Cape Town fine artist Tanya Appelgryn - known to her collectors and community simply as Tappel - paints scenes that make you want to pull up a chair, quiet down, and watch the shadows stretch across the floor.
Through her oil paintings of soft domestic interiors, quiet landscapes, and live weddings, she captures the kind of light that doesn't just shine on a room, but lives in it.
The Magic of the Everyday
For Tanya, inspiration is tucked into the corners of daily life: a half-open door, a tea mug catching the morning sun, the angle of an armchair, or the way a curtain filters the Cape breeze.
Her collection In Dwelling Light is a testament to this quiet focus. In a world that demands constant speed, her work is an invitation to pause.
"I love capturing the quiet dialogue between light and space," she says. "There is so much poetry in the places we inhabit when we aren't looking."
What Tappel Creates
Contemporary Oil Paintings: Atmospheric, warm-toned rooms that feel like emotional landscapes. She plays with deep shadows and that perfect, late-afternoon golden hour.
Live Wedding Paintings: Together with a team of artists from Danielle Jordaan Studio, Tanya brings her easel to ceremonies and receptions, capturing the celebration live - part performance, part heirloom, a milestone frozen in real time. Guests can also be painted in watercolour to take home as personalised favours.
The Art of the Admin
Art is a calling, but running an independent studio is a business. Between managing gallery exhibitions, preparing digital catalogues, handling custom commissions, and traveling for live events, Tanya is as much an entrepreneur as she is a painter.
While her work is highly tactile - layered brushstrokes, thick oil paint, and linen canvases - her business relies on being incredibly sharp online. From a curated Instagram feed to her digital catalogues (The Leap and In Dwelling Light), she shows how modern creators can find their audience directly.
But when a single piece takes weeks of deep focus to complete, there’s no time to get bogged down in messy spreadsheets or manual invoicing. In a recent interview, Tanya explains how moving from Canva to stub for her financial processes has been a game changer for her business, and her peace of mind.
That’s why independent creatives like Tanya use stub - the intelligent and simple accounting platform built to keep the admin effortless, so entrepreneurs can get back to the work they love.
Where to Find Tappel
- 📲 Art Instagram: @tappelart
- 🎨 Studio Instagram: @tappelstudio
- 🌐 Catalogues & Booking: bio.site/tappelart
- 📩 Enquiries: tappelart@gmail.com
If you’re looking to bring a piece of quiet light into your home, or want to capture a milestone on canvas, browse Tappel’s latest catalogues and get in touch.
