I'm a few days behind but I had forgotten to look at the date. I just want to say a huge thank you to you guys for following my work over the years. I honestly can't believe it's been so long already. It feels like it was a few months ago that I was finally convinced by  leviathan248 and  firekitty to suck it up and join the website (Levi had been pestering me since 2005 to join), and honestly even with the craziness that has happened since I first joined in my life, these have been the best years of my life.

You've seen me grow from a hobby artist to doing this as my full time occupation and I honestly can't thank you enough for sticking with me through the thick and thin of life. I read each comment given to me and even though I don't respond to each one I appreciate them, and the shouts as well. I'm not the type that clears the shout box because I love seeing the little messages people leave.



Some of my earliest pieces are here:

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8662408/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8760433/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8705854/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8509508/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8494832/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8656743/

I've been around since 1998 in the "fandom" but I never knew there were others out there who liked anthros as much as I did - I've drawn animals since I was very young and was heavily influenced by cartoons from the 80's and 90's, so to be able to watch myself go from an paper pusher to an artist, it makes me so happy that I could turn this into what I get to do daily.


We decided that this year we'd launch  pawprinting, my custom printing business, to have it coincide with my artwork. I'm looking to cut back on the amount of artwork that I do as I have carpal tunnel in both arms but I try to keep my arms in check as best I can so it took time and saving to invest in the machinery to start this new adventure. I want to continue drawing in the fandom for many years to come but also hope to be able to give back to the artist community by doing work for them by making items featuring their work to sell on to their fans.

We're still early stages of setting it up (it's only in its second month so far) but we hope that we can keep the momentum going and do some nifty things in the future for you guys here on FA and at conventions as well.



So in all, thank you again for everything, the comments, the gift art and most importantly the friendships. I've made all of my close friends because of this website - and I couldn't be happier.

I love you guys.

- Val / Lapres