visit her downtown Vancouver studio. For a studio visit you can make an appointment with her directly or wait until she has an open studio, like this past weekend., Keep an eye out for the next one!
She works for herself full time and for the most part her week is flexible, but for her own sanity she has created a schedule to stick to. She starts out the week she by planning out what has to be done for the days ahead. Appointments and studio visits are scheduled near the end of the week.
She enjoys doing everything herself because it allows her to be closer to her buyers. This way she can receive feedback directly and can develop a relationship with her customers. She has a small niche body of work, so learning what makes collectors buy and learning the value of her work was a hurdle she has had to overcome.
Her paintings tell a story: many consist of surreal scenery with a female protagonist. I love all of her endeavors. She also has an amazing book called "Eerie Dearies" depicting an ABC of 26 ways to miss school and taking us through a journey of surreal versions of the world. She is an amazing storyteller. A couple of her paintings were inspired by stories she was told as a kid by her father.
Her dedication is so inspiring. Once she started selling her work herself she felt liberated. Long term she would like to have a home studio to work from. "I would like to paint in my pajamas" and have her work become better known to the public.
I would like to paint in my pajamas.
For someone wishing to start a business Rebecca suggests reading the book "100 Dollar Startup". It has examples of how people became successful running their own small businesses with practical information. She says start one step at a time and start small. Ignore the naysayers. Learning from your successes and failures on a smaller scale helps you build from there. It is more important than the advice you can get from others by learning with hands on experience.
She is inspired by films, books, poetry, tumblr, pinterest, and instagram. She enjoys social media for its accessibility to other artists all over the world. She enjoys seeing the variations of artists, each cultivating their own styles and variations of visual language.
Rebecca spends a great deal of time dedicated to one single piece. She is very focused and deliberate.
Her support comes from a number of friends. She has also worked with a life coach on and off. For her it is important to talk to people about what you are trying to achieve as well as how you may have failed. It is important to hear the perspectives you get from others.
Within the next few months she is considering hiring someone to help her out.
The information that you gather with each success and failure is more important than the advice that people will try to give you.
She is a huge inspiration to me and supports me in all my artistic endeavors. If you're an upcoming artist I strongly encourage you to go see her studio and have a chat with her. If you just enjoy well made art I would encourage you to check out her website and see her beautiful work. Who knows maybe one of her pieces will end up on one of your walls as well!
Photos by Rebecca Chaperon
