Each month, one of our DeCosmos members’ art will be exhibited in the lobby of the Beach Club Resort in Parksville, B.C. All art is for sale; please see the front desk for assistance in purchasing. Located at 181 Beachside Drive, Parksville BC.
MARCH 2026 – VAL WHEATER
Val Wheater Art
Hello!
I was born in Comox, on beautiful Vancouver Island in British Columbia. The daughter of an RCAF Air Traffic Controller and a stay-at-home mother. We moved a lot in my childhood, and I lived nine years of my young life overseas, mostly in West Germany.
I started painting later in life and discovered that it brought me great joy and grounding. Retirement provided me more time to paint and volunteer in the art community.
In 2025 I moved from Maple Ridge to Parksville and find myself thoroughly enjoying being a permanent resident on Vancouver Island again.
My preferred medium is now acrylic on canvas or wood. I paint in a realistic style, sometimes adding a touch of whimsy, as I try to evoke a story for the viewer. I am inspired by my passions for nature, gardens and travel, painting plein air and from my photographs.
For this display I have included a selection of Salish Sea themed artwork.
Always curious about new mediums, I recently took a workshop about Encaustic Painting and really enjoyed the textured and luminous effects. This painting technique uses melted beeswax, blended with resin, which is layered onto a prepared wood surface. Colors are achieved using little bricks of solid paints that are melted, with the wax added as the medium. Natural bristle brushes are used to “paint” the melted wax mixture. Each layer must be fused using a heat gun or blow torch. Endless options are available to the artist to embed fabric or paper into the wax layers, and to carve into the set wax. Once complete, the finished piece is gently buffed with a soft cloth. It is a very playful and highly creative process.
Thank you for your interest!