#23 Esplanade Studios
Esplanade Artist Studios is a collection of 11 city-owned artist studios that are rented to emerging and professional artists to encourage them to base their practice in the City. By providing studio space, the City aims to connect artists to a larger creative network and help foster collaboration and community in the City of the Arts.
Address: 2709 Esplanade Avenue, Port Moody
Artists
gay mitchell
gay mitchell is a visual artist and musician living in Coquitlam, working from her Esplanade Artists Studio in Port Moody, BC. She is a retired educator, mentor and adjudicator, having taught in the Tri-Cities at Place des Arts, PoMoArts, and Evergreen Cultural Centre over three decades.
Her works employ an array of media including mixed media drawing, pastel, watercolour, oil, acrylic, and egg tempera, textiles, woven sculpture and clay.
gay is intrigued and curious about how the natural world informs and encourages our inner life.
This year in her 50th celebration Exhibit, gay will be exhibiting, 87 original photographs on metal, at her studio at A3 - 2709 Esplanade Avenue (pathway on left of building to back entrance)
Medium: Mixed media
Soheila Siari
Soheila Siari was born in Tehran-Iran. She is an artist based in Coquitlam-Vancouver. She is resident of the Esplanade Studio in Port Moody since 2020. She finished her part time Painting certificate program at Emily Carr University in Vancouver in 2025.
She is influenced by contemporary and abstract artists from the 19th century. She has a deep curiosity about creating paintings in large scale canvas. Recently she started to explore the beauty of the flow of acrylic paint using watercolor techniques, on raw canvas. In her paintings; “Flourishing the Inner “, and “The World of Rose “using soft body acrylic, and ink she wants to take the viewers to explore and capture the beauty of life in nature in vibrant color.
Shohre Shiraze
My artwork is a meditation on the profound relationship between trees, nature, and the quiet moments of stillness they offer. Through the fluid medium of watercolor, I seek to capture the transient beauty and intricate details of the natural world. Each branch, each leaf holds a story—whispers of the timeless connection between all living things. The watercolors’ natural flow mirrors the organic rhythms of nature itself, allowing me to convey both the softness and strength inherent in the trees that surround me.
With every stroke, I invite viewers to pause and reflect on the serene, living presence of the natural world, encouraging a deeper sense of harmony and appreciation for the environment.
Mehrnaz Emadi
I have always tried to capture people’s lives through my lens—moments of joy, sorrow, love, and resilience. For me, photography is more than art; it’s a powerful tool to raise awareness and connect us to one another. I believe we have one world and one life to live, and it’s our responsibility to care for both. Through my work, I hope to inspire empathy, reflection, and a deeper appreciation for the beauty and fragility of life.
Whether documenting everyday emotions or larger human stories, I aim to create images that speak to the heart and remind us that we are all connected.
Medium: Photography
Website: https://artinphotography.ca
Facebook: @artin.photography.vancouver
Melanie Ellery
As an Artist, I seek that creative flow where expression becomes instinctual.
Colour, energy and emotion are at the heart of my practice. I'm drawn to bold, uplifting palettes that evoke a sense of joy and vitality. Living near the ocean, mountains and forests of British Columbia, I find endless inspiration in nature–not its literal form but in its feeling. I aim to translate that sensory experience into abstract language: the rhythm of waves, the stillness of trees, the chaos of wind and weather and the quiet hum of life.
My hope is that my paintings offer a sense of movement, connection and positivity - an invitation to pause and feel something beyond what words can express.
Medium: Painting
Website: https://www.melanieellery.com
Instagram: @elleryart
Facebook: @MelanieElleryArt
Terra Varey
Terra has a BFA and works as a graphic designer. She has been a resident of the Esplanade Studio in Port Moody since 2021.
“Space, large or small, it surrounds us, it grounds us, it makes us aware of our bodies and their relationship to the world around them. I am intrigued by the power of space either in a small tight area or a large open one, each of these evoking emotions by forcing the viewer into a place that their own mind will not allow our bodies to go. I am interested in the intimacy of these spaces either by being so close that they are almost intruding or so large that they are overwhelming, that they force the viewer to be aware of their personal space.”
Ramin Mohseni - Azersam Film & Media
He is known for his critically acclaimed feature film From Afar [Az Dourdast] (2006), winner of Warrior Jaguar for Best Film in Acapulco International Film Festival in Mexico (FICA 2007); his historical doc series Azerbaijan (2014), award-nominated doc series A Season For Cinema (1998) and the feature documentary Khialisazi (1997) also his nationally broadcast popular TV magazine show Iranian Cinema (2002-2006).
Ramin Mohseni is a director member at Directors Guild of Canada (DGC), founder of ARIA TV Canada (2014-2019) and executive producer at BC production company Azersam Film & Media with the feature doc productions like PERSIA and I (2024) and EXILE (in post-production) and feature film drama ETERNAL TRAVELER which will be shot in Port Moody and Metro Vancouver area.
“Creativity is a tool in the hands of a visionary artist to challenge their surrounding world in an artistic way and is an effort to find a meaning for the whole existence; or it could be like that.”
Medium: Film
Website: https://www.azersamfilms.com/
Instagram: @raminmohseni
Facebook: @ramin.mohseni
