We were lucky to catch up with Yvette Leflore recently and have shared our conversation below.

Yvette , appreciate you joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I knew I wanted to create art professionally when I was 17 years old. I graduated high school a year early so I went to college a year early. I also had 2 jobs but in the middle of my semester I thought it would be cool to give painting a shot. An old friend of mine had just had a birthday but I missed it because of work, so to make it up to them I told them I’ll just paint them a portrait and if it turns out great then they can keep it. It turned out amazing for it to be my first piece so I did end up gifting it to them and then the rest was history. I left school and quit my jobs and asked my mom for a year to just focus on my craft. Which led me down the path of creating and officially selling my art

Yvette , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Yvette Le’Flore. I am a Cleveland Ohio based artist. I actually always loved art and I started creating art when I was about 8 years old but usually I would just sketch. At the age of 17 is where my passion for art actually took off because I discovered acrylic paint. This led me to create with no boundaries and with the help of social media I began to post and sell my art. I started to network with other creatives at the age of 18 which helped me flourish even more. As an acrylic painter, I use my art to express emotions I sometimes cannot in hopes that other can relate too. I also do (portrait, character) commission. The thing that I am mostly proud of when it comes to my art is being able to connect with individuals on a level that I feel is deeper than money and the material. Emotional and mentally connection and satisfaction is what I strive for with every piece I make and that is what I would think separates me from other artist.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

There was a point in life where I wanted to give up on not just art but everything in general. In the year of 2021 I experienced a traumatic hardship that caused me to go into a crippling depression. I wanted to give up but honestly my love for art helped me through it. On the days where I felt like I wasn’t heard I would paint, on the days where I felt like I wasn’t seen or as if no one cared or that I cool don’t express things the way I would like I would paint. Which led me creating a piece called Pretty girls and Princesses

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Something that I do feel would better the creative ecosystem is actually having community within. I feel that people now a days are only creating for aesthetic, money, and social media and not for actual support and to uplift one another in the creative community. The goal is to find community where we all can thrive and support one another along the journey. I do feel that safe spaces to just be a creative freely without judgement are needed and necessary to help an creative ecosystem grow

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cheepaints?igsh=MTc2YjV1MWQwbndn
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100073757102294&mibextid=LQQJ4d

Image Credits

The pink one is Pretty Girls and princesses.
The black and white one is the first thing I’ve painted for an old friend.
The other are just homage to local artist I know