#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
Website:
Instagram:
Facebook:
Exhibiting Artists
Melanie Ellery
Melanie Ellery is a painter, creating bold, lively, expressive abstract works. After graduating from Illustration at Sheridan, she worked as a graphic designer and art director in Toronto, Ontario and Vancouver, B.C., before fully shifting her focus to painting.
Melanie can be found painting vibrant, expressive, contemporary art in her Port Moody, BC studio. Her work is colourful and dynamic; she paints intuitively and spontaneously, expressing life, energy and joy.
A founding member of the artist collective, ‘13 feet off the ground’’, Melanie has participated in murals and artist residencies in Sicily, New Mexico and San José del Cabo, Mexico.
“I view my work as a lifelong journey–one filled with experimentation, discovery, joy and awareness. I aspire to create art that is colourful, uplifting and evokes joyfulness. Living by the ocean and spending time in mountains and forests, nature is intrinsically my muse and I strive to express the ‘feeling’ of that in my abstract paintings, rather than being literal. My initial objective is to paint freely and intuitively–ideally in a state of flow–letting the work go where it may and then with mindfulness and intention, direct its resolution."
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
Nazi Baharloo
“My name is Nazy Baharloo, a freelance photographer living in Port Moody. I am an enthusiastic photographer with a keen eye for capturing the beauty and charm of ordinary moments. I explore a wide range of themes and subjects, from portraiture to abstract compositions and landscapes.
I’ve had a passion for photography since 2010, and started academic studies at Langara College back in 2017.
As I continue to hone my craft and refine my artistic vision, I remain open to new techniques and creative experiments and approach each photo shoot as an opportunity for growth and discovery.
Through photography, I hope to inspire others to slow down, take notice, and find beauty, connection and energy in the world around them.”
Medium: Photography
Soheila Siari
Soheila Siari (Born in 1968, Tehran-Iran) is a visual artist based in Coquitlam. She is also a part time student in the Painting certificate program at Emily Carr University in Vancouver.
She explores through different mediums, she paints portraits and nature in abstract. She is mostly guided by the process and research about the material itself. In “Transition” (acrylic) she wants to show the issues surrounding our environment.
She represents her thought intervention into women's freedom and their rights inspired through her painting “The Moment of The Flow”. Then in “The Ending” (acrylic) she wants to take the viewers through a movement of women’s lives to shape a political voice.
She made brushes from fresh leaves outside her studio to create “Flowing with the Dream”. In her “Rose” (acrylic ink ) she tries to express the impact of culture and nature together.
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.”
Chris Dunnett
Chris Dunnett is a multidisciplinary artist currently based in Port Moody, BC. He holds a BFA from NSCAD University (2009), an MSc from the University of Toronto (1998), and a BSc from the University of New Brunswick (1997). Chris has spent the past decade working in non-profit arts organizations, as a professional printmaker and as an educator. His work often satirizes culture, politics, and the effects of technology on society.
“Building on the satirical and material tradition of copperplate engraving, these works question our culture, politics, and the effects of technology on society.”
Gay Mitchell
NO TEXT
Medium: Painting
